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Ultrahuman Targets the Next Frontier in Wellness: Your Home

Ultrahuman is bringing environmental data into the health tracking equation with a new smart home device that syncs with its wearable  Ultrahuman, the health tech company known for its wearable smart rings, continuous glucose monitoring system and preventive blood testing platform, is now expanding into a new category: indoor health. Its latest launch, the $549 […]

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Ultrahuman is bringing environmental data into the health tracking equation with a new smart home device that syncs with its wearable 

Ultrahuman, the health tech company known for its wearable smart rings, continuous glucose monitoring system and preventive blood testing platform, is now expanding into a new category: indoor health.

Its latest launch, the $549 Ultrahuman Home, arrives as wellness real estate and the pursuit of health-optimized spaces becomes a growing priority at work, on vacation and at home.

At the heart of the new offering is a low-profile home health monitoring device that provides real-time insights into indoor environmental quality, continuously tracking factors like fine particulate matter linked to respiratory and cardiovascular risks at high levels, along with chemical pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide.

credit: Ultrahuman

By pairing with the Ultrahuman Ring, the system can correlate environmental markers with physiological metrics, such as HRV, sleep quality and recovery trends, offering a more holistic view of health.

Ultrahuman Home also monitors temperature, humidity and noise to support overall health and wellness, along with exposure to blue, red, green and infrared light. It also tracks UVA, UVB and UVC levels, helping users balance the benefits of light while minimizing potential overexposure.

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“Ultrahuman Home is our step towards integrating environmental awareness into personal health,” Ultrahuman founder and CEO Mohit Kumar said. “By continuously monitoring factors like air quality, light and noise, we’re enabling individuals to make informed decisions about their living spaces, leading to improved well-being and recovery.”





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The $100,000 Camera System That’s Quietly Taking Over Sports

(Serena Williams argues a line call at the 2004 US Open via Clive Brunskill/Getty) During the 2004 US Open, Serena Williams received four shockingly bad line calls during the decisive third set of her quarterfinal match against Jennifer Capriati. Fans and commentators were outraged. Balls that were clearly in by a few inches were being […]

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(Serena Williams argues a line call at the 2004 US Open via Clive Brunskill/Getty)

During the 2004 US Open, Serena Williams received four shockingly bad line calls during the decisive third set of her quarterfinal match against Jennifer Capriati.

Fans and commentators were outraged. Balls that were clearly in by a few inches were being called out, again and again. Everyone at home knew the calls were wrong.

Immediately after the match, Williams was issued an apology, and the umpire was dismissed. But 21 years later, the impact of this controversy is still being felt. Fans at home knew the calls were so bad because the TV production crew was utilizing a new technology called Hawk-Eye. Within seconds, a 3D model of the ball’s flight path was recreated through live animation, showing whether the ball was in or out in real-time.

The US Open then spent millions of dollars to install Hawk-Eye systems on all of its courts, setting off a chain reaction across professional sports. FIFA now uses the same technology to review goals, penalties, red cards, and offside decisions. The NBA uses it for skeletal tracking and officiating support. MLB even used an automated ball-strike challenge system (ABS) during its All-Star Game last night, and the NFL is officially implementing Hawk-Eye technology to measure first downs starting in 2025.

It’s not hyperbole to say that Hawk-Eye is one of the most important technological innovations in sports history. It has literally changed the game. Rather than relying on humans to make calls with their eyes, optical tracking technology has brought a new level of objectivity and precision to decisions that were once fraught with uncertainty.

Some people may not like it, but it’s only going to become more popular. So for today’s newsletter, we will cover everything you need to know about Hawk-Eye — how the technology actually works, its margin of error, the cost of installation, the company’s ownership structure, how the business makes money, and so much more. Let’s go.



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Deltatre’s Endeavor Acquisition and the Race for OTT Supremacy

In a bold move to consolidate its position as a leader in live streaming and over-the-top (OTT) technology, Deltatre has announced its acquisition of Endeavor Streaming, a subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., in a deal finalized in July 2025. This strategic union merges two industry stalwarts, combining Deltatre’s legacy in sports data and video […]

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In a bold move to consolidate its position as a leader in live streaming and over-the-top (OTT) technology, Deltatre has announced its acquisition of Endeavor Streaming, a subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc., in a deal finalized in July 2025. This strategic union merges two industry stalwarts, combining Deltatre’s legacy in sports data and video streaming with Endeavor’s expertise in premium OTT platforms. The move underscores a growing trend in the digital media sector: the consolidation of fragmented vendors into end-to-end solutions providers. Here’s why this merger matters—and what it means for investors.

