Including weighted vest into your workouts can transform your fitness regimen. The addition of weighted vest will take your regular body weight exercise routines to new levels.
Using a weighted vest means you are basically adding more intensity and load to your exercise. It pushes the body to work extra hard due to the additional stress on your body. Additionally, a weighted vest will also force your muscles groups to work harder due to the added resistance that it delivers.
When Can You Slip Into a Weighted Vest?
From running, hiking, pullups, and press-up complexes, you can definitely include the use of weighted vest when implementing these simple yet crucial movements. In essence, adding weighted vest into basic workouts means more resistance into workouts.
As more people prefer working at hoe these days, adding a weighted vest into your arsenal is ideal to maximise gains and ensure you get the results you want.
Even fitness experts do not use too much weight as this may predispose the body to more injuries. Ideally, your weight vest should only weigh five your total body weight.
Over time, you can add up to 15 percent of your body weight for safe and effective workouts. To that end, adjustable weighted vests are ideal to add more intensity to your workouts as you progress.
Experts recommend reducing exercise duration and increased rest periods until you start feeling comfortable wearing them. It will be challenging to exercise with a vest on at first as it will cause an increase in heart rate and stay elevated for a longer period.
Here are some movements that will make you break a sweat and make your workouts more efficient.
1. Walking, Running, and Jogging
The external forces that run through the body when walking, running, or jogging is five times more than your body weight. Adding more weight via a weighted vest will place more force through your joints and ligaments resulting in an intense workout.
Start by walking slow or jog at a slow pace. After five minutes, remove the vest and run at your own pace. Repeat this routine for a week or two, then slowly increase the time of easy jogging with a weighted vest on. Consequently, increase the time spent jogging up to 60 minutes and ramp up the pace once you’re comfortable.
2. Stair Climbing
There are only a few basic exercises that can truly get you a blood-pumping workout. One of these is stair climbing. It’s a simple activity and yet so effective in elevating heart rate and burning calories. It’s also an easy workout routine to follow.
Whether you do it using a stair climber or an actual stairwell, the results will reveal themselves once you make it a regular part of your workout routine. Adding weighted vest also translates to more efforts by your major muscle groups.
Start stair climbing with a weighted vest for five minutes during the first week and work your way up until you are more comfortable breathing and moving with a weighted vest on.
3. Push-ups
Doing push-ups with a weighted vest on is similar to push-ups with plates placed on your back. The benefit to using a weighted vest is that you don’t have to worry about plates sliding off your back. It makes push-ups more difficult hence more effective in the long run.
Experts recommend starting this routine with a set of five. Implement proper movement during push-ups with your back flat as you go through the full range of motions. A proper push-up is bending your arms until the chest is two inches from the floor. Form and posture are more important than reps, so always be mindful of your form when doing this movement.
4. Squats
A strength training workout isn’t complete without squats. There are many squat variations to choose from. However, if you want to add weighted squat with this movement, we highly recommend doing traditional squats for starters.
At the onset, you need to focus on your form. It may be compromised due to the additional weight on your upper torso. Concentrate on making sure you assume the proper stance for squatting. It’s also best to pace your breathing so that your neck and breathing muscles do not work too hard or get strained.
Start by doing 10 reps of air squats followed by a full minute of rest. Ideally, do two sets and rest. Over time, add more reps to your air squats while decreasing rest periods in between. If you want a more intense exercise, add dumbbells into the mix.
Start with lighter dumbbells and add more weight after a week or once you are fully comfortable with weighted vest on. The key is to be back to your pre-vest standards while ensuring you don’t get injured in the process.