RTFU with John Dailey

It's Science, Stupid

John Dailey — Sun, 31 May 2026 14:28:55 GMT

I know that this doesn’t apply to any of you fine folks, but share it with a science denier.

Strength Obligates

John Dailey — Mon, 25 May 2026 08:31:03 GMT

Today is Memorial Day. Enjoy it, but take a moment to remember those who sacrificed everything to preserve the freedoms we enjoy.

Noblesse oblige is an old French phrase that means “nobility obligates.”

It meant that if you were of high birth, wealth, power, or privilege, you had a responsibility to act with honor. You were expected to protect the weak and carry yourself like someone worthy of your position.

That idea is still important, but since you (hopefully) don’t wear a powdered wig, and are not a soft-handed aristocrat, we need a harder version.

Strength obligates.

If you are physically strong, mentally tough, disciplined, durable, and hard to kill, you don’t get to use that strength only for yourself.

You have a responsibility.

Not to coddle the weak or make excuses for them. Not to pat them on their soft, simple heads.

Your job is to shepherd them. To stand between them and the wolves when necessary. To carry more than your share. To set the standard and refuse to let those around you give in to comfort, weakness, and self-pity.

The strong should not exist to dominate the weak, but to protect, guide, harden, and raise them up.

That is the difference between a bully and a leader.

A bully uses strength to make others smaller. A leader uses strength to make others stronger.

There is a moral obligation that comes with physical and mental toughness. If you can take more pain, more pressure, more hardship, and more responsibility than those around you, then you are obligated to do so.

That does not mean carrying everyone's load or enabling their laziness. Nor does it mean rescuing people from the consequences of their bad decisions.

Sometimes shepherding the weak means helping them up. Sometimes it means telling them to get the fuck up. Sometimes it means pointing at the hill and telling them to ‘ruck the fuck up.’

Our world often confuses kindness with weakness. They aren’t the same.

Kindness is demanding enough of someone to believe they can become harder, stronger, more capable, and more useful.

Kindness does not lower the standard; it helps people reach it.

If you are someone who still trains hard, holds standards, keeps promises, and chooses the hard road when the soft one is available, you’re different, and you bear the obligation of strength.

Your strength is a tool for protecting your family, raising your kids, leading your team, and building a tribe.

Use it to drag the people you care about out of weakness.

Our world needs hard men and women willing to carry the standard, defend the perimeter, and train others.

Strength obligates.

Be hard.

Protect the weak.

Train the willing.

Challenge the lazy.

Shepherd your people and teach them to RTFU.

Until next week,

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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Bravo Zulu is the naval signal often sent via flags to acknowledge a job well done:

BZ to the Marine Raiders of Class 35!

If you’ve crushed some shit, let me know.

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This Memorial Day, remember their sacrifice and enjoy your freedom

John Dailey — Sun, 24 May 2026 14:29:02 GMT

Become Hard to Kill

John Dailey — Mon, 18 May 2026 08:30:55 GMT

The folks at Black Rifle Coffee recently released a mini-documentary about me. If you have the time, check it out:

The winner of the decathlon is called the “World’s greatest athlete.”

You sprint, jump, throw, hurdle, vault, and run. Then, after two days of getting your ass handed to you, finish with a 1500-meter sprint.

But the world’s greatest athlete is not the world’s best at any single event.

The folks at Black Rifle Coffee recently released a mini-documentary about me. If you have the time, check it out:

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Kevin Mayer set the decathlon world record in 2018 with 9,126 points.

He crushed the competition: 10.55 in the 100m, 7.80m in the long jump, 16.00m in the shot put, 2.05m in the high jump, 48.42 in the 400m, 13.75 in the 110m hurdles, 50.54m in the discus, 5.45m in the pole vault, 71.90m in the javelin, and 4:36.11 in the 1500m.

But those numbers would not have qualified him in any of those individual events in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The entry standard for the men’s 100m was 10.00. Mayer ran 10.55.

Long jump standard: 8.27m. Mayer jumped 7.80m.

Shot put: 21.50m. Mayer threw 16.00m.

High jump: 2.33m. Mayer jumped 2.05m.

400m: 45.00. Mayer ran 48.42.

110m hurdles: 13.27. Mayer ran 13.75.

Discus: 67.20m. Mayer threw 50.54m.

Pole vault: 5.82m. Mayer cleared 5.45m.

Javelin: 85.50m. Mayer threw 71.90m.

1500m: 3:33.50. Mayer ran 4:36.11.

The greatest athlete in the world wouldn’t qualify for the Olympics in any single event.

It’s easy to get obsessed with specialization. Finding your niche and becoming the best at one thing.