The Synergy of Strengths: A Technical Powerhouse

Deltatre’s product suite—D3 VOLT (a modular platform for live and on-demand content), FORGE (a cloud-native content management system), and AXIS (sports data and graphics)—already powers some of the world’s most demanding live events, from UEFA’s Champions League to MLB’s broadcasts. Endeavor Streaming’s VESPER platform, meanwhile, is the engine behind services like UFC FIGHT PASS and LIV Golf’s OTT offerings, specializing in monetization and global distribution.

The integration of these technologies creates a unified platform capable of handling everything from live event production to subscriber management, content delivery, and data-driven audience engagement. Clients like the NFL, NBA, and UEFA will no longer need to stitch together solutions from multiple vendors, reducing operational complexity and costs. For Deltatre, this means a broader addressable market: while it once focused on backend systems for large clients, the combined entity can now serve mid-sized leagues and regional broadcasters seeking turnkey OTT solutions.

Dominance Through Scale and Reach

The acquisition also amplifies Deltatre’s geographic footprint. While Deltatre’s roots are in Europe and North America, Endeavor Streaming’s presence in Asia and the Middle East—where OTT adoption is surging—expands its reach into markets like India, the UAE, and Southeast Asia. The merged company now boasts a client roster spanning 30+ countries, with contracts worth billions in recurring revenue.

Moreover, the deal aligns with the industry’s shift toward “direct-to-consumer” (D2C) models. Traditional broadcasters and sports leagues are increasingly launching their own OTT platforms to bypass cable distributors and capture subscription fees directly. Deltatre’s ability to offer a full-stack solution—content creation, streaming infrastructure, analytics, and monetization—positions it as the go-to partner for this transition.

Why Investors Should Take Note

The acquisition isn’t just about technology—it’s about capturing a multi-billion-dollar opportunity. According to market research, the global OTT streaming market is projected to grow at a 10.5% CAGR, reaching $258 billion by 2027. Deltatre’s move to consolidate its position ahead of this surge is a textbook example of strategic foresight.

For investors, the key takeaway is this: Deltatre is no longer just a niche player in sports tech—it’s now a full-stack provider in one of the fastest-growing segments of the digital economy. While the company remains privately held, its success could ripple through publicly traded competitors and partners. For instance:
Adobe (ADBE): Its Document Cloud and Creative Cloud tools are often used in content creation workflows that Deltatre supports.
Roku (ROKU): As Deltatre’s clients launch more OTT channels, Roku’s platform becomes a distribution partner of choice.
Silver Lake (SLG): The private equity firm that acquired Endeavor Group earlier in 2025 stands to benefit from Deltatre’s valuation growth.

Risks and Considerations

No deal is without risks. Integration challenges could delay the promised synergies, and regulatory hurdles in key markets (e.g., GDPR in Europe) may complicate data management. Additionally, Deltatre’s reliance on large clients like the NFL could expose it to revenue concentration risks if a major contract is lost.

Investment Takeaways

  1. Buy into the OTT trend: Allocate capital to companies enabling D2C transitions, such as cloud infrastructure providers (AWS, Microsoft Azure) or analytics firms (Palantir).
  2. Monitor Deltatre’s public partnerships: Even as a private company, its collaborations with public tech firms could hint at future IPO plans or strategic investments.
  3. Watch for industry consolidation: Deltatre’s move may trigger copycat acquisitions in adjacent sectors like virtual reality streaming or AI-driven content recommendation systems.

In closing, Deltatre’s acquisition of Endeavor Streaming is more than a merger—it’s a declaration of intent to dominate the next era of live streaming. For investors, the question isn’t whether to bet on OTT’s growth but how to position themselves to profit from it. Deltatre’s strategic play offers a blueprint for success in this high-stakes race.



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Friedkin Forms Pursuit Sports to House Soccer Clubs, Hunt Big 4 Team

Billionaire Everton FC and AS Roma owner Dan Friedkin has formed a new sports-team group, Pursuit Sports, to manage his soccer teams while actively hunting for a franchise in one of the big four North American leagues. Friedkin, who also owns AS Cannes of France, will announce the formation of Pursuit Sports later Wednesday, naming […]

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Billionaire Everton FC and AS Roma owner Dan Friedkin has formed a new sports-team group, Pursuit Sports, to manage his soccer teams while actively hunting for a franchise in one of the big four North American leagues.

