Supercharge your calorie burn with a weighted vest
Get the new year off to a flying start with fitness kit that will 10 x your efforts.
At this time of year, everyone is talking about goals. Work, personal, financial, and of course health and fitness. What are your fitness goals for the year? Whether you want to drop a few kgs, build muscle, or get seriously fit, it’s time to make a plan.
There’s no need to adopt a new fad or do a complete 180 on your existing training habits. You could be overlooking the simplest addition to your routine that will burn calories like a beast… a weighted vest.
Do you burn more calories with a weighted vest?
Adding a weighted vest to your walks, cardio sessions, and bodyweight workouts will help you hit your goals so much faster. It’s simple really, by wearing a weighted vest you’ll be adding external load to your body, which will naturally make your body work harder. The result? More calories expended – without increasing your workout time.
How does a weighted vest help you burn calories?
Wearing a weighted vest during exercise sessions adds temporary weight to your body (thankfully it’s easy to take off, unlike those Christmas kilos!) Your body has to work harder to move around when it’s carrying extra weight, and this means you’ll expend more calories. It’s exactly the same concept that means your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is higher when you’re heavier, and drops when you lose weight.
By donning a weighted vest, you give your body extra work to do – and it responds by expending more energy, burning more calories, and getting fitter in the process. And then you get to take the weighted vest off and go about the rest of your day as your real weight!
5 workouts to do with a weighted vest
Long walks
On average, walking burns around 100 calories per mile. Walking in a weighted vest could increase this by 10-15% (that’s according to a 2013 study conducted on women walking on a treadmill – so you can expect to burn even more calories if you’re walking outdoors). Plus a weighted vest gives you an easy place to stash your phone and keys!
Hiking or rucking
Take those walks to the next level by going hiking or rucking. The addition of a weighted vest adds resistance training to your cardio, and means you’ll torch calories and challenge your lower body to a muscle-building workout.
CrossFit WODs
Today’s WOD not tough enough for you? Add a weighted vest and feel the burn for air squats, rig work, press ups, wall balls and whatever else the whiteboard has in store for you. WODs in a weighted vest is a quick way to supercharge your CrossFit conditioning.
Bodyweight workouts
Calisthenics and bodyweight exercises are amazing, but it won’t be long before you hit a plateau in terms of load. A very simple way around this is to wear a weighted vest for your bodyweight workouts. No need to hold a barbell, dumbbell or kettlebell – let the vest add the load.
Running
There are a few ways to supercharge the calories you burn on your regular runs. You can run faster, go longer, or introduce interval work. Now there’s another way – add external load so your body temporarily has more mass to shift. Running with a weighted vest burns more calories and forces your body to adapt, so your regular runs will feel easier. Bonus!
Best way to use a weighted vest to lose weight
Wearing a weighted vest won’t magically melt fat off your body. But it will definitely help once you’ve got your nutrition, calorie intake, and regular activity sorted. Wear a weighted vest for some of your daily walks, cardio workouts, conditioning sessions or bodyweight workouts and you’ll burn more calories to lose weight faster.
We stock top quality weighted vests designed to be worn for workouts and outdoor adventures. Take a look at the range and find your new favourite weighted vest today.
