The benefits of training and running with a weighted vest

Using a Weight Vest is a "MUST HAVE" if you want to increase the intensity of your workouts that goes beyond the classics and into the more creative. The advantages go beyond this and perhaps you are not taking them into consideration as you have not heard from it yet. So read on and find out why you should consider adding a vest in your running, strength and hiit routines....well, and crossfit and walking and everything that means you move!

Let's start from the basics, shall we?.

What is a weighted vest, and the benefits it adds to your routines?

Running with a weighted vest increases the intensity during the training sessions, in addition to raising the heart rate, you will improve the strength in the legs and the core zone, greater stability and activate different muscle groups.

Due to their great versatility from the Hyper vest as it contours your body, the weight vest allows you to perform a wide range of exercises, from the very basics such as walking the dog, running, climbing the rope, push-ups, sit-ups to the more complex and dreaded burpees, pull ups, etc The hyper vest allows you to move the normal way you would move as the weight goes around your body rather than sitting on an specific fixed point of your body such as your hands for example.

Want to know more? sure thing! Here we share the benefits of training and running with a weighted vest in more detail:

• Increase Intensity: when adding weight to your workouts the intensity will be greater, basic stuff right? however, you must take into consideration your level and objectives, sometimes a few pounds make a difference to some, while other people need to add more weight to see progress. If you are a beginner, it is not advisable to do it with weights greater than 5-10 percent of your body weight.
• Adding a Vest to your workout is a progressive overload method, essential if you want to maintain an improvement in your physical condition in the medium and long term.
• Burn more calories: carrying extra weight during exercise requires an extra supply of oxygen and strength, while energy reserves are depleted more quickly. With a little more weight, the muscles must adapt to the new weight, thereby increasing muscular endurance and strength gain.
• Boost Speed & Explosive Power: If you're a runner, adding a weighted vest is a great way to build resistance during your training sessions. Also, once your body adapts to the extra weight, you will notice a big difference in speed and power....and 'if you really want to go into the devils deepest cauldron', says Elena, 'do hill explosive short drills with a hyper vest, pure evil but with massive rewards'
• High intensity constantly varied functional movements. The human body adapts to specific movements over a period of time, either positively or negatively. A stagnation in progress may be the result of that adaptation. Therefore, the use of added weights is a good way to provide our body with variants for which it is not prepared.
• The cardiovascular system has to function at full capacity due to the extra weight that has been added, this results in a strengthening of lung capacity and a more optimal use of the oxygen consumed. A study published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology. where a group of endurance athletes were separated into some who wore a vest and another who did not, to see how the extra weight afected metabolic energy performance during exercise. The study found that those athletes who had worn the weight vest during exercise had 2mmol lower lactate, improving running time and also improving speed....BOOM! that is what we are talking about.

As we mentioned at the beginning, you must take your goals into consideration to define the option that best suits your training requirements, to wear a very high weight in your Vest can affect your technique and health if you do not do it in a conscious and responsible way. As we always say, there are endless ways of challenging your workouts...sometimes even the simplicity of a good night sleep, a delicious cup of coffee and your best banging tunes give you that extra edge for that workout today!

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ELENA - COFOUNDER @ Stronger and also called Chief Disruptor Officer (lol) shares her experience when taking her Hyper vest with her into the Andes for a month.

'I knew I wasn't going to be able to train during my 1 month stay in Colombia the same way as I do at home, not only as it was going to be a different location and that was ok, it got me excited! perfect excuse to train differently and get myself uncomfortable. So I started to look ahead of my journey for what my routine would look like, whilst in the Andes'. So here is what I did:

1. I signed up for a crossfit box and used my vest for the metcon sessions and movements. There I saw cauldron of hell number 1 lolz but it worked for me as I could do some of the movements without much of the high impact but with the extra weight evenly spread across my upper body.

2. I continue to use my phone workout apps such as Nike Training apps, FIIT and others but adding my hyper vest for a whole new level. That was super interesting to see the different results with the same body weight workouts. 

3. I started to run up the mountains at a steady slow pace and I loved it! It allowed me to have a 'chat' at times with people while enjoying the spectacular views of the Andes.

'The results....well lots of fun, lots of mental strength to keep believing that I can and I have to say I came back super happy with my body and what it can still do, despite being way above the average age in that crossfit box ha!'

We love love Hypervest and have been using it for a while here at the Stronger office we cannot recommend it enough.

If at the end of this article if you decided that the Weight Vest would be a good addition for you, remember that we have available:

• Weighted Vest - Hyperwear to give that "boost" to your strength or cardio routines
• If you already have your Vest or want to challenge yourself, you can also add extra weight with our Hyper Vest PRO Booster Pack (2.3kg loose weights)