Friedkin, who also owns AS Cannes of France, will announce the formation of Pursuit Sports later Wednesday, naming former Clearlake and Fenway Sports Group executive Dave Beeston as Pursuit’s CEO.

“The intention has been to form a parent company that would do two things: provide operational excellence—amplify our operations for the clubs we own now—and evaluate opportunities to grow,” Beeston said on a video call. “When I wake up I am thinking about how I am helping Roma, Everton, Cannes get to where they want to get to … and at the same time thinking about growing the company through acquisition.”

Growth seems to be top of mind for Friedkin. The billionaire was one of four finalists to buy the Boston Celtics this year and has held discussions with the NHL about bringing an expansion team to Houston. “Truthfully, there’s a focus on the next thing we do—in North America and not soccer would be my guess,” Beeston said. “We are actively evaluating a few opportunities right now across the sports that you would think. Our focus in the short term and medium term is teams. Sports is the last must-see viewing opportunity. We want to be where the eyeballs are.”

The creation of Pursuit Sports formalizes the big-game hunting instincts of Friedkin. The 60-year-old businessman made his now $8.2 billion fortune on the strength of his family’s Toyota dealership network, which he took over in 1995. Over time, Friedkin expanded into luxury resorts and golf courses, and got exposure to team sports though naming right deals that slapped the Toyota brand on the Houston Rockets arena and FC Dallas and San Antonio FC stadiums.

The leap into team ownership came in 2020, when Friedkin, with children Ryan, Danny and Corbin, bought AS Roma for €591 million, or $701 million at the time. In 2023 they bought AS Cannes, once one of France’s top clubs but long stuck in the country’s fourth tier, for an undisclosed amount. Last year the family swooped in to buy Premier League club Everton for a reported price greater than $500 million after that club’s failure to close a buyout by Miami’s 777 Partners.

Friedkin hired Beeston in February to head what has now become Pursuit Sports. Beeston is best known for a 12-year run at Fenway Sports Group, where he rose to chief strategy officer, overseeing FSG’s mergers & acquisitions efforts, including the purchase of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He left FSG to join Chelsea FC owner and private equity giant Clearlake Capital in August last year, but Boston-based Beeston missed operations work—and the commute to LA didn’t help. A December meeting that ran to more than five hours of conversation with the Friedkin family led to the switch.

Beeston is quick to note that the formation of Pursuit Sports isn’t to create a multi-club hierarchy where lower clubs feed players up to higher clubs. Club management and player decisions will remain separate from each other and led by the local executive slates. “We’re focusing on ways we can scale where appropriate,” Beeston said.

What might that look like? Beeston suggests the success of FSG could be a road map. “One of the companies I oversaw by the end of my tenure was Fenway Sports Management, which was selling sponsorships for the Red Sox, NESN, Liverpool, Penguins, PGA Tour, Boston Common Golf. The more you can scale that, it doesn’t sacrifice anything, because it drives incremental revenue.”

One example: Submarine advocacy group BuildSubmarines.com expanded a high-profile Red Sox sponsorship across more FSG properties, looping in RFK Racing to brand a car for NASCAR’s New Hampshire race last year, for instance.

Another operational benefit can come from sharing technical and strategic resources among clubs. Friedkin recently bought Insight Sport, a London soccer sports tech business that is the first non-team asset housed in Pursuit Sports. While Insight’s purchase price isn’t publicly disclosed, the business is very profitable, pulling in revenue of £332,500 ($445,000) last year, about half of which was net profit, according to a financial disclosure filed in the U.K.

Beeston declined to discuss potential purchases in NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB, other than to note the family probably prefers control stakes compared to limited partner interests. “It would be silly to rule anything out, but our focus is more on areas we can control, because we intend to be the best operators,” he said, adding, “We got to prove it still.”

Of course, it’s not always simple: AS Roma fans protested the American ownership this past season after the club won just three of its first 14 matches, falling to 15th in the Serie A table before recovering to close the season in fifth place. Similarly, Everton seemed destined for relegation after a poor start to the Premier League before finishing 13th, two slots better than the season before Friedkin bought the club.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen fan bases pop champagne bottles for ownership groups, but if they begrudgingly say, ‘These guys have been good for our club, they’ve backed up what they said they were going to do,’ then that’s a massive win for us,” Beeston said. “These sports teams have souls you really need to nurture.”



