Before You Run, You Ruck. But First, You Walk.

"Start simple, master the principles, follow the phases, and build your own system." - Iñaki

This isn’t about me, it’s about you.

I want to show you what time and consistency can do.

Reading, learning, and thinking are easy.

Doing? Not so much. Stop planing and researching and take action.

I’m giving you a simple way to start and a clear progression from walk to hike to ruck, so you stay consistent. This isn’t theory; it’s experience.

First, you walk, then you hike, and eventually, you ruck. If you think you can skip the steps, good luck.

After retiring from elite endurance sports, I rebuilt my fitness from scratch using this blueprint.

Thanks to the walk-hike-rucking progression, I went from basic fitness to elite amateur shape and terrific health.

Last year, I ran a 1:20 half marathon with minimal run specific prep. That led me back to triathlon, and I recently finished a 70.3 Ironman in just over 4 hours and 10 minutes. In 5 weeks, I’ll race my first full Ironman since my elite retierment.

What’s my point? I’m not here to brag.

I’m here to tell you this: Walking can take you farther than you ever thought possible.

If you’re not starting with the basics, you’re wasting time.

Get your ass moving.

Everything else will follow.

It took me 600 days to get here, and I’ve mapped out another 900 days to complete a 1,500-day cycle. All starter with walking. Yes…

Why 1,500-days? Well I will tell you by the end of this article, for now stay with me.

Most people want to skip steps:

• Volume without foundation.

• Speed without rhythm.

• Strength without stability.

Let me say it clearly:

You don’t earn the right to run, ruck, or climb mountains… until you’ve mastered walking.

This is the most underrated, misunderstood, and poorly executed human movement progression.

Walking = Movement

Hiking = Mission

Rucking = Commitment

This isn’t just about cardio, strength or burning calories alone.

This is about reclaiming the 5 essentials:

1. Mechanical: How your body moves through space and terrain.

2. Metabolic: What energy system is fueling that movement.

3. Muscular: How much load your system can carry and for how long.

4. Neurological: Whether you can stabilize and control under stress.

5. Psychological: Whether your mind stays calm, focused, and consistent when discomfort shows up.

This progression of 6 phases trains all five essentials.

It’s simple, but not easy.

I walk you through them.

PHASE 1 – Walking (Flat, Unloaded): Movement Recalibration

Forget ego. Start from zero.
Flat terrain. No backpack. No weights. Just bare-bones human movement.

• Mechanical: Reset gait, improve foot strike, spine alignment, and arm swing.

• Metabolic: Zone 0 to Zone 1. No way around this.

• Muscular: No added load. This is about endurance, not strength. Time on feet.

• Neurological: Reinforce clean, repetitive patterns.

• Psychological: Train patience. Relearn boredom. Drop the need for “results.” Anchor presence in motion.

Prescription: 30–90 minutes per day, 5–7x per week.
Walk. Breathe. Feel your feet. Let the body reset its rhythm.

If you skip this step, everything else will be built on compensation.

Suggested Progression:

Duration: 4-16 weeks, depending how you progress and where are you starting. Never less than 4 weeks, ideally 8-12 weeks for most people. 16 if you want to make sure.
Frequency: 5–7x/week
Time: Start with 20–30 mins, build to 60–90 mins
Terrain: Flat only (pavement, track, grass)

Basic Mobility + Strength

You need to start at the foundation: from the feet up. Ankles, calves, quads, hamstrings, core, spine, posture: all of it.

In this phase, keep it simple. Just 10 minutes before your walk is enough.
What matters is the combination: mobility plus basic strength. That’s the difference. That’s what prepares your structure to handle load later.

I recommend what I use myself check out Erin Carson’s YouTube. Simple. Effective. Proven. Remember you not building muscle, you’re preparing tendons, joints, and stabilizers for what’s coming. This is structural prep—and most people skip it.

Weekly Focus (Your basic 4 week cycle)

Week 1 – Rebuild your gait. Breathe through your nose. Walk quietly. Stay tall.
Week 2 – Increase duration. Keep HR in Zone 1 (use a chest strap, optical sensors are unreliable). Notice your gait. Walk alone. Add time slowly, no more than 15% increase per week.
Week 3 – Maintain posture longer. Control cadence. Let the boredom show up. That’s part of the work.
Week 4 – 60 minutes clean. Add one longer walk (90 mins). No pain. No compensation. Just rhythm.

Minimum: 4 weeks if you're already VERY fit. Most people/athletes will need at least 8-12 weeks to adapt and progress properly. If you're in doubt, repeat the base cycle and go to 16 weeks (4 x 4 week cycles, 4 months, yes…)

Here, you’ll be using different walking shoes. It’s important not to stick to just one pair, changing shoes helps prevent adaptation to a single heel-to-toe drop and encourages more comprehensive strength development. Walking starts from the feet, so allow yourself to adapt and get stronger by using shoes with varying heel drops, flexibility, and grip in the soles. I also did a video on the basics of equipment, that I will be sharing by the end of the article as well. For now get going…

You’re ready for terrain if:

• You walk 60 mins daily with clean form

• HR stays in Zone 1

• You feel stronger, not drained

• You can walk in silence without distraction or noise

• You added the 10 minutes of mobility + strength at least 4 times per week before your walk.

If unsure. Repeat the cycle or even a double cycle. Do 8-16 weeks of walking in case of doubt. Don’t skip the base. You become it.