Weighted clothing

[Alpharius]

When I ran track we used weight vests and parachutes for speed days. The parachutes were pretty fun, but the weight vest was a total pain in the ass, while it made the work out more challenging, the constant noise it made was unbearable for me and threw off my rhythm.

 

[Vroom]

I've also caught more than my fair share of peppa pig too, what of it?

You can find inspiration almost anywhere if you keep your mind open. But if you write ideas off simply because of how you perceive the source that inspired it rather than the potential of the idea itself, you'll always be a follower, constantly seeking approval from the herd.

Conceptuals ideas this might work for but to think weighted clothes is a good idea, as it is something grounded in reality, without googling it and proceeding to start a thread about it is pretty laughable. If you aren't writing a data sheet or bringing a blog link you might as well not start a new thread and just post on the forum lounge especially a laughable idea of physical reality like this not grounded in scientific fact

I just posted a video of a world champion boxer using one, and know they are commonly used in elite sports. What part of that makes it "a laughable idea of physical reality like this not grounded in scientific fact" in your mind?

 

[Checkmat]

I had this same thought once but I was like 10 years old.

 

[Vroom]

Finnish Researcher Helkki Rusko...opted to test the gravity-leg-strength connection by strapping weighted vests onto his subjects, 12 well-trained athletes. Each vest weighed 10 percent of the subject's total body weight, forcing leg muscles to work harder, even during routine activities like standing and walking. Rusko's subjects wore their vests all day long for four weeks and during at least three of their eight weekly workouts.

The initial results were negative. After four weeks: the runners needed more oxygen to run at a given pace (that is, their running economy had deteriorated). Similarly, their leg muscles were producing more lactic acid, a possible sign of muscle fatigue.

Fortunately, Rusko didn't give up at this point. For the next two weeks, he asked his subjects to take off their vests and continue training as usual. A retest at the end of this two-week period produced far different results.

This time, lactate threshold was 2 percent higher (meaning that the runners produced less lactic acid), and max V02 had also increased by 2 percent. Two other important measures also improved: Endurance while sprinting soared by 25 percent, and stair running speed, a good indicator of leg-muscle power, increased by 3 percent.

These improvements in speed and power occurred because weighted-vest running altered the test subjects' basic running mechanics and activated the fast-twitch muscle fibers in their legs. Only the group's running economy remained slightly depressed.

The bottom line? Wearing a weighted vest has the potential to strengthen your leg muscles, make you faster, improve your kick and make you a better hill runner. However, it's important to bear in mind the following points:

* If you decide to try using a vest, wear it as much as possible during your daily routine. Wearing a vest only for workouts may not provide enough stimulation of fast-twitch muscle fibers.

* Wear the weighted vest during some, but not all, of your training sessions. The vest actually slows your average speed during training, so constant use would eventually teach your muscles to work at a slower rate.

* You'll have to stop wearing the vest for several weeks before you see positive effects. Your body needs a "furlough" to recover from the extra stresses of vest wearing.

* Don't try to substitute hand weights for a vest. Hand weights may slightly increase your oxygen consumption, but they won't do anything for your leg muscles or increase your max V02 to any significant degree.

* Don't attach weights to your ankles. The extra poundage could cause injuries and may wreck your running economy.

* Weighted vests will probably prove most beneficial to middle and short distance runners. Distance runners may be able to improve their lactate threshold, max V02 and kicking ability by using a vest, but they must guard against loss of running economy. You can buy weighted vests in some sporting goods stores.

http://www.fluidmovement.com/vest/ArticleByOwenAndersonPhD.htm

 

[Mage]

I have so far only posted two jokes about this because I couldn't resist.

But I actually believe this thing has potential. At least it deserves a try out.

Majority of people will laugh about anything unorthodox as always.

Some 8 years ago I also did this experiment - I wore ankle weights after morning shower and remover them only before evening shower. I was doing this for every second day - rest is also needed. I was not wearing a vest due to aversion to constant sweating and skin not breathing. But perhaps if I had configured my gear differently this could have been done.

I was not doing any other training at that time and I was very skinny - I was young student with little money to spend on food because housing, clothes and girls were a priority.

But I remember that after wearing ankle weights for a few weeks I once ran run without stopping with a girl in my hands weighing 80% of my own weight from ground floor to 7th floor. My legs were strong but without bulk.

Eventually my focus shifted and I stopped wearing weights. Not because of a lack of results, but because for a moment other things became more important.

As long as your expectations are realistic - you don't expect that your hair will get erection and emanate light - you can try this out and report back to us. Maybe I will try this again too.

 

[The Beast1]

I saw some dragonball z the other day and it got me thinking about weighted clothing to help increase strength and speed. I already wear weights for things like chins and dips, but I was wondering about weighted clothing to wear throughout the course of my day.

From browsing the net it seems ankle and wrist weights are frowned upon as they add a load on the ends of your extremities, raising the risk of injury, but I'm more interested in weight worn around your core, ie vests and shorts. The reason being you should be able to add significant weight to your torso, but because it's close to your centre of gravity, it should still be fairly safe.

I'll probably end up experimenting with it for myself over the next few months, but was wondering if anyone here had used weight vests/clothing outside their workouts, and if so, the results they got?

How much weight could you wear and how long could you tolerate it for?

Are there are brands/items they used to add significant weight while maintaining a fairly low profile? Or even better, is there an ingenious way someone has made their own weighted clothing using common and cheap materials?

It would be awesome if we could train in a higher gravity environment.

Oh and

 

[kosko]

Weighted clothing has value while you train. You can purchase compressive shirts and shorts with weoghtrd material in them. It helps but wearing them for prolong periods is not worthwhile. Just wear to the gym, work out, take off.

 

[Yeti]

Bumping this thread to see if anyone has some experience with weighted vests. I walk a lot and was thinking of adding some weights to my torso/core, but haven't seen anything conclusive on the forum. I've been eating paleo/primal more and together with walking and sleeping a lot, and avoiding sugar/dairy/grains, this keeps me pretty healthy and trim. I would like to build up my muscles a bit, though.

 

[king bast]

I have a 30kg weighted vest which I use for bodyweight exercises like chins and dips. It's a fantastic training tool, but unless you're using it to overload a particular muscle group, it's probably not what you're looking for if your goal is to add size.

It sounds like you're wanting to just wear it while you're walking, which would make it more of a "systemic" exercise like a loaded carry. Although great for increasing overall strength, it's not an ideal mass building exercise.

If you were to try it, I'd keep the weight pretty low - even putting my full 30kg vest on is kinda challenging, and just leaving it on between sets gets pretty uncomfortable. I definitely wouldn't be setting off on a walk of any more than a couple of hundred metres with that sort of weight, but maybe 10kg might be OK.

I'd be interested to hear what results you get if you do try it.

 

[Yeti]

It sounds like you're wanting to just wear it while you're walking, which would make it more of a "systemic" exercise like a loaded carry. Although great for increasing overall strength, it's not an ideal mass building exercise.

If you were to try it, I'd keep the weight pretty low... I definitely wouldn't be setting off on a walk of any more than a couple of hundred metres with that sort of weight, but maybe 10kg might be OK.

I'd be interested to hear what results you get if you do try it.

Yeah, just for walking. I walk at least an hour each day on average, basically to work, so I figure that I might as well add some weight. I see now that it probably won't add much muscle, but that's fine. I'll try it and see how it goes. My goal is just to make use of the time a bit better, since I'll be walking anyhow. 10kg sounds like a good weight to try out. I listen to podcasts along the way to make use of that time walking.