And specialists are important. If you need brain surgery, you don’t call the guy who is “pretty good at medicine.” You call a brain surgeon.

But life is not one event. It is war, and it is more like the decathlon

You need strength, but strength alone won’t save you.

You need endurance, but endurance alone won’t carry you through.

You need intelligence, but intelligence without discipline leads to laziness.

Discipline without curiosity makes you a robot.

Courage without judgment becomes recklessness.

The goal is not to be world-class at everything.

The goal is to become hard to kill in the war of life.

A man who is strong, fit, thoughtful, controlled, useful with his hands, steady under pressure, financially responsible, spiritually grounded, and loyal to his tribe may not be the best in the world at any one thing.

But he is dangerous everywhere.

He can move through the world without fear. Solve problems, take hits, lead under stress.

He doesn’t quit when chaos emerges.

That’s important because the war of life is chaos.

The specialist can dominate when conditions are perfect, but the generalist survives when the conditions change.

This isn’t an argument for mediocrity. Mediocrity is being average because you’re lazy.

Range is being competent across domains because you are disciplined.

The decathlete doesn’t casually do 10 events. He trains at each of them hard enough to be excellent in combination. He acknowledges that improvement in one area may cost him in another. He cannot build the body of a sprinter, a thrower, a vaulter, or a miler.

He builds the body, mindset, and skillset that can do what the job demands and do it well.

That is the lesson for us.

Get strong, fast, rugged, resilient, & smart enough to face the fight each day and to be ready for what comes tomorrow.

Balance isn’t an excuse to be a bitch. Use it to work on your weaknesses until they are strengths.

You do not have to be the best at everything, but you can’t be bad at anything important.

Because you never know what the next event in life is going to be.

Be ready to perform and RTFU.

Until next week,

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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Bravo Zulu is the naval signal often sent via flags to acknowledge a job well done:

No BZs this week.

If you’ve crushed some shit, let me know.

There are only 3 left, and when they’re gone, they’re gone:

Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

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The Leap of Faith

John Dailey — Sun, 17 May 2026 14:55:57 GMT

Hold Water

John Dailey — Mon, 11 May 2026 08:30:53 GMT

Progress doesn’t just come from what you do.

It also comes from what you don’t do.

It all matters.

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In a combat rubber raiding craft, the coxswain controls the boat. He doesn’t just yell “paddle harder.” He directs where power is applied, but also where friction is applied.

If he says:

“Port side, trail. Starboard side, give way.”

The left side pulls its paddles out of the water. The right side keeps paddling. The boat slowly turns left.

That works.

But if he says:

“Port side, hold water. Starboard side, give way.”

Now the left side keeps its blades in the water to create resistance. The right side drives forward. The boat turns hard and fast.

The action is the same, the different result comes from what isn’t done.

Sometimes it is not enough to add the right actions. You also have to create resistance against the wrong ones.

You can ruck three days a week, lift twice, and still eat like a raccoon in a dumpster.

You can say you want to be hard, then stay up until midnight scrolling on your phone and drag ass the next day.

At some point, progress becomes less about addition and more about subtraction.

Maybe you don’t need more motivation; you need to hold water.

You need to bury the blade of your paddle against the habits that keep turning you the wrong way.

Forward momentum alone is not always enough.

Sometimes, the fastest way to change direction is to resist action

That means saying no.

No to the second helping.
No to your bullshit excuse.
No to “I’ll start Monday.”
No to the whiney-ass voice in your head that wants you to do weak shit.

The coxswain is responsible for his boat. He can’t care what the crew thinks.

He gives the orders necessary to keep the boat on course.

Your life is the same way.

You can keep paddling harder and wonder why you’re going in circles, or you can finally hold water against the habits that are slowing you down.

Hold water. Turn your boat. RTFU.

Until next week,

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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Bravo Zulu is the naval signal often sent via flags to acknowledge a job well done:

This week, a Brave Zulu goes to Lori-Ann Gallant-Heilborn, my sports massage therapist at USMT .

Lori-Anne just crushed a sprint triathlon she has been training for. Plus, she keeps me in the fight.

Great work, Lori-Anne!

If you’ve crushed some shit, let me know.

There are only 3 left, and when they’re gone, they’re gone:

Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

RUCKTFU Use the code RTFU26 to get 10% off any shirt.

Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.

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Sometimes it's the thing you don't do that leads to success.

John Dailey — Sun, 10 May 2026 13:58:18 GMT

Suffer Smarter

John Dailey — Mon, 04 May 2026 08:31:03 GMT

Endurance is built through suffering.

But being able to endure does not always equal improvement.

