Weighted Vest 101

Hi Coach,

Just looking for some weighted vest info beers, 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 one vest 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, and above it to roughly 80% or so of your own body weight? Cause I tried the full 140lbs for 3-5 minutes before bed, and my traps are stinging (in a good way)!

I personally see weight vest work just like I do any other loaded carries.

It can be done light for long distances, moderate weight for moderate time and heavy for a short duration.

While my own vest is not loadable up to 140lbs, I often do ruck walks with a 30lbs vest and a 50lbs sandbag on my shoulders for 15-30 minutes. With a 30lbs vest and a 25lbs bag I would go for 45-60 minutes. And I routinely put the 30lb vest on for “normal” locomotive walk (e.g. going to the grocery store or bringing my kids to daycare).

If I had the possibility to go up to 140lbs with my vest I’d likely work up to walks of 7-15 minutes.

Sidebar: it must be a pain in the ass to get on!

It ain’t easy to get on, that’s for sure! Thanks for the advice coach!

I have the adjustable up to 150lbs. To get the heavier weight on, I lay the vest on the floor, lay down onto it, then pull the front over onto my chest. Then I get up with it. Simple enough. I’ve tried walking with 50lbs and can go for 30 minutes with a lot of difficulty. It digs into my traps and becomes painful. I will use the full weight to go up and down my stairs. My back yard is huge, I could walk around my backyard with the 150lbs and that would be plenty.