Back to Basics
Building the Base
This is a bit of RTFU housekeeping:
As you may know, I write two separate newsletters. I recently conducted an AAR to make sure they are each accomplishing their mission.
My other newsletter, Walking Point, is based on the philosophy I have developed over a lifetime of doing hard things with hard men. The core idea is that Life is War. To win, we need to Get Better at Getting Better, and to do that, we have to Walk Point in our own lives. If you are interested, feel free to check it out.
Walking Point is my brand, if I have such a thing. And it is what you might call the strategic arm, while RTFU is the tactical arm.
I will be refocusing RTFU more tightly on improving mental toughness and physical durability through rucking and doing hard shit.
More rucking workouts, gear reviews, and I’m bringing back the monthly Bullet Proof Friday workouts.
This newsletter has been, and will continue to be, free every Thursday, but I will be increasing the value for paid subscribers. What will you get for your money? Not much, but it is not much money. For less than the price of a grande latte per month, you can support RTFU, and you will get additional paid-subscribers-only posts, challenges, rewards, etc.
Anyway, thanks for reading this, and for being a part of the RTFU Tribe.
Most people start the new year like the goal is to win January
They go hard for ten days… then burn out and vanish.
Because they skipped the boring part. The base.
Runners know this. Serious ones, anyway. They don’t start a season with track intervals and killer tempos. They start with miles. Easy miles. Consistent miles. A foundation that makes the hard work possible later.
They lay out a periodized plan for the year. We should be doing the same thing.
So here’s the theme for the first block of the year:
Go back to basics. Build your ruck base like a runner builds an aerobic base.
Not sexy. Not viral. Not negotiable.
The January Lie
The lie is that motivation will carry you.
It won’t.
What carries you is capacity. Your joints, feet, back, lungs, and mindset have to be trained like any other system: slowly, deliberately, and on purpose.
If you try to “send it” immediately, heavy weight, long distance, max effort, you’ll either:
get hurt
get smoked
or get discouraged and quit.
That isn’t toughness. That’s impatience.
Building a base is how you stay in the fight.
Periodized Rucking: The Simple Version
Build volume first. Then add intensity. Then sharpen the blade.
Think of the year like a campaign.
Phase 1: Base Building (Now)
Your job is to stack weeks.
Frequency: 3–5 rucks/week (or 7 if all you do is ruck)
Effort: conversational pace (you can talk, but you’d rather not)
Progression: add a little distance or a little time each week, not both
Weight: moderate and repeatable (the weight that lets you come back tomorrow)
If you’re new: start lighter and shorter than you think you need to.
If you’re experienced: resist the urge to “prove it.” You already proved you can suffer. Now prove you can build.
Pick a Target
If you don’t pick a race/event, you’ll train “whenever.”
And “whenever” becomes “never.”
So pick something with a date.
A Norwegian Foot March
A GoRuck
A local endurance race with a ruck division
A self-designed objective: “20 miles with X pounds by _________”
Even a group challenge with a fixed deadline
The point is not the event.
The point is that a date creates standards, and standards create execution.
I suggest picking one big goal for the fall, then a monthly challenge to get you there.
If you have nothing else, plan on a 20-mile ruck with 25 Lbs on November 8th. The basic training plan I will be covering will be geared for that date.
Set a Goal That Forces Structure
Not “I want to get in shape.”
That’s not a goal. That’s a wish.
A goal has a measurable finish line.
Examples:
“Complete a 20-mile ruck with 25 lbs in under 5 hours.”
“Finish a GoRuck Heavy without being destroyed.”
“Ruck a marathon with 20 lbs and run the last mile.”
“Do 4 rucks/week for 8 straight weeks—no negotiation.”
Pick one that makes you nervous.
Then reverse engineer the training.
Your Base-Building Rules
If you want to be in peak condition for your goal event, not limping, not burned out, not starting over, follow these rules:
Consistency beats intensity.
Your body adapts to what you repeat.Train the feet and the frame.
Socks, shoes/boots, hot spots, posture, ruck fit. Experiment until you know what works under different conditions.Progress like a professional.
Consistency > IntensityDon’t skip recovery and call it toughness.
Recovery is part of training. Otherwise, you’re just collecting damage.You’re building capacity for later suffering.
The pain comes later—when it matters.
This Week’s Assignment
Pick your event/date.
Put it on your calendar.Pick your outcome goal.
Time, distance, weight, standard. Make it measurable.Do your first base week.
Three rucks minimum. Keep them easy. Finish each one thinking: I could do that again tomorrow.
That’s the point.
Closing Shot
January is not for proving you’re hard.
January is for building the platform that makes you unstoppable.
The base is boring. That’s why it works, but that’s why most people won’t do it.
Which means if you do, you win by default.
Until next week, Ruck The Fuck Up,
John
Life is hard. Be harder.
Don’t forget to check out the RTFU store, and my pals:
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Salty Britches coupon code RTFU20 will get you 20% off an already ridiculously underpriced insurance policy against chafing and blisters.
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I particularly like your point of picking an event. I have a couple of events I do every year and they’re good measures of how my training is gone through the year. It wouldn’t hurt me to expand my “event coverage”. If you have some suggestions for events, I’d love to hear them, and I suspect I’m not alone.
Every one of your challenges made me nervous. Love it.
I often use breathing or ability to talk examples to help people maintain a desired rate of perceived exertion. “You can talk but would rather not” is so good for that effective zone 2/3 work rather than able to talk normally vs something vague like ability to say a sentence before refocusing.
Thank you. Going to be another great year.