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Lately, I have been reading up on an old German training method.

The German Interval Method.

It was developed in the 30s by running coach Woldemar Gerschler and cardiologist Hans Reindell.

They hypothesized that the heart doesn’t become stronger during high-intensity training. The adaptation comes when stress is applied correctly, then removed, allowing your system to rebound stronger. Sprint hard, stop, recover, repeat.

Most of our training (rucking or running) should be at a conversational pace (Zone 2). But if you want to really build the capacity of your heart to do hard shit, give the German interval method a go.

I have been adding this in at the end of a Zone 2 ruck or run. (If I am rucking, I drop the ruck for sprint intervals.)

Start at a heart rate of around 120
Sprint until your heart rate reaches 170-180
Stop
Monitor both heart rate and elapsed time
When your heart rate reaches 120, sprint again until it hits 170-180.
Repeat until it takes longer than 90 seconds for your heart rate to return to 120.
Then you are done for the day. I would add this once per week after a ruck or run. I don’t think there is a reason to do more.
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Here’s why it works:

· Recovery-Based: Unlike most high-intensity training, it prioritizes the recovery interval rather than the work interval.

· Increased Stroke Volume: During the recovery, your heart continues to pump blood hard, but because the heart rate is lowering, it fills with more blood, strengthening your left ventricle and increasing the amount of blood pumped per beat Stroke Volume).

· Heart Adaptation: The stress and recovery cycle leads to your heart becoming stronger and slightly larger, which will reduce your resting heart rate and improve cardiovascular endurance.

· According to research on PubMed Central, Experiments showed a ~20% increase in heart volume within just 21 days.

One of the things I like about this is that it is self-correcting.

If you went too hard, aren't well recovered, or aren’t in great shape, your sprint intervals will be shorter because you will hit 170 quickly, and your recovery interval will be longer, limiting the number of reps.

As heart strength, conditioning, and recovery improve, you will have to go harder and longer to hit 170-180, and you will recover faster, meaning you will be going again and again.

RTFU principle: Easy days should be easy enough to build your engine. Hard days should be hard enough to sharpen your sword.

Time spent in the middle isn’t wasted, but it is not as productive as it could be.

The point of training is to become more capable and harder to kill.

That requires discipline.

Not just the discipline to train, but the discipline to stop and recover.

Build the engine. Sharpen the sword. RTFU.

Until next week,

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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Bravo Zulu is the naval signal often sent via flags to acknowledge a job well done:

This week, a Brave Zulu goes to Sabastian Sawe of Kenya. He probably doesn’t read RTFU, but he should.

At any rate, he is the first person to break the 2:00:00 marathon barrier, winning the London Marathon in 1:59:30. Phenomenal work, Sabastian!

If you’ve crushed some shit, let me know.

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If you’re looking to spice up the home gym, grab a limited-edition flag.

There are only 3 left, and when they’re gone, they’re gone:

Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

RUCKTFU Use the code RTFU26 to get 10% off any shirt.

Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.

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If you're having fun you're doing it wrong

John Dailey — Sun, 03 May 2026 14:10:36 GMT

There are a lot of things that we do for fun. Hopefully, rucking is one of them. But if you are really trying to improve at something, it should be hard work.

Deliberate practice requires:

Well-defined goals

Focused feedback

Being out of your comfort zone

One of my favorite books on the subject is Peak by Anders Ericsson.

As always, thanks for being a paid s…

Be a Wild Thing

John Dailey — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 08:31:13 GMT

I have a neighbor who has been badgering me to join in on my Sunday ruck.

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Sunday is kind of sacred to me, so I have been putting him off, but finally relented and told him I’d pick him up at 7:45.

At 7:30, I texted to make sure he was ready. He replied, “Have you looked outside?”

Spoiler alert: I had looked outside and knew that it was pouring rain.

“Bring a rain jacket,” I said.

He made an excuse for not being able to make it today, then ended with, “Maybe next time.”

Another spoiler alert: There will not be a next time.

One of my favorite poems is Self-Pity, by D.H. Lawrence. I loved it long before it was made famous in the movie G.I. Jane.

Self-Pity
I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.
-D. H. Lawrence
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As I rucked along my usual route, I was the only human out on the trail, but I watched the squirrels running around, oblivious to the rain. I saw two turtles getting it on in the downpour.

Wild things carry on regardless of the weather because they have no choice. And because they have no choice, the weather becomes inconsequential.

Because we are not wild things, we have the choice to hunker down and stay inside when it is cold or hot or wet.

But we also have the choice to be more like wild things, by doing hard things in hard environments.

And if we make the choice often enough to be wild things, we will find that hard things just become things and hard environments just become environments.

