Im looking to buy a weighted vest and walk to work 4 miles every morning…but I can only find 20kg ones ! (around 40 LBS).
Isnt that too little ?
Search x vest, they go higher than 40 lbs.
Your first time walking for miles with a weighted vest your traps will hate you.
I personally wouldn’t use more than 50 lbs for hiking regularly. But I’m already fat so my feet and ankles get mad after several miles with 50lbs.
Fair warning people will look at you like you’re a suicide bomber.
If you’re just going to walk with the weight then get a heavy duty backpack and load it with sand. There’s a ton of info on this if you search rucking. Start light and easy otherwise you can cause a serious long term injury.
^THIS.
But probably your second, third and fourth time too.
DO NOT take his quote as a joke. The first thing you do is either wear an orange / green safety vest over it and NEVER wear a plain black vest, especially with wires from an earbud around your collar. For those of us with years in the Middle East/ SWA, those are sure indicators of a suicide bomber. Another issue, in the ME/SWA the old style nylon track suits are still worn by a large part of the male population. Dont wear a jacket covering the vest. Personal example: I had just stepped outside a bee hut when I saw a man running toward the hut entrance, suddenly stopped and unzipped his jacket. I saw a dark vest and someting that looked like blocks of explosive. I almost shot him in the head. Turned out he was a NATO member running with a weighted vest. What a moron. IMHO, make it look like anything but a weighted vest in public.
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My first time walking around the suburban office park at lunch where I worked. I had a guy turn around and walk the other way. He saw me, made eye contact I said “weight vest”, he left anyway. Not 5 minutes later a cruiser rolls by the sidewalk I’m trying to walk on. I say “weight vest” to the cop and he laughs and gets on his radio “false alarm”.
This office park was .5 miles from Pittsburgh international airport. So I’m probably on a list lol.
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No in fact it’s too much. If a 200 pound man wears a 40 pound vest that means he has overnight increased his walking weight by 20%. Would you suddenly slap 20% more weight on the bar over and above your max bench? How about 20% more weight on the bar with your max curl?
Yeah, I get it walking is different we are able to travel many miles while carrying stuff. But at the same time you don’t need to go that heavy that fast. If I were you I would not wear anything heavier than a 20 pound vest. You will be surprised how much even 20 pounds picks up the heart rate. After a few weeks of this add an additional 5 pounds. Keep adding gradually. Your traps and hip flexors will thank you and you’ll make some good cardio progress as well.
Good Luck!
ZEB
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Hi,
I know I’m late to this, but I’m a 200lb man who just Purchased an ADJUSTABLE 140 MIR vest.
The way I see it, kinda like the adjustable dumbbells that go to start at 5 and go to 100, I can save space and $ by being able to adjust vs many diff vests.
I know rule of thumb is roughly 10% or so of. Your weight, but what happens if you go above it? Cause I tried the full 140lbs for 3-5 minutes before bed, and my traps are stinging (in a good way)!