Rucking

"Rucking", or walking about while wearing a backpack, is one of those trendy, bleeding-edge things that the cool kids are doing. 

I hate to say this, but those cool-kids might be on to something. Being able to carry heavy cargo moderate distances on your back is functional in a primal way that lifting up a perfectly balanced weight or pedaling an exercise machine in a climate-controlled gym is not.

The conversation bounced around quite a bit. That is the nature of that kind of exercise. Being able to converse is a good marker that you aren't working too hard. Being motivated to keep the sentences short and on-topic is evidence that you are exercising that you are not coasting.

One topic we talked about was the non-linear nature of your body's feedback when we are working. Our perception of the amount of physical work we are doing is linear up to a certain threshold and then small increases in actual work past that threshold are perceived as HUGE increases in effort.

Another topic involved how some people do not have a clutch between their brain and their mouth. Whatever is passing through their head is spilling out of their mouth. There is nothing inherently wrong with that as long as the people around that person are calibrated to that fact and know to discount accordingly.

Twenty hours a week 

With regard to the venue where we were walking, it is heavily infested with assorted, invasive plants like Asian Bush Honeysuckles, Asian Bittersweet, Multiflora Rose and Autumn Olive.

Not where we walked but it gives you a sense of what it is like. Cut Asian Honeysuckle stacked for removal.

 

The ground that had been cleared of brush.

Removing those bushes would be labor intensive and would be a good "sink" for large amounts of low-quality labor. To minimize damage to valuable trees, the stems need to be cut and then dragged out of the woods by hand. Then a licensed pesticide applicator must "paint" the cut stumps with an appropriate herbicide.

 

One great thing about a job like that is that it makes the new worker eager to acquire skills so they can be promoted out of it. It doesn't involve interacting with customers. There is very low risk of disgruntled employees "destroying the brand". WHile any tool can be used as a weapon, these tools are lower risk than power-tools or impact tools like axes and picks.

This work looks like great work for the people receiving EBT benefits and must join the work-force to continue getting those benefits. If I understand the issue, they must work 20 hours-per-week. Realistically, it makes sense to me to knock the requirements down to 16 hours a week for the first two weeks (2 mornings a week in the woods and 2 afternoons in "training") and then ramp-up the work-hours as their bodies acclimate to physical labor.