Until next week,

Be a Wild Thing & Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

Bravo Zulu is the naval signal often sent via flags to acknowledge a job well done:

This week, a Brave Zulu goes to John H., who smashed an 18.4-mile ruck with 45lbs in 4:55:04 last Saturday. He did it in a surplus FILBE ruck

If you’ve crushed some shit, let me know.

Leave a comment

If you’re looking to spice up the home gym, grab a limited-edition flag. There are only 5 left, and when they’re gone, they’re gone:

Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

RUCKTFU Use the code RTFU26 to get 10% off any shirt.

Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.

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Every Ruck is a Race

John Dailey — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 08:31:07 GMT

I have been going back through some old posts and rewriting/updating those I feel bear repeating.

This is the time of year when, for most of us at least, the weather has finally turned the corner, and it is beautiful outside. Because of this, there are rucking and running events nearly every weekend that you can sign up for.

This might be a one-day, really hard thing or a bunch of days of really hard things strung together.

It is either a sprint or a marathon of sprints. Either way, you need to be sprinting (figuratively at least).

The duration will impact your strategy, but the first three rules remain the same.

Don’t be late, don’t be light, don’t be last.

The next rule is not to start at a deficit. This means don’t start hungry or thirsty. Hopefully, you have a pretty good idea of what you can eat and drink before and during activity. Be fueled and have a solid plan to refuel every hour.

In my experience, the thing that makes or breaks you is the mental game.

Let’s be very clear about this-- Everything is a fucking race. If you’re not trying to win, you don’t deserve to be there. You won’t win them all, but don’t lose any.

Some people will go out too hard and blow up. Others will start slowly and build. Others are metronomes, holding a constant pace throughout. Then there are a few who are freaks of nature who start fast and speed up from there.

It doesn’t matter which you are, but understand your strengths. Have a plan and stick with it. As we say:

Plan the dive, dive the plan

Run your own race. It’s easy to get sucked in by a rabbit that pulls you out too hard and too fast.

Remember your run/walk plan. Stick with it. Walk the steep hills, drink while you walk.

Most often, I find that in individually paced ruck-based events, three groups will form: Lead, Middle, and Rear. I am a fan of spending the first half firmly in the middle pack. I never want to be in the rear.

There is a saying: “Marathons begin at 20 miles.” What you do for the first 1/2- 3/4 of your movement sets you up to finish, but it’s what you do on the back half that determines how well you will perform.

I don’t like being passed after the halfway point. I view it as a sign of weakness.

It is after the midpoint that your long training events will come into play. As others are hitting their limits, you’re just getting started.

This is when the mental game ramps up a notch.

On the back half, all you have to do is catch and pass the person in front of you, and repeat.

Doing your best is important because it is a personal statement about who you are.

I’m not the kind of guy who wants to finish from a position of weakness.

I’m not the kind of person who staggers in just under the wire.

I’m not the type to settle for the minimum, and I damn sure want to make sure my performance reflects that.

A strategy that has always worked well for me is that after the midpoint, I focus on reeling in the guy in front of me.

When he slows down, I speed up. When he walks, I run. When I start closing the gap, and he notices me, he’s going to speed up. He’ll make a mistake and run up a hill he should walk.

Nothing is more demoralizing than to have someone blow past you on the back half of a race. And there is nothing that gives me a bigger boost than to cruise by someone who is doing everything that they can to keep me from passing them.

When you pass, pass hard. Pass decisively. Don’t leave doubt that you won’t be overtaken.

Don’t forget, Everything is a race, and this is yours.

And as with most things, this applies to the War of Life as well.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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And, if you’re looking to spice up the home gym, grab a limited edition flag. There are only a few left, and when they’re gone, they’re gone:

Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

RUCKTFU Use the code RTFU26 to get 10% off any shirt.

Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.

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Go Faster

John Dailey — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 08:30:47 GMT

I have talked at length about the levers of rucking: Fast, Far, Heavy, and High. We can crank on any one of these, or some combination of them, to increase the challenge of our workout.

I was recently reading a study that reminded me of the importance of going fast.

Last fall, the results of a long-duration study on walking speed were released in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Between 2002 and 2009, a team of researchers recruited nearly 85,000 participants who were given a questionnaire about their exercise habits, average time spent working out, walking speed, and overall health. 16 years later, the participants completed another questionnaire.

The TLDR version is that walking fast for 15 minutes per day significantly reduced all-cause mortality compared to slow walking.

“On average, study participants who fast walked for at least 15 minutes every day saw a nearly 20% reduction in premature death compared with a 4% reduction among participants who walked slowly for a total of more than three hours a day.”