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Nextdoor’s Next Step; Sports Surge Drives Upfronts

What’s Next? Nextdoor is an interesting case study for the social media age.  It has a fairly large logged-in user base and lots of access to hyper-local data on business services, consumer demographics and foot traffic. But its advertising revenue is sluggish, stubbornly stuck in the low hundreds of millions of dollars per year. (Although […]

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What’s Next?

Nextdoor is an interesting case study for the social media age. 

It has a fairly large logged-in user base and lots of access to hyper-local data on business services, consumer demographics and foot traffic.

But its advertising revenue is sluggish, stubbornly stuck in the low hundreds of millions of dollars per year. (Although Nextdoor is a public company, it doesn’t usually disclose specific ad revenue numbers.)

Uber, by comparison, was much later to the ad biz and already has a more than $1 billion dollar annual revenue run rate.

Nextdoor is also reluctant to sign an exclusive “sky bridge”-style data licensing deal with the likes of Google or Amazon.

Social nets like Reddit and Pinterest have made hay of data and advertising deals, which offer large annual checks in exchange for allowing data to be used to train AI models. Reddit, for instance, is getting $60 million a year from Google for that purpose.

Yet “never say never,” Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia told Bloomberg during a recent interview regarding possibly signing such a deal down the line.

“But,” he says, “I have a real existential concern that any company that allows its core asset to be surfaced inside another agent is at risk of people not coming to the primary source.”

Getting The Money Upfront 

I guess having your ad chief emerge on stage in a suspended bubble during upfronts works for generating ad revenue. 

NBCUniversal announced the close of its upfront negotiations cycle on Tuesday, claiming to have achieved its “highest ad sales volume ever” and the largest period for digital sales in the broadcaster’s history.

That includes nearly $1 billion worth of programmatic investments for next year, which is especially notable given that NBCU currently includes sports and live events as part of its programmatic offerings. Meanwhile, just under 60% of investments were transacted against advanced audiences.

Unsurprisingly, upcoming sports content – including the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the 50th annual Super Bowl broadcast and the return of the NBA – contributed greatly to NBCU’s increase in sales.

Per NBCU, the sports side of the business experienced a 20% increase in new clients and a 45% year-over-year increase in ad volume. More than one quarter of NBA advertisers will be new to broadcast television this year.  

And then, of course, there’s the Peacock streaming service, which represented one-third of NBCU’s upfront commitments this year.

Since NBCU is the first broadcaster to announce its upfront results, it’s hard to tell whether what it’s seeing will be part of a larger trend. But it dispels the notion that recent talk about economic uncertainty will keep advertiser dollars out of TV this season.

The History Books

Kids publishing giant Scholastic is in a tight spot. For five years, its cash reserves have dwindled while revenue has remained flat.

Being a mission-driven book publisher that gives books away isn’t exactly loaded with profit opportunities.

For one, Scholastic has great data – but not for targeting or data sales, because it’s specifically affiliated with young kids.

Scholastic also profits from book sales, but hasn’t turned its IP into reliable new media revenue. It distributes mega-hit series like “Harry Potter” and “The Hunger Games,” but doesn’t share in lucrative film and TV productions.

Other Scholastic titles, including “The Baby-Sitters Club” and “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” were recently adapted for the screen. But, in general, its programs are being smoked by the likes of Peppa Pig, Ms. Rachel and Bluey, which translate digital-native entertainment success into book sales.

Scholastic also hasn’t made the IP pivot, as have Lego and Hasbro, to monetize millennial nostalgia through media franchises.

But now Scholastic is turning to YouTube to modernize its business by launching series that – hopefully – help promote new books and generate some ad revenue, Elianne Friend, VP of digital and distribution at the Scholastic-owned digital studio 9 Story Media, tells The Wall Street Journal

“We’re [on YouTube],” Friend says, “because the kids and their parents are there.”

