Introduction:

I am a firm believer in lifting moderate weights with a better mind-body connection and focus on muscle contraction, it’s not often that I recommend packing a few more additional pounds in a workout routine.

There are various weighted vests available in the market and companies are swearing by their efficiency but are weighted vests worth your money? Yes, if used properly, weighted vests are incredible tools that can bring incredible changes to the body.

Benefits of training with weighted vests or body weights? Weighted vests not only increase the resistance but also increase the calorie-burning process, these added weight puts your muscles under added stress to work harder which makes them grow stronger and bigger. Adding weighted vests are a great way to train your core, these muscles need to work harder to stabilize the added weight which results in gaining impeccable core strength.

What are weighted vests and body weights?

Weighted vests or body weights are an incredibly powerful tool to take your athletic performance to the next level. Many pro-athletes are using it as a versatile tool to improve the overall athletic performance (4). Stay with us and we are going to talk about each and everything about weighted vest or body weights.

Have you already started imagining yourself as military personnel who is performing brutal military Bootcamp style workout? Slow down mate, I am not into brutal style of workout.

Some of the best workouts that you can do with your weighted vest are:

Tempo running
Brisk walking
Calisthenics
Box jumps
Burpees.

Weighted vests have evolved over a period of time, they are not the same as before. Most of the weighted vests are designed to keep your body’s center of gravity unchanged.

Its general purpose is to use the weight vest in adding extra weight for body-weight exercises, distance running, speed, walking, quick drills and agility.

Weighted Vest Benefits

Weighted vest delivers some incredible benefits that are hard to be achieved by any other fitness equipment. Let’s go through some undeniable benefits of a workout with a weighted vest.

Accelerated calorie burning:

No matter what your age is or what exercise you do, a weighted vest always proves to be an accelerator in the calorie-burning process.

Wearing a 20 additional pound vest demands extra energy expenditure which results in accelerated calorie burning.

Study (3) concluded an improvement in metabolic responses and ground reaction forces.

You can also boost your calorie-burning process by applying some thermogenic gel before you prepare for the workout.

Versatility:

It’s one of the most versatile workout accessories you can probably buy. You can walk, run or do bodyweight workouts with it.

I personally recomend a weighted vest to clients who prefer outdoor workout, it’s a single accessory that delivers improved athletic performance.

Muscle strengthening:

Muscles don’t understand bodybuilding, they just responds to the added resistance.

With those additional 20-40 pounds, you are actually preparing your body for heavier loads. Training with a weighted vest stimulates muscle development and stronger bones.

A study (1) conducted to evaluate the sprinting performance of nineteen soccer players found positive results.

Another Research conducted to investigate the effects of a training weighted vest found a loss of hip aBMD and increase bone formation in older adults with obesity.

Core strengthening:

It’s not just the muscle that is working hard, your core plays a very important part in-body stabilization.

Training with additional weight demands extra core strength which leads to a stronger core. You don’t really need to rely on thousands of crunches for that perfect abdomen; routine agility workout and some planking session with 20 pounds of the weighted vest can do the work for you.

Agility:

Not just the fitness athletes, the weighted vest plays a very crucial role in improving agility in high-intensity sports. A study (2) conducted on eight male athletes to investigate the effects of a weighted vest on overall performance. Researchers found some impressive improvements in agility and overall performance.

Beat the plateau

Following the same fitness routine for months may lead to reaching a plateau. Plateau is more common in bodyweight workouts because of the limitations of “progressive overload”.

Plateau is nothing but a state of saturation where the body adapts to the same resistance and halts further development. Challenging it with additional resistance can help in breaking the state of the plateau.

Introducing a weighted vest for 4 weeks after every 8 weeks of the training program can help in breaking the PR. Overall, it will transform you into a stronger being.

How to: Jogging with a weighted vest

Jogging with a weighted vest is definitly a fun way to improve many aspects of your overall performance. It assists in burning more calories, increased speed, posture, and bone health (5). It’s important to understand the right way to jogging with a weighted vest, let’s discuss important pointers.

Make sure to start with lightweight, maybe 10 pounds for a week. Gradually increasing the weight allows your body to adapt.
Make sure the weight is tightly secured around your body. The disproportionate distribution of weights may affect the body’s center of gravity and lead to bad posture.
A heavy weighted vest is good for bodyweight exercises like pullups, pushups, planks, squats, etc, but not the right choice for jogging. Keeping the additional weight around 20 pounds is a sweet spot.
See your doctor if you experience acute pain in joints.
Stay conscious about your posture while you jog with an additional weighted vest. In order to run with heavier weights, some people make themselves vulnerable to injuries.

So we have talked about the do’s and dont’s of jogging with a weighted vest. Let’s get to know the expected benefits now.

You can expect to see a considerable improvement in running strides.
Jogging with a weighted vest helps in burning 5-15 percent of enhanced calorie burning.
Reach your beach body goal at an accelerated pace. Jogging with a weighted vest helps in improving muscle building, core strength, and cardiovascular health. All three components lead the way to a sexier version of yourself.
4 weeks of running with a weighted vest can help in improving the overall ability to cover longer distances with much ease.

Are you walking with weights in a backpack?

That’s certainly not the best choice to go for.

Walking with weights in a backpack definitly adds up the extra weight to your walk but it’s not equally distributed.

Heavy backpacks may lead to excess strain on the spine because of the constant jerks and incorrect posture.

Modern Weighted vests are designed to distribute that extra weight evenly to the body which allows greater stability with lesser chances of injury.

Weighted vests are also designed to stick to the body as close as possible and gives you an uncompromised center of gravity.

Investing a few bucks in a good weighted vest is definitly a better choice than having injured back.

Thanks for reading. Questions welcomed in the comments as always.

This site contains affiliate links as well as general health and fitness information. Please read my Medical Disclaimer and Writing Disclaimer for more information.

Walking Or Jogging With A Weighted Vest – 7 Benefits

Introduction:

What are weighted vests and body weights?