Of course, the question we need to answer is “How fast is fast enough?” The study is not specific on this, but it seems that to reap the major benefits, we should get into Zone 3, which is 70-80% of our maximum heart rate.

Although your phone or watch can probably figure this out for you, here is how to determine your heart rate zones:

Step 1: Measure Your Resting Heart Rate (RHR)

This is the number of beats per minute at rest. Before you get out of bed, use a watch to count your pulse for 30 seconds and multiply by 2.

Step 2: Estimate Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

Next, subtract 220 from your age. i.e., If you are 56 like me, your Maximum Heart Rate would be 164.

Step 3: Calculate Heart Rate Zones

We will use the Karvonen method:

Target HR=((MHR−Intensity) +RHR Or if math isn’t your thing, you can use the calculator here:

For me, the calculator gave me numbers very close to what I have established over time:

Zone 1 Recovery 50-60% 110 - 120 BPM Active recovery, warm-up, cool-down

Zone 2 Aerobic Base 60-70% 120 - 131 BPM Endurance building, fat burning, long runs

Zone 3 Aerobic Threshold 70-80% 131 - 142 BPM Marathon pace, tempo runs, aerobic power

Zone 4 Anaerobic 80-90% 142 - 153 BPM VO2max intervals, 5K-10K race pace

Zone 5 Maximum 90-100% 153 - 164 BPM Sprint intervals, power development

How can we implement this into our rucking training?

Overall, it is probably best to follow the 80/20 rule, with 80% of training in zones 1-2 and 20% in zones 3-4. The difference is that according to this research, that 20% should be a little every day rather than getting it all in on one sprint training day.

Whether you are walking, rucking, or doing something else, the real benefits come from getting your heart rate into zone 3 for 15 minutes per day.

When rucking, pick up the pace for the last mile.

On run days, consider adding in a few fast intervals like the Norwegian 4X4 protocol.

If you are doing a HITT workout, you will probably be good.

In regular gym sessions, try finishing with some bike or rower sprints.

An easy trap to fall into, especially if you ruck with friends, is to never go above a conversational pace. That’s great and all, but sometimes you ned to take your advice from Ricky Bobby,

Train hard, go fast, ask questions, don’t quit.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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And, if you’re not feeling fast, take two Triactin and call me in the morning:

Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

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Trust the Process

John Dailey — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 08:30:49 GMT

The Roman philosopher Seneca said, “Our lack of confidence doesn’t come from difficulty; the difficulty comes from our lack of confidence.”

Or to put it a bit more bluntly, stop whining when shit gets hard. Hard shit makes you hard, and the harder you get, the harder shit you can do without whining.

To do hard shit repeatably and sustainably, you’ve got to set goals.

Not, “I wish I didn’t suck at rucking.” That’s not a goal. It’s a wish.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned the types of goals, and I’ve had a few questions, so I’ll hit it again.

There are three types of goals we can set:

Outcome goals: These are mostly out of your control and are generally not the best type of goals to set. Let’s say you are preparing for a rucking-based event and set the goal of, “I want to win.” You can’t control the outcome. Shit happens. You may wake up with food poisoning, or other people may have prepared more than you.

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Performance goals: These types of goals are mostly within your control. Not the outcome, but how you will perform. “I’ll keep a 15-minute pace for twenty miles.” Your pace over distance is largely in your control if you do a good job of setting the third type of goal.

Process goals: These are 100% in your control. “I will follow the plan that I laid out to reach my performance goal.” If your plan is good and if you stick to it, you will achieve your performance goal.

Start with a performance goal. Set a challenging one that will push you.

Set a performance goal that scares you and then break it down into process goals that will let you achieve it if you fight like a son of a bitch.

The key is consistency in the process. Consistently train, recover, fuel, hydrate, rest, & repeat.

Ofcourse this applies to all areas of life. Not just rucking.

Trust the process. Training builds competence, competence leads to confidence, and confidence makes the difficult easy.

Train hard, ask questions, don’t quit.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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And, if you’re not feeling confident, take two Triactin and call me in the morning:

Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

RUCKTFU Use the code RTFU26 to get 10% off any shirt.

Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.

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Always a Little Further

John Dailey — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 08:30:37 GMT

A version of this post appeared a little over two years ago. I decided it was time to dust it off, update it and post it again.

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The title comes of this post comes from a poem by James Elroy Flecker called the Golden Journey to Samarkand. And the below section has been adopted as a motto of the British SAS:

“We are the pilgrims, master; we shall go
Always a little further; it may be
Beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow
Across that angry or that glimmering sea

Here’s another quote I like :

“Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one
thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the
body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up.
It is always tired morning, noon, and night. But the body is
never tired if the mind is not tired. ... You've always got to make the mind take over and keep going.”
―George S. Patton

When we do hard things, the body reaches its breaking point long before it’s broken. -JAD

We are designed that way.

