Becoming too comfortable with your daily fitness routine can often cause you to cut corners, and you likely won’t achieve as effective of a workout. Luckily, there are many measures you can take to help kick your workout up a notch and get yourself sweating once again. Exercising with a weighted vest is one such option that will help put a little fire back into your workout. Below are just a few of the many benefits of a weighted vest and the ways it can take your workout from good to great.

Added intensity

It should come as no surprise that exercising with a weighted vest will add a significant challenge to your workout. Adding a few extra pounds to your already strenuous workout will increase the intensity and help you burn fat more quickly. Weighted vests are quite customizable and allow the wearer to add or remove weight as desired. Steadily increasing the amount of weight in the vest will help you build up your endurance over time, and you’ll soon be able to perform the exercises more consistently and for a longer time. As your endurance improves, so too will your cardiovascular health. In order to accommodate the added weight, your body will need to work slightly harder and will require more blood and oxygen in order to continue with the exercises. Therefore, your heart with also be working harder, and your cardiovascular health will improve as a result.

Increased muscle and bone strength

As we’ve stated, your body will need to work harder in order to accommodate the added weight from the vest. Exercising with a weighted vest forces all your muscles to work together and so provides a full-body workout regardless of the exercise. In addition to strengthening your muscles and improving the rate of muscle gain, exercising with a weighted vest can also help improve bone strength. Wearing a weighted vest during weight-bearing exercises such as push-ups or squats can help increase your bone strength and density over time. As your bones steadily become thicker in order to accommodate the additional weight placed on them, they will become less susceptible to breakages and will be better equipped to fight off degenerative bone diseases such as osteoporosis.

Better body awareness

It may come as a surprise, but one of the biggest benefits of a weighted vest is that it can help improve your balance, posture, and body awareness. Upon first donning a weighted vest, your body will be tempted to bow to the weight. You’ll need to practice constant vigilance, therefore, to ensure that your posture does not become compromised when wearing the weighted vest. Over time you’ll find that your posture and form will have improved significantly, and the effects will be even more noticeable when exercising without the weighted vest. The addition of a weighted vest will also throw off your center of gravity, so you’ll need to focus a bit more to maintain proper balance.

For more information on how a weighted vest can help you reach your fitness goals, contact our team at American Home Fitness. Our fitness stores in Birmingham and the surrounding areas offer a wide selection of exercise equipment and accessories.