Two children outdoors lift backpacks over their heads, showcasing movements from the GORUCK Elementary School Ruck Training Program. They are dressed in matching gray t-shirts and black athletic shorts paired with sneakers. In the background, a chain-link fence and trees suggest they are in a park—the ideal setting for this training program.
A joyful child with curly hair, dressed in a gray Batman shirt and pink shorts, plays outside wearing a black jacket. They stand before a tree and fence amidst verdant grass and foliage, participating in GORUCK's Elementary School Ruck Training Program that emphasizes enjoyable, functional movements for development.
In a grassy area surrounded by palm trees, two children participating in the GORUCK Elementary School Ruck Training Program are in a garden plank position, high-fiving each other with their free hands as they master functional movements while wearing backpacks.
A young child in a pink headscarf and floral dress navigates over a black obstacle branded with GORUCK, reflecting the core ideas of functional movements from the Elementary School Ruck Training Program. Nearby, an adult dressed in athletic wear strolls on the grassy ground.
Two children outdoors lift backpacks over their heads, showcasing movements from the GORUCK Elementary School Ruck Training Program. They are dressed in matching gray t-shirts and black athletic shorts paired with sneakers. In the background, a chain-link fence and trees suggest they are in a park—the ideal setting for this training program.
A joyful child with curly hair, dressed in a gray Batman shirt and pink shorts, plays outside wearing a black jacket. They stand before a tree and fence amidst verdant grass and foliage, participating in GORUCK's Elementary School Ruck Training Program that emphasizes enjoyable, functional movements for development.
In a grassy area surrounded by palm trees, two children participating in the GORUCK Elementary School Ruck Training Program are in a garden plank position, high-fiving each other with their free hands as they master functional movements while wearing backpacks.
A young child in a pink headscarf and floral dress navigates over a black obstacle branded with GORUCK, reflecting the core ideas of functional movements from the Elementary School Ruck Training Program. Nearby, an adult dressed in athletic wear strolls on the grassy ground.

Elementary School Ruck Training Program

$40.00
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This ruck workout program is for elementary school-aged students. It is written as a curriculum for any teacher or parent/guardian/coach to use in their own context. 24 lessons (12 per age group) are fully formed with warm-up, workout, and cool-down, but you are free to adapt the content however you’d like to fit your own context. The workouts are split into 8 years old and under, and 8 years old and over.

The Elementary School Ruck Training Program is meant to build familiarity with functional movements in a fun and engaging way. The workouts are designed to be led by an adult; children should be monitored at all times. It is recommended that the focus of the program is on moving the body and having fun doing it.

  • Children should remain unloaded until they have good foundations of perfect movement. Remember that children cannot build muscle mass dramatically before puberty (without the appropriate levels of testosterone and estrogen present), but they can build neuromuscular connections.
  • Doing fitness consistently and practicing great movement patterns build synaptic connections that are the foundation for weighted movement in the future (when a child reaches puberty). Children encode information better with repetition, so you will see yoga poses, movements, and breathing practices repeated throughout the program.
  • Allow children the space to have fun with this program, teach them how to execute the perfect range of motion for each movement, and enjoy spending time with them working out.

Equipment Needed

Rucksack or backpack (unweighted or with very little weight; less than 10 lbs/5 kg); Optional: very light sandbag or medicine ball (4 - 10 lbs or 2 - 5 kg)

Program Notes

24 lessons are offered: 12 for 8 and OVER and 12 for 8 and UNDER. Choose to follow the program that is developmentally appropriate for your child/group of children.

If more than one workout is scheduled in a week, it is recommended that children take at least one day of rest in between each workout.

Workouts are designed to be done as written; energy starts off low with yoga poses, picks up with the “standard warm-up” and movement demos, then rises high during the workout, and finishes at a low again with the breathing exercises.

Movement corrections and cues are not necessary when children are unweighted; let them move however they’d like when they are working out. However, if children are advanced and old enough to use weight, place an emphasis on perfect movement before adding load. When they are moving with weight, make sure they are moving correctly.

About the Trainer
Jaala Shaw

Jaala (CCFT/CF-L3, PN L-1, CrossFit HQ Seminar Staff) has been coaching various sports all over the world for the past two decades. Starting her career as an assistant swim coach at the University of New Mexico, then coaching club swimming in California and at the Sichuan Institute of Sport in China, and eventually owning a CrossFit Affiliate where she coached a mix of competitive crossfitters, weightlifters, and endurance athletes; she has varied coaching experience across many sports. 

As an athlete, Jaala has been in love with sport her entire life. She swam on scholarship at D1 University of New Mexico where she also ran track. In her adult life she competed in CrossFit Games Regionals as an individual 2x, has qualified for the Boston Marathon, finished 5th place overall female in the Bryce Canyon 50 miler, finished GORUCK Team Assessment, competed in the 1st annual GORUCK Games, and has participated in GORUCK Selection 6x. 

Jaala is currently the Director of GORUCK Tribe Kids, teaches grades K-5 outdoor education, works for CrossFit HQ as Seminar Staff, and is the Founder and Head Coach at Drop by Drop Fitness, her online nutrition and fitness coaching business.

FAQ

Elementary school-aged children, grades 5 and under; written for educators, parents, and coaches to use as a supplementary or stand-alone curriculum.

Yes.

24 workouts (12 per age group); teacher/coach chooses duration

1-3

Elementary school-aged children

To learn more check out the Intro video HERE