Posts Tagged ‘weight vest’

Reckon you could climb a mountain in a weight vest. It sounds impossible – right?

A mountain is big. This is New Zealand’s biggest mountain…

Mt Cook is 12,316 ft. Its very beautiful but I’m damned if I want to climb it in a weight vest. I found some concrete steps in a park about a minutes walk from my place.

Its 60 or so steps to this level…

Then another 50 plus into the shopping mall above…

Over 110 steps so that must be at least 40 feet.

12,316 ft divided by 40 = 307

If I can climb these steps 307 times in my weight vest I have climbed the equivalent of a mountain.

Today I did it six times and nearly blew my ass – I have a 40 lb vest and will try adding one more climb each day I do it. It is one “hell” of a cardio workout and not too bad for the thighs either.

Weight vest training has begun to make a change in my physique. I am a lifter of 26 years but have a smooth midsection. I don’t enjoy running at all. It feels good at the end but I don’t think the muscle fibers in my legs are suited for it. At 100 kg its not so good either.

I’m a weight lifter not a runner.

I tried jump rope which is more effective but again I am just not made for it. I thought jump rope was the most strenuous cardio workout but I was wrong.

Kettlebells and weight vest training combined will change your training regimen. I get an extreme endorphin hit doing this training. It puts a grin on my face and I am now highly motivated to do cardio. The main exercise with kettlebells for cardio is the snatch. Look up the “viking warrior conditioning” program.

This is just plain killer cardio that takes you well into the red zone – nearly heart attack material.

It really is very strenuous – but so damn good.

So being an ex-grunt I have to add the weight vest. Fatigue and stamina are pushed to the limit.

Get a 16 kg kettlebell, a weight vest, a doctors seal of approval (seriously) and be prepared to do battle. Really this is military grade training fit for any combat soldier.

My body weight is unchanged at 100 kg but in the last two days both my gym instructor (who I never ask for instruction) and a complete stranger have commented on my physique. The stranger asked me how to lose abdominal fat. Well I am far from ripped but it wont take long training in this way.

I still do my regular weight training with barbell & dumbell but add 2-3 weight vest sessions per week preferably with the kettlebells.

Deadlifts are also killer with the vest on.

Yes I convinced the gym instructor at my gym some months ago to buy some KB’s.

Coz they ain’t cheap – right ? I used them a bit but found it a little lame. Well having got my new weight vest it seemed the KB’s may be a good combination.

Some barbell work is inconvenient with a vest (like bench press) – dead lifts are excellent though.

Same with machines – its not quite what the vest was designed for.

Kettlebells’s and the weight vest give the most killer intense workout you can imagine. Throw in some dead lifts and barbell curls and you will be sore the next day.

I like to use my vest for 3 hours at a stretch. Normally this will include a weights workout and a good long walk.

THIS IS NOT ME (I’m handsome) LOL

Image from : http://swingsnatch.blogspot.com/

Really training with Kettlebells alone is lame – once you have hit them with a vest there is no turning back.

Weight vests are serious kit – DO NOT RUSH !!!

Be very careful to break in to using a vest – no plyometrics for the first 3 months. No running or jumping for the first 3 months.

You want your hips, spine & knees to slowly adapt to the added weight. Do stretches and joint strengthening to adapt to the vest. After some weeks you can slowly add more movement oriented exercise.

Weight training and walking are fine for the beginning as are low impact calisthenics like push ups and pull ups.

After time you can add weight and plyometric moves.

Today I finally bought my first weight vest. I wore it for 3 hours straight away to test it out. Its only a 40 lb model so this was not challenging although I was glad to get it off by the end.

I intend to add steel shot to the vest over time and increase the weight.