But Wait! There’s More

The Trade Desk will join the S&P 500 on Friday. [Investor’s Business Daily]

Meta’s big plans for a successful AI agent will be one that solves “simpler things” than its rivals. [The Information]

Nearly 90% of buyers are using generative AI to create video ads or plan to do so this year. [IAB] Meanwhile, according to a survey by Raptive, placing ads alongside AI-generated content harms consumer trust. [Adweek]

Scott Messer, aka the AdTech Therapist, on how to define media quality. [AdMonsters]

WeTransfer updates its terms and conditions to include an automatic “royalty-free license” to all the content being transferred. The company insists that it will not use the content to train AI models, but users (particularly creatives) are outraged anyway. [BBC

Facebook plans to crack down on users who continually share stolen or reposted content. [The Verge

Good news! According to xAI, Grok is totally fixed and not going to call itself “MechaHitler” anymore. [TechCrunch]

You’re Hired!

WPP hires Baiju Shah as the global CEO of AKQA. [release

Thanks for reading AdExchanger’s Daily News Roundup. Want it by email? Sign up here.



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Graphjet Technology Provides Update on Current Events

Graphjet Technology KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Graphjet Technology (“Graphjet” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq:GTI), a leading developer of patented technologies to produce graphite and graphene directly from agricultural waste, has today filed its Form 10-K filing. During the current year, the Company has seen changes to its shareholders whereby the new […]

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Graphjet Technology
Graphjet Technology

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Graphjet Technology (“Graphjet” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq:GTI), a leading developer of patented technologies to produce graphite and graphene directly from agricultural waste, has today filed its Form 10-K filing.

During the current year, the Company has seen changes to its shareholders whereby the new controlling shareholder, Mr. Aiden, Lee has made numerous contributions to the Company, including providing funds to fund the transformation of the Company. With the funds received from Mr. Aiden Lee, the Company was able to complete its audit for the fiscal year September 30, 2024, albeit later than anticipated due to unforeseen circumstances.

The Company has made plans to address the current non-compliances with the Nasdaq listing requirements. The Company has and will continue to engage an experienced accounting services firm, to advise the Company and ensure speedy completion of the Form 10Qs for the December 31, 2024 and March 31, 2025. The completion of the Form 10Qs will allow the Company to take necessary measures to raise funds to further expand the capacity and capabilities of the Company.

A hearing before the Nasdaq Hearings Panel from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC has been scheduled for July 17, 2025, during which the Company will appeal the delisting determination due to the non-compliances with the Nasdaq listing requirements. However, there can be no assurance that the Company will get a favorable outcome.

The Company will also be holding a shareholders’ meeting on July 30, 2025 for a reverse split exercise. The Company is confident to secure the shareholders’ approval for the reverse split exercise, which is aimed at ensuring that we meet the minimum price bids.

With the minimum price bids met and Form 10Qs filed, the Company will be able to attract new investors which will allow our Company to move towards compliance with the minimum market value of listed securities (MVLS). The Company is currently in discussion with a few parties who has indicated their interest in funding the Company.

“We are confident that our plan to be address the non-compliances with the Nasdaq listing requirements can be implemented. In addition, the Company will make the necessary announcement when the efforts made for the Company’s transformation bears fruit” said Chris Lai, the CEO of the Company.

About Graphjet Technology Sdn. Bhd.
Graphjet Technology Sdn. Bhd. (Nasdaq: GTI) was founded in 2019 in Malaysia as an innovative graphene and graphite producer. Graphjet Technology has the world’s first patented technology to recycle palm kernel shells generated in the production of palm seed oil to produce single layer graphene and artificial graphite. Graphjet’s sustainable production methods utilizing palm kernel shells, a waste agricultural product that is common in Malaysia, will set a new shift in graphite and graphene supply chain of the world. For more information, please visit https://www.graphjettech.com/.



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The Hottest New Fitness Craze Is One Of The Oldest—Because It Works

Rucking, or walking with a weighted pack, can be done in the city, the country or the woods, and the … More simplicity is one of the reasons it is suddenly so popular. GoRuck With over two million copies sold to date, the health blockbuster Outlive by Peter Attia, MD is currently Number Eight on […]

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With over two million copies sold to date, the health blockbuster Outlive by Peter Attia, MD is currently Number Eight on the New York Times Non-fiction Bestseller List. But the impressive number is not eight, it’s 107. That is how many weeks the book has been on the list, having already reached the Number One spot and remained a bestseller for more than two years since. Among many other things, Outline helped drive the hottest new fitness craze.

The Hottest “New” Fitness Craze

Many readers of Outlive, including me, made systemic lifestyle changes, from the medical tests they get to what they eat to how much they exercise. But in particular Dr. Attia helped re-popularize one specific form of exercise, “rucking,” or walking around with a weighted pack.