We have a natural tendency to be fucking lazy. We evolved to conserve energy when possible because we never knew when we were going to have to haul ass to get away from predators.

The ancestors who were better at conserving energy outran the slower ones, avoided the sabretooth tiger, and passed on their lazy-ass genes to you and me.

This means that, like Patton said, the body will quit early and often.

We can counter the body’s bullshit with mental toughness.

If you read my other substack, Walking Point you may have heard this before, but the analogy I like to use for mental toughness is a well.

We start digging the well when we go a little further— when we push beyond the point where we want to stop.

Then the next time we train and we’re feeling exhausted, we go to the well and find that it has a little water in it, so we push on until the well runs dry again.

Most quit when the well runs dry.

But the few go a little further. They claw and scratch at the ground and dig the well a little deeper.

This is what Ruck The Fuck Up is all about.

The depth of your well is your responsibility. No one can dig it for you.

If your well is deep, that’s great— but you have to do progressively harder things to keep it filled with clean, clear water.

If your well is shallow and muddy you can sit on your ass and think of someone to blame, or you can wait for someone to come along and ‘motivate’ you.

Or you can get your hands dirty and start digging.

Footwear Selection:

I get a lot of questions about rucking equipment. If you plan to start rucking or increase your rucking, the most important things to worry about are your two feet:

1- Take care of your damn feet— We could fill a book with footcare advice, but we don’t have to because already has.

This is the bible of foot care that has been trusted by the military and ultra-endurance athletes since the first edition came out in 1997. I had the opportunity to watch John work during a Badwater 135 miler while I was crewing a friend. If it’s not in the book, you don’t need to know it.

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If you are just rucking for fitness hopefully the worst you’ll face is a hot spot or blister but knowing how to take care of it quickly can be the difference between staying on your training plan and having to sit idly by as your well of toughness dries up.

Socks— These will be personal preference, but it is hard to beat wool. There are a lot of great SmartWool running socks. When it comes to hiking socks, my favorites are Darn Tough, they are indestructible. First Spear makes my daily wear wool socks.
What it comes down to is that you can do better than the $4.99 value 12-pack of socks. Find some that you like, and stick with them.
Shoes/boots— There is often the assumption that because you have a ruck on your back you need to wear hiking boots on your feet. No.
It really depends on what you are rucking for, how much weight you are carrying, and what terrain you are rucking over.
Most of the time a pair of running/training shoes will work just fine.
Each year The Trek surveys Appalachian Trail through-hikers about equipment choices. The most used brand for the past several years has been Altra. Specifically, the Altra Lone Peak. I have been wearing Altras since they came out in 2011 and highly recommend them if you don't already have a shoe that you like. The wider-than-average toe box prevents a lot of foot issues.
As with most things, if what you are doing is working for you, keep doing it.
But your shoes need to be replaced every 300-500 miles. If you are rucking, I would tend to err on the side of 300 miles.
If you are routinely carrying loads near fifty pounds or more and are moving over rugged terrain, you may want to start considering the ankle support of a boot. Altra makes high-top versions of the Lone Peak and Olympus models, and there are tons of companies that make solid hiking boots.
It is a good idea to check REI because they have a 100% satisfaction guaranteed return policy, meaning even after you have worn them on a ruck you can send them back for a full refund.
One note, Altras are zero-drop shoes meaning that the sole is the same height along its length. Most shoes are wedge-shaped, so they can take some getting used to. If you buy some it is best to alternate between the Altras and your old shoes and progressively build up to rucking/running in them full-time.
If you are new to rucking, consider going a half-size up from your normal shoe (although obviously, brands vary) Your feet will swell.
If you are rucking to train for an event, be it a military selection event or a backcountry elk hunt, it makes sense to do a lot of your rucking in the footwear you will be wearing because:
— You will break them in.
—You will understand how they feel, identify any issues, and understand how your sock combinations and any foot first aid strategies will impact the fit and function.

What you don’t want to do is wear the shoes /boots out before you begin the event you were training for. At a minimum, I recommend doing some training rucks (including your longest) in the footwear you plan to use.

To be absolutely clear, when you start rucking more than you are used to, your feet are going to hurt no matter what you have on them. You need to be able to tell the damn difference between digging the well and damaging yourself.

Let me know what you’re wearing, and how it’s working out.

