Weighted vests

HilTri

I am thinking about getting a weighted vest to supplement my workouts. I would wear it to walk my dog or walk with my mom. Both are slow activities so I want to get more out of both. Can you recommend a vest with a good fit for a woman about 130 lbs? I would like to go heavy maybe adjustable weights up to 40-50 lbs. I will take all suggestions/ recommendations. Thank you.

sgt1372

The 75# V-Force vest that I own is very well made. I usually only put 25-50# in it; only bought the 75# version because it didn't cost that much more than the 50#er.

They make a version for women but the heaviest one of those they have is 30# but, unless you are a larger/heavier woman, 30# should be good enough, especially if you haven"t trained w/one b4

See: https://www.weightvest.com/v-max-womens-vests/

They're expensive but you get what you pay 4 and are worth the $ IMO.

HilTri

Thank you! That is just what I was looking for. I just placed my order.

sgt1372

You're welcome. Hope it works well 4u.

BrianSharpe

FWIW, if you're looking to expend more calories while walking a 50lb vest represents a whopping 15 cal per mile walked. (but they do also stimulate bone growth / density)

Here's an interesting article from Harvard that recommends not exceeding 10% of your body weight.

[url="http://"]https://health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/wearable-weights-how-they-can-help-or-hurt[/url]

sgt1372

So, when you go on a backpack trip, you only carry 10% of your BW in your pack? I don't think so

That would only be 15-16# for me and there's no way I could carry all the gear I need w/such a ridiculous wt limitation. My min for backpacking is 50# or about 35% of my BW but I have carried as much as 75# or about 50% of my BW w/o any adverse effects, except of course getting tired

Using a wt'd vest for me is NOT about burning cals, its about building the necessary body strength (upper, lower and core) and endurance to carry the weight for time and distance.

In my experience, there is no better "low impact" method to "toning" and strengthening your body by just walking or hiking w/a wt'd vest on and 25-30% of your BW is a reasonable wt for anyone in good health and w/o any physical or medical impairments to carry BUT anyone who has proper training and conditioning certainly can carry more.

So the ppl at Harvard (I went there, not to the Medical School, but they are all that smart) who say you should only wear 10% of your BW in a weighted vest can go stuff it. No way you'll gain any meaningful strength or endurance doing that.

What nonsense! LOL!

You can however carry more weight in a vest that you are ready but that amount depends on the individual and their strength and training level but setting any arbitrary max wt for everyone is ludicrous and defies common sense for ppk who have done any wt/strength training.

I trust the intelligence of the OP and othersto judge how much that should be for them.

HilTri

I received my vest...perfection. I wore it on a short walk and it is very comfortable. In addition to the benefits you stated above, I find that my posture is improved while wearing it. It is 30#, I removed several weights and went with 20# for the first go. I am so happy I didn’t settle for something ar Dick’s sporting goods.

sgt1372

HilTri wrote: »

I received my vest...perfection. I wore it on a short walk and it is very comfortable. In addition to the benefits you stated above, I find that my posture is improved while wearing it. It is 30#, I removed several weights and went with 20# for the first go. I am so happy I didn’t settle for something ar Dick’s sporting goods.

Glad it worked out for you!

BrianSharpe

sgt1372 wrote: »

So, when you go on a backpack trip, you only carry 10% of your BW in your pack? I don't think so

So the ppl at Harvard (I went there, not to the Medical School, but they are all that smart) who say you should only wear 10% of your BW in a weighted vest can go stuff it.

The OP wasn't talking about hiking but regular workouts......but congratulations on being smarter than medically trained people at Harvard.

sgt1372

BrianSharpe wrote: »

sgt1372 wrote: »

So, when you go on a backpack trip, you only carry 10% of your BW in your pack? I don't think so

So the ppl at Harvard (I went there, not to the Medical School, but they are all that smart) who say you should only wear 10% of your BW in a weighted vest can go stuff it.

The OP wasn't talking about hiking but regular workouts......but congratulations on being smarter than medically trained people at Harvard.

The OP was talking about walking w/a vest on which is just a less demanding form of hiking and she has already said thay she's happy w/the vest that I suggest she buy.

FWIW, a lot of medically trained people know absolutely nothing about strength training (my PCP is one of them) and I am tired of hearing (especially on MFP) how useless and or dangerous wearing ankle/wrist wts or weighted vests can be (which was the general perspective of the Harvard article) which I think is pure BS based on my experience in using them to increase my strength & endurance w/o injury.

So, despite the normative thinking on MFP and the Harvard article to the contrary, I'm here to tell you and others that ankle/wrist wts and weighted vests can be used safely and effectively in training for strength and fitness and it is not difficult to find articles attesting to this on the Net.