The UK's "fittest woman" has been training hard ahead of the 2024 CrossFit Games on August 8, and rucking is a key part of her arsenal.
Rucking — wearing a backpack containing a weight plate while walking or performing exercises — originated as a military-training tool but has soared in popularity among people hoping to get more out of their walks, including founders and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley.
Aimee Cringle, 25, earned the title of UK's Fittest Woman this year after finishing first in the country's CrossFit semifinals. She told Business Insider that wearing a ruck while training makes exercises more challenging so when she competes without a ruck at the games, exercises should feel easier.
Cringle broke down her intense training regimen and shared how she uses rucking to build strength and fitness.
Rucking Helps to Build Strength
Cringle, whose background is in athletics, trains six days a week. She's from the Isle of Man but moved to mainland England last year to work with a new coach. She said her training has become a lot more structured and features less steady-state cardio like cycling, running, and swimming.
Instead, she's concentrated more on strength-building. She said she's also been using a ruck to make exercises such as legless rope climbs, tricep dips, and chest-to-bar pull-ups more challenging.
"I guess if you can do stuff with a ruck on, you can do it better without," Cringle said. "It makes everything harder."
After performing an exercise wearing a ruck, it feels a lot easier once you take it off, which Cringle described as "quite cool."
By Rachel Hosie