Are you looking for a way to improve your training? If so, you may have heard about using a weighted vest. A weighted vest is exactly what it sounds like. You will wear this back just like a typical vest, jacket, or sweater.
The vest will be filled with some other material that will make your workout a bit harder. Similar to medicine balls and dumbbells, weighted vests come in numerous shapes and sizes.
Why would you want to make your workout more challenging? There are several significant benefits that come with using a weighted vest. They include:
- You can burn more calories.
- You can reduce your chances of getting hurt.
- You can improve your cardiovascular endurance.
- You can customize your weighted vest to meet your needs.
- You’ll look good while exercising.
Now, let’s take a closer look at some of these benefits in detail. What are some of the top benefits of using a weighted vest?
1. You Can Burn More Calories
If you are exercising to lose weight, you want to burn as many calories as possible. A weighted vest can do exactly that. When you wear a weighted vest, you will add more resistance to your exercises. Therefore, you’ll have to push harder during the movement.
This means that your body will have to work harder to complete the exercise. Because your body has to work harder, you’ll burn more calories. For example, one specific study demonstrated that people who wore a weighted vest that increased their body weight by 10 percent burned significantly more calories than those who only wore a weighted vest increasing their body weight by 5 percent.
If you are wearing a weighted vest for the first time, you may not want to read for the heaviest option available. You should ease into this new activity before you start to increase your weight. On the other hand, if you want to burn more calories faster, you should consider using a weighted vest.
2. You Could Improve Your Balance
If you want to improve your balance and coordination, then a weighted vest can help you do that. If you increase the amount of weight on the upper half of your body, you can improve your balance.
When you increase the weight on your upper body, it will be easier for you to balance. Gravity pulls your weight closer to the ground. Therefore, your body has to work harder to maintain its balance.
If you increase the weight on the top half of your body, the force of gravity on your body will be stronger. Therefore, your body has to work harder to maintain its balance.
You’ll need to work harder to balance yourself, which means you’ll have an easier time balancing when the weighted vest comes off. If you want to improve your balance, consider wearing a weighted vest.
3. A Weighted Vest Can Increase Your Bone Density
One of the biggest benefits of exercising regularly is that you can increase your bone density. Increasing your bone density is important because it can reduce your chances of suffering fractures down the road. This is particularly important for those who are at a greater risk of developing osteoporosis or osteopenia.
When you exercise with a weighted vest, you increase the mechanical loading on your muscles. Therefore, your body will be stimulated to drive more calcium and phosphorus into your bones, increasing their density. This is particularly beneficial when you perform weight-bearing exercises such as squats, deadlifts, or push-ups.
When your bone density increases, your bones become thicker. They will not be as susceptible to fractures, and you can reduce your chances of suffering a serious injury.
4. You Can Increase Your Cardiovascular Endurance
Another significant benefit of exercising with a weighted vest is that you can increase your cardiovascular endurance. You will probably notice that your heart rate will be higher when you exercise with a weighted vest. This is because your body has to work harder to complete these exercises.
One study uncovered that training with a weighted vest increases your blood lactate threshold. Therefore, you can work at a greater intensity for a longer amount of time before getting tired.
If you want to increase your cardiovascular endurance, exercising with a weighted vest could be beneficial. Even though you may cycle, run, or use the elliptical machine, you can further increase your endurance if you perform these exercises with a weighted vest.
5. A Weighted Vest Can Help You Improve Your Posture
Are you tired of starting over? If so, exercising with a weighted vest could solve this issue. When you wear a weighted vest, your core muscles feel the effects immediately. Your core will be tighter throughout your workout, helping you maintain an appropriate posture.
The weighted vest will increase the stress on your muscles, helping your core get stronger. If your core gets stronger, you’ll have an easier time supporting your own body weight. Therefore, you can increase the amount of support for your spine, helping you improve your posture.
In addition, if you perform exercises that strengthen your weaker muscles (such as the smaller muscles in your back) while using a weighted vest, you can exponentially increase the foundation of support provided to your spine. This could help you solve some of your posture issues.