Of course, he was not alone in making one of the oldest forms of exercise hot again. In a single 2-day span last month both the Times and rival Wall Street Journal ran long articles with nearly identical titles on why “weighted vests” are suddenly hot. They both kind of got it wrong as the articles really described rucking, and weighted vests are largely a different thing in the fitness world, but they were both right about it being a hot trend.

Another NY Times bestselling author and former Men’s Health magazine editor, Michael Easter, champions rucking in his book The Comfort Crisis, going so far as to practice the activity, normally associated with hiking or walking, while vacuuming his home and on a treadmill.

Why Try Rucking?

Easter has been rucking regularly for well over a decade and while the pursuit is suddenly hot, he was an early adopter. He told me, “As a health and wellness journalist I always took an evolutionary look at what we do. When you look at modern fitness, a lot of people run, which is something humans evolved to do. But very few people carry, which we also evolved to do, and in my opinion is even more important. So, I started throwing on a backpack with weight, it’s so simple. You burn anywhere from 20-30% more calories than just walking, it’s uniquely good for burning fat and building muscle, and it’s a full-body exercise. When you run you just get cardio but not necessarily strength, with rucking you get both, building muscle while losing weight. And I feel very confident saying it has a much lower injury rate than running, it’s closer to walking.”

“Everyone has tried running, and it works for some people, but others get hurt or just don’t lie it. Rucking is just more approachable and easier.”

Easter cites the work of expert Harvard professor Daniel Lieberman, a widely acclaimed evolutionary biologist known for his research on running and walking in humans. It was Lieberman who coined the term “born to run” about barefoot running cultures, later borrowed as the title of yet another big fitness bestseller. In his own fascinating book Exercised, Why Something We Never Evolved To Do is Healthy and Rewarding, Lieberman praised these evolutionary roots of rucking, explaining that the ability to carry weighted loads over long distances voluntarily (without having them strapped to us like a donkey) differentiates humans from every other creature on the planet and is a huge part of our species success and of being human.

Rucking is the act of walking or hiking (or for the devout using a treadmill at the gym) while wearing a weighted pack. It has been the primary fitness exercise of choice for most of the world’s military forces for centuries (or longer), and the term comes from the name from a widely used military backpack, a rucksack. “Rucking is very much a military term,” says Easter, “and some people hear military jargon and think ‘that’s not for me,’ but humans have been carrying weights for thousands of years, and it has always been good for us.”

It differs from backpacking mainly in that it is intentional exercise, not something you have to do to carry the gear needed to camp in the wilderness. People strap on a weighted pack and walk their dogs or stroll around the neighborhood or go on hikes, in order to accomplish two fitness goals: burning more calories in the same duration of walking, and building muscle strength, while in turn improving bone density while becoming generally fitter. There is also a difference from backpacking in the packs and how you bear the weight, but what predominantly makes it rucking is intent, and that intent is to become healthier and stronger.

Finally, A Fitness Routine That’s Easy To Do Regularly and Stick With

But the best thing about it is that it is simple, and thus arguably the easiest new exercise routine to incorporate into your life, something many people struggle to do with all sorts of workouts. If you want to start a new fitness regimen tomorrow, I can’t think of many things that are effective that are easier to do than adding rucking to your life, and ease of adoption is incredibly important in the success of any new plan.

This is especially true if you already walk at all. I’ve always praised the health benefits of owning dogs, which need to be walked every day, and mine don’t care if it’s hot or cold or raining or snowing, they get my wife and I out for an hour or more each day, including many days when we would blow off the walk in bad weather if we didn’t have dogs. After reading Outlive about a year ago, I started rucking almost every day when I walk my dogs, and I was doing that anyway, so I needed to add exactly zero extra time to get a better workout. Rucking is not just good for you, it’s also an incredibly efficient way to exercise. Easter also rucks when he walks his dog.

Many people, even those without dogs, already do some sort of fitness walking, and rucking is a natural addition to this. Of course, if you don’t walk already, you have to add it to ruck, but you should be adding walking anyway (unless you run instead, and most experts do not recommend ruck-running). I also ruck when I hike, within reason, usually on hikes of 90-minutes or less. On longer hikes I am wearing a pack with gear and water anyway. It’s lighter, but still added weight.

