#439 Beyond the Gym: Embracing Rucking & Health w/ Kayla Girgen

Kyle Kingsbury Podcast

Kyle Kingsbury

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Health & Fitness:fitness

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 4 January 2026

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this podcast episode, the host welcomes Kayla Girgen, a dietitian and author of "Ruck Fit," a book focused on rucking. They discuss Kayla's background, inspiration for the book, and the benefits of rucking, citing personal anecdotes and experiences. The conversation covers Kayla's journey from academic endeavors to her passion for fitness and nutrition, eventually leading to her own business. They highlight the physical and mental benefits of rucking, the importance of proper gear, and strategies for getting started. Additional topics include blood sugar management, the impact of sleep on health, and the flexibility of intermittent fasting. Kayla also shares information about her CGM program and an upcoming rucking challenge in collaboration with GORUCK. The episode emphasizes practical advice for initiating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Kayla Girgen is a certified personal trainer and licensed dietitian who specializes in weight management, metabolism support, and sustainable habit change. She completed her supervised practice at the Mayo Clinic and works at the intersection of fitness and nutrition. FULL TEMPLE RESET registration is now open. Check it out here: https://kingsbu.com/fulltemplereset The Community is coming! Click here to learn more Connect with Kayla here: Instagram: @kaylagirgenrd Ruck Fit Connect with Kyle: I'm back on Instagram, come say hey @kylekingsbu Twitter: @kingsbu Our Farm Initiative: @gardenersofeden.earth Odysee: odysee.com/@KyleKingsburypod Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Kyle-Kingsbury Kyle's Website: www.kingsbu.com - Gardeners of Eden site If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe & leave a 5-star review with your thoughts!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to today's podcast. We have Kayla Gergen. She is a dietician and the author of Ruck Fit.
0:06.6	Really cool book on Rucking. Haven't had a chance to dive into it yet, but I saw from her publisher that she was going to write about this book.
0:13.1	And honestly, I've been into this now for a while. I tell a couple stories on here, but it's one worth mentioning.
0:19.4	Back in 2013, my wife and I went to
0:21.6	Hawaii for the X terra trail racing world championship and before the race we were
0:27.9	hiking a bunch of cool places and you know my wife has an limited endurance so we could do
0:31.4	all this shit and she wasn't worried about getting her legs tired but I think it was
0:34.8	diamond head or cocoa head whatever the one is more steeper, we get up there for sunrise, right?
0:40.4	So we get up there.
0:41.2	It's still dark outside, first light, hiking up this stuff.
0:44.6	It's like railroad tracks pounded in the side of this mountain so you can hike up.
0:48.0	And it's damn near vertical.
0:49.9	You know, get up to the top.
0:51.1	We take photos of the sunrise.
0:52.8	We start heading back down.
0:54.6	There's a military guy who's probably, I don't know, get up to the top, we take photos of the sunrise, and we start heading back down. There's a military guy who's probably, I don't know, buck 60, buck 70, thick legs,
1:01.1	little shorter, and he's got 80 pounds of freaking gear on his body. And he tells me, I'm like,
1:07.9	holy shit, dude, you're just flying up this thing. He was going faster up than I was with no weight on.
1:12.9	And he goes, yep, it's my fourth lap.
1:14.8	And my mouth hit the ground to see someone with that level of endurance and strength, by the way.
1:22.9	And it's functional, right?
1:24.6	So from that moment on, I had a deep respect for what that could do for people.
	...

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