6. You Can Get Stronger, Faster
One of the most obvious benefits of training with a weighted vest is that you can get stronger, faster. It only makes sense that if you perform every exercise with a bit of extra weight, you should get stronger more quickly.
As stated above, your body will have to work harder to complete exercises with the added weight from your training vest. Your muscles will have to work together to complete every repetition perfectly, providing a full-body workout regardless of the type of exercise you perform.
Therefore, you can trigger muscle hypertrophy to a greater extent, helping you get stronger. If you perform the same exercises without the weighted vest, you should be able to push yourself much further.
7. A Weighted Vest Could Help Elderly Individuals Reduce The Risk Of Injury
Even though weighted vests can help people at every age, they are particularly useful for elderly individuals. One of the biggest benefits of exercising with a weighted vest is that it could help you reduce your chances of getting hurt.
For example, a research study found that individuals with osteopenia who exercise with a weighted vest can increase their bone mineral density. The end result is that this type of training could reduce your chances of suffering a bone fracture. If you are looking for a way to exercise without getting hurt, you may want to perform some simple repetitions with a weighted vest.
8. You Can Get Faster
Have you ever seen professional fighters train? If so, there is a chance you saw them exercising with a weighted vest. This is because training with a weighted vest can help you get faster. What does this mean?
It means that you can improve your turnover. If you need to throw punches more quickly, you should practice throwing punches with a weighted vest. If you need to increase your turnover as you sprint down the track, you may want to use a weighted vest to help you.
It has long been known that performing agility training with a weighted vest can help you get faster. Putting on a weighted vest puts your body under extreme conditions. Then, the instant you take your vest off, your speed and quickness should improve. That way, you can perform more quickly than you ever had before.
Regardless of whether you want to run down a track or throw more punches, a weighted vest can help you do so more quickly.
9. You Can Use A Weighted Vest For Almost Anything
The next significant benefit of using a weighted vest is that you can use it for just about anything. If you want to increase the intensity of any type of exercise, wearing a weighted vest can help you do exactly that.
Do you want to build strength while unloading the dishwasher? Consider using a weighted vest. Do you want to get stronger while cleaning the house? Consider putting on the weighted vest while vacuuming.
Even though these are extreme examples, they demonstrate the versatility of the weighted vest. Regardless of whether you are performing push-ups, squats, interval treadmill training, or traditional bench press exercises, a weighted vest can be involved.
10. A Weighted Vest Is Suitable For All Ages
Just about anybody can exercise using a weighted vest. If you have a particularly young child, you may want to talk to your doctor before you ask them to exercise with a weighted vest.
On the other hand, anyone from high school all the way up to elderly individuals can exercise using a weighted vest. You can find a comfortable size for you, and you can find a way that makes sense.
You can customize your weighted vest to meet your needs. This type of control makes it an incredibly valuable exercise tool.
11. You Can Burn More Fat
Do you want to burn fat and build muscle? If so, training with a weighted vest is the way to go. For example, one specific clinical trial showed that using a weighted vest can help you burn more fat in a shorter amount of time. If you want to improve your body composition, a weighted vest can help you do that.
12. It Simply Looks Good
Finally, one of the top benefits of training with a weighted vest is that it simply looks good. If you like to do CrossFit, or if you simply go to your local gym, you want to look good as you exercise. You also want to look like you know what you’re doing.
One of the ways to do that is to use a weighted vest. It is not exactly a secret that most weighted vests resemble the tactical vests worn by military professionals. There is a good chance that you’ll look good wearing it as well.
Exercise already releases endorphins that make you feel happy. If you look good while exercising, you might experience a wide variety of other mental health benefits as well.
Incorporate A Weighted Vest Into Your Next Workout
These are just a few of the many reasons why you should consider incorporating a weighted vest into your next workout. This is one of the most versatile exercise tools out there, and it is suitable for just about any age. You can customize your weighted vest to meet your needs, so consider using this to push your next workout just a bit further and build more lean muscle.
