Tools
Calculators worth trusting
Three tools that answer the questions people actually ask before they start. No account, no email, and the arithmetic is published rather than hidden.
Rucking calorie calculator
How much energy a loaded walk actually costs, from bodyweight, pack weight, pace, gradient and terrain. Built on the Pandolf equation rather than a flat multiplier.
Open the tool →Rucking vs running
The same distance, side by side: energy burned and peak force per step. Answers whether rucking really does burn as much as running, with your numbers.
Open the tool →Load progression planner
A week-by-week plan from where you are to where you want to be, that never adds weight and distance in the same week and holds every fourth.
Open the tool →Why the sources are named
Most rucking calorie calculators apply a flat multiplier to a walking MET value, which ignores that carrying load changes the cost non-linearly — and that gradient and terrain matter more than pack weight over rough ground. These use the Pandolf equation, the published standard for load carriage, with the Santee correction for descents. Every figure is an estimate for a healthy adult; individual economy varies by 10 to 15%.