Weight Vests & Mechanics

Bigger Stronger Leaner Christian Thibaudeau Coaching
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@CT

Does running with a weight vest or sprinting with one mess up an individual’s running mechanics?

Thank you

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[quote]nickj_777 wrote:
@CT

Does running with a weight vest or sprinting with one mess up an individual’s running mechanics?

Thank you[/quote]

Not as much as running with a football equipment on… and I’m seeing plenty of players with great sprinting technique. The keys are:

  1. Doing a lot more running/sprinting work without the vest that with one (at least a 3:1 ratio)

  2. Not going too heavy (for sprints there should be no more than a 10% drop in speed)

  3. Not doing only weighted running in a session. Everytime you do weighted running also include regular running. Ideally in a complex (easier to do with sprints than endurance work) and always ending with un-weighted running

As far as using one for conditioning work… well most people already use a sloppy running technique during conditioning work so it likely wont make a big difference.