Rucking has been an extremely popular form of exercise used by the military, and is currently employed by just about every armed force on earth. The reason it has lasted so long and continues to be so widely used is because the military sees the results, thousands of times each year, and knows it works. Special Operations Forces Prep Coach is a coaching programmed designed to help those trying out for U.S. special forces units (Navy Seals, Delta Force, Green Berets, etc.) make the cut in the highly selective, competitive and rigorous physical training programs required for admission. On its site, the coaches ask “How important is rucking? There are three studies in the past three decades on SFAS [Special Forces Assessment and Selection] and each of them found that rucking performance was the greatest predictor of getting selected, more than any other physical factors like running, pull-ups, or A.P.F.T scores.”

Rucking is so popular with elite special forces soldiers that in his New York Times bestseller Can’t Hurt Me —with over 7 million copies sold—former Navy SEAL David Goggins used heavy load rucking to train for both the SEAL teams and to later become one of the top ultra-endurance race competitors in the world. Goggins remains the only soldier ever to complete the elite training programs of the SEALS, Army Rangers and Air Force Tactical Controller, and was named the “The Fittest (Real) Man in America” by Outside Magazine. Even bestselling fictional SEALS use rucking—in Jack Carr’s hugely popular series of Terminal List novels (turned into a Chris Pratt series on Prime) his ex-Navy SEAL protagonist James Reece gets back into shape by wearing a weighted pack up and down mountains.

But you do not have to be a special forces operator to benefit from rucking, and one of the great appeals is that almost anyone can do it, as you can start with small amounts of weight. “The bearded dudes going into Afghanistan carried 120 pounds. I carry 45. My mom goes rucking with me and she uses 10 pounds,” says Jason McCarthy, a former special forces soldier who started GoRuck, the biggest company in the niche field of rucking gear, with his wife Emily (former CIA).

A Simple and Time-Efficient Way to Exercise

I spoke to McCarthy over the phone while he was out rucking around his Florida neighborhood, and it’s how he manages his time to stay hyper-ft and get his workouts in while running a company. “You can train wherever you are, city rucking is just hiking in the city, and while we’ve been talking I just got in 3000 steps. This morning, I rucked while I walked my dog. Now I don’t have to carve out time to go to the gym. It’s about finding time to exercise.”

“Why does it work? It’s always worked, since the beginning of time. I’m trying to create a ‘new’ fitness category that’s actually been around forever. Nike started with running at a time when no one had heard of running, it was just for crazies and weirdos.” To that end, in addition to making rucking gear, GoRuck puts on several hundred public rucking events each year and has helped build a grassroots network of about 700 “ruck clubs” across the country to help newcomers join a community. “People are starving for real world connections, and we have to create alternatives that make it fun and healthy to make those connections. The vibe is inviting and they are free. At first no one in the media wanted to cover it because it isn’t a $2000 piece of gym gear or high-tech. The whole beauty of rucking is that it is simple and it works. If you believe walking is great, getting outside is great, getting stronger is great or having a healthier heart is great, then it is for you. Every form of human movement gets harder when you add resistance, and this adds resistance.”

For someone who sells rucking gear, McCarthy surprisingly recommends starting by not buying any. “When you were in college you probably walked around campus with a backpack full of books. I see people in the airport with these really heavy backpacks. A lot of people are rucking and don’t even know it, because it’s so natural. Don’t go buy a bunch of expensive stuff. Start with what you have and for most people I recommend 20 pounds. If you put a dumbbell in a school backpack it’s going to bounce off your back and you’ll hate it, so maybe start with a bag of rice.” I tell my friends who are starting out to use multiple water bottles, because if the pack proves too heavy once you get out on the trail, you can just pour some out.

Easter seconds this beginning approach. “The beauty is simplicity, and unlike some other fitness and gear programs there is no paralysis by analysis. You own a backpack. You own something that weighs something. You have water bottles. Ideally you want the weight close to your back and higher up, so I tell people to put a yoga block or equivalent in the bottom of their pack and then put the weight on top of that to get it higher. If you use a dumbbell or weight plate, wrap it in a towel for cushioning. Go get started and then if you keep doing it, decide if you want to move on to more specialized gear.”

Gear For Rucking

I have done a lot of backpacking and hiking and gear reviews and probably have more packs than anyone should own, but I got a specific rucking pack from GoRuck, because it does make a difference. Backpacking packs are specifically and technologically designed to use a substantial hip belt and transfer weight to the lower body. That makes it more efficient and easier to carry loads long distances over uneven terrain, but the point of rucking is exercise, and to make your walk harder, not easier. The rucking pack has no waist belt, and is very low profile, so as Easter says, it holds the weight (I use metal plates and tubes of sand) close to your back and high up (Easter also uses GoRuck packs for his rucking).