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Train hard, ask questions, don’t quit.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

And, if you’re not feeling up to the task, take two of these and call me in the morning:

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Identity Theft

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 08:30:45 GMT

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Ok, before you sic the cyber-crimes squad on me, I’m not talking about stealing someone’s social security number, passwords, or banking data. In fact, the title may have been a bit sensationalistic. We’re not stealing anything.

But if you are unhappy with a part of your identity, simply settle on the identity you want- and take it.

I am a fan of a twice-daily conversation with yourself in the mirror while you brush your teeth.

In the morning- to set your intention for the day
In the evening- to check in on how you did.

I give this same recommendation to my students and advise them to commit each morning to doing the things that a Marine Raider does. By doing this, they are not guilty of ‘stolen valor,’ they are simply choosing to see themselves in the identity they want and acting accordingly. Or as the saying goes, dress for the job you want, not the one you have.

In James Clear’s Atomic Habits, he identifies the three types of goals we can set:

Adapted from James Clear’s Atomic Habits

Outcome-based goals focus on what you want the outcome to be: Weigh less, read more, get your dream job, etc.

Process-based goals focus on the changes you will make to achieve the outcome: track your diet, log your reading, or submit 3 applications per day.

Identity-based goals change your belief system: I’m the type of person who eats healthily, I’m a reader, or I’m an employee any company would love to hire.

Now, an identity-based goal can sound a lot like a wish, and as my grandmother used to say, “If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.”

Since we seldom get solicited for spare change from horseback, positive affirmations alone don’t seem to cut it.

But it is just as unlikely that you will change without changing the way you think about yourself.

When we act in a way that contradicts our mental model of ourselves, cognitive dissonance occurs. Our brains don’t like that.

We are self-limiting creatures. It is impossible to achieve more than you think you can, or be more successful than you believe you can be.

It’s tough to train for a ruck event if you don’t think of yourself as a rucker.
If you are a smoker who is trying to quit, you’re still a smoker.
If you say that you are the type of person who can never remember names, you’ve already given yourself permission to forget.

But if we can begin to change our mental model by shifting our identity, we can start to change from the inside out.

Rather than focusing on doing hard things, focus on becoming the type of person who does hard things.

Like Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

So, when you combine your new identity with an outcome goal and put process goals in place to keep you on track, you’ll look forward to brushing your teeth each morning and asking:

Or fastest, or fittest, or most confident, or most bad-ass.

It’s your identity, you pick.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

And, to be someone who does hard shit, pick up one of these:

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Make better decisions with the OODA Loop

John Dailey — Sun, 22 Mar 2026 14:54:36 GMT

It’s All Downhill From Here

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 08:31:00 GMT

I’ve written about using hard uphill rucking to get bulletproof, but it is the downhills that separate the men from the boys.

Most ruck plans include a lot of climbing, and it is important, but downhills crush souls.

To be well-rounded, we need to train the downhill.

On a steep downhill, you are essentially putting on the brakes the whole way, and that eccentric load is hard on knees, quads, and connective tissue.

Downhill Training works:

Eccentric quad strength (Braking)
Tendon/ligament tolerance
Foot stability & ankle control (plus you learn how to avoid blisters)
Technique under fatigue

Things to think about / practice

1) Shorten your stride
Long strides usually mean you are heel striking. This not only adds to the braking force, but it also increases friction and creates blisters.

2) Lean forward slightly from the ankles
Stay upright and don’t lean forward at the waist.

3) Don’t fight gravity, use it.
Quick, short steps prevent stomping. On a steep hill, you may want to try a shuffle.

Downhill Day

Add some downhill training once a week or more, depending on your level and training cycle. Here are a few options:

Option 1: Downhill Repeats

Find a hill with a moderate to steep descent

Do 6–10 rounds: walk up easy - descend under control with fast feet. Keep your ruck weight moderate.

Option B: Quad-Brake Finisher.

After an easy ruck, do 5–10 minutes of moderate downhill walking (or treadmill decline if available)

Some higher-end treadmills have a decline setting. You can also throw a few weight plates under the back to create a decline (Gym people may get pissy about this)

Focus on steps, posture, and control.

Optional add-on: Strength work 2x per week:

Elevated Heel Squats
Controlled step-downs off a 4-8 inch curb/step (weighted ot not)
Split squats (slow lowering)
Calf raises while wearing your ruck.

Starting this week, add one downhill session. Keep it easy. See how your quads feel over the next 48 hours. I find downhill training brings the DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). If you aren’t recovered after 48 hours, do less next time.

Let me know how it goes.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

And, to prove you’re on the team, pick up one of these:

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RUCKTFU Use the code RTFU26 to get 10% off any shirt.

Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.