I was already familiar with the company because I use and write on luggage for all travel and sports, and in my many years of questing to find the perfect carry-on bag for my very frequent travel around the world, I’ve ended up with the GoRuck GR-1. I’ve had this for a few years, longer than I have been rucking, and like all their products it is overbuilt to truly last a lifetime. I put the GR-1 in my 2024 Father’s Day luggage buying guide here at Forbes as the top carry-on and wrote “The GoRuck GR-1 is simply the best carry-on bag for active travel (or any travel) I have found.” NY Times gear testing site Wirecutter also picked the GR-1 as “The Best Buy It For Life Backpack” and wrote, “It isn’t just tough, it’s nearly indestructible.”

It’s bigger and doesn’t have a dedicated metal plate pocket, but you can definitely also use the GR-1 as a rucking pack if you want to buy just one thing. Because I keep my carry-on loaded for flights all the time, I use a separate rucking-specific pack, the GoRuck Rucker 4.0 20-liter. This way I can just leave the weights in it and not move things around daily. All their stuff is made to military grade and practically indestructible. GoRuck makes rucking-specific packs in three capacities (15, 20 and 25 liter) and several sizes for different heights.

Easter says, “I tell people to never go over a third of your body weight, and I carry about 20% of my body weight. I don’t like vests where weight is on your chest because that affects your breathing, I only go on my back. If I’m training for big backcountry trip, I’ll get on a treadmill with a very heavy pack, like 60 pounds, crank up the incline to a steep setting and walk slowly for 45 minutes, that’s a great workout.” I’ve been carrying 21-24% of my body weight.

Just to clarify the misleading verbiage of the recent newspaper articles, there are also weighted vests, as Easter mentions, that carry weight on the front and back. GoRuck makes these as well, as do many fitness gear companies, and these are far more widely available than rucking-specific packs, which may cause the confusion. Weighted vests have traditionally been accessories used at the gym for serious strength training, mainly to add resistance to body weight exercises such as pull-ups and push-ups. With strength training, to increase the workload you can do more repetitions, lift heavier weights or both, but body weight exercise is generally limited by your body weight. Most of us would struggle to do 10 pull-ups, but if you get to the point where you can do, say 30, you can either keep doing more or add weight, and a vest is the way to do that. For rucking, keep it on your back. But you can also use these rucking packs in the gym (or stopping for pushups on your hike) in lieu of a vest for most bodyweight exercises.

Health Benefits

The recent Wall Street Journal article said that carrying 10% of your body weight burned 8.5% more calories, while going to 20-30% jumped that to 19.7 and 32.2%. They also said carrying weight activated muscles in your back, shoulders, abs and lower body. The Journal also cited studies showing that rucking can prevent or reduce bone density loss while ageing.

When you exercise regularly and eat well it is very difficult to break out the effect individual lifestyle elements have on your overall health and performance, which is why anecdotal reports are not a reliable source of training information. In addition to rucking I am also doing regular strength training with weights, hiking, cycling and doing high intensity interval training, plus myriad other activities. Nonetheless, I have been doing most of those things for a long time, and a year after I added rucking to my fitness mix I am at the leanest, fittest state of my adult life, I’ve had no pain or soreness or injuries related to rucking, my tangible performance at endurance events such as long distance cycling and hiking has improved, and I have to believe that my frequent rucking (60-90 minutes 4-5 times a week with 35-40 pounds) has made a difference. Just the fact that over the year I have been able to increase the weight when it gets easier seems to prove that strength and endurance are being built along the way.

For most of my life, the primary focus of health-based exercise was aerobic, but in recent years studies have shown that strength training is much more important to long term health than many people thought, possibly even more important than cardio, and directly related to bone density. But for a well-rounded fitness routine you want cardio and aerobic exercise and full body strength, and most of us want to burn more calories. Rucking does all of this, in a way that is easy, efficient and time effective compared to many other kinds of exercise. But it should not take the place of strength training and other exercise but rather makes a perfect addition to those. It can also be highly social and is fun and easy to do with friends.

“I’m already going to go for a walk or walk the dog, so I might as well throw on the pack and get a lot more benefit from the walk,” says Easter. This simplicity and efficiency is a big part of the reason why rucking is the hottest new fitness craze.



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