RTFU is the Training Branch of Walking Point

The Road Less Rucked

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:30:26 GMT

A lot of you have been emailing me directly with questions. Please leave a comment here. That way, everyone can benefit from the discussion.

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I promised myself (and you) I’d keep the philosophical stuff over on Walking Point.

But, I am in the middle of a long series on the idea that Life is War over there (Check it out here). So here we are.

Most people have heard Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken. If you haven’t read it, you need to. It’s a badass poem.

But it’s also one of the most misunderstood pieces of writing in the English language.

People take it to mean: “Take the harder road. Be different. Do the hard thing.”
That is a great sentiment and is basically what I built RTFU on.

But that’s not what Frost is saying.

Frost makes it painfully clear that the two roads weren’t a choice between comfort and suffering. They were basically the same.

He writes:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black…

They were “about the same.”
Same use. Same difficulty. Same uncertainty.

This isn’t a poem about choosing the hard life over the easy life.

It’s not the choice C.S. Lewis warned about when he wrote:

“Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts…”

That’s not Frost’s point.

Frost is talking about small choices.

Seemingly insignificant forks.

The ones you barely notice until you look up one day and realize you’ve built your life out of them.

The truth is that big decisions rarely show up out of nowhere.

They’re the culmination of a thousand decisions you have been making for years.

Frost admits it:

…Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

That’s the whole game. Choices lead to choices.
Habits create guardrails, guardrails lead to ruts, and ruts become tough to get out of.

Eventually, you’re not even deciding anymore; you’re just traveling the road your previous decisions paved.

So no, it’s not just the big decisions that matter.

It’s every choice, every day, all day long: “I’ll do it tomorrow.” “Just this once.” “I’m tired, I’ll go later.” “I don’t feel like it.”

Every one of those is a vote for the person you’re becoming.

And eventually, you will hit the fork where one path is clearly hard, and the other is clearly easy.

If you’ve trained yourself to make disciplined choices when the stakes are small, you’ll be ready when the stakes are big.

If you haven’t?

You’ll take the easy road like you always do, and act surprised when it takes you exactly where it always goes.

That’s how people die, the lonely, lazy death of a thousand cuts.

Frost closes with:

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

So take the roads you want your life to be made of.

And when both roads look the same, choose like it matters.

Because it does.

And if you’re going to take the road less traveled, take it with a ruck on your back.

And read some damn poetry, you fucking savages.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

Of course, sometimes it’s best to get off the road altogether. Burn the bridge and swim.

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RTFU is the Training Branch of Walking Point

Train Hard - Fight Easy

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 09:30:40 GMT

I recently had the chance to help out with weigh-ins for a Norwegian Foot March. The NFM is a military readiness test adopted by the Norwegians before WWI.

It has since been opened up to other militaries and organizations.

The test consists of covering 30 Kilometers with an 11 Kilogram (25-lb) ruck in an age-graded time of roughly 4 miles per hour.

As the ruckers filed through to weigh in, I noticed quite a few with rucks well over the required dry weight.

-By dry weight, I mean with any water of food removed.

Some were up to 10 pounds over the minimum weight.

When I asked them why, some simply didn’t have a scale at home and couldn’t weigh the ruck beforehand. Others wanted to challenge themselves with additional weight, and still others were just worried about meeting the standards, so they threw in a few extra pounds.

Later, some of those with extra weight in their rucks failed to make the prescribed time.

I am a fan of getting in extra training, but not at the expense of failure.

I thought of this while watching Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo crush souls and win 5 gold medals for Norway during the Olympics.

Do you think he had an extra ten pounds on him just because? Fuck no.

Because he is a professional.

During training, it is great to go heavy. That is the training equivalent of sweating in peace so that you don’t have to bleed in war. But when it is time to compete, even if that is just against yourself, you owe it to yourself to pare down to the minimum.

Ounces make pounds, and pounds slow you down.

While I’m sure you can use your bathroom scale to weigh your ruck, I found a great hanging scale on Amazon for about 30 bucks that I use. If you need one, check it out.

The key is to train heavy, race light, and have a plan to always meet the minimum standards.

While an event like the Norwegian Foot March is not a race per se, it is always better to be faster than slower.

The metrics that will be recorded are:

Make weight Yes /No

And Time

And as always, it pays to be a winner.

A cool RTFU shirt weighs almost nothing. Grab a few.

Until next week,

Ruck The Fuck Up.

John

Life is Hard. Be Harder.

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Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:

RUCKTFU Use the code RTFU26 to get 10% off any shirt.

Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.

RTFU is the Training Branch of Walking Point

Satisfaction is the Death of Desire

John Dailey — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:04:11 GMT