Do you want to look like a total badass? Like the police ready to barge into the drug dealer’s home? Make sure you invest in a weight vest. It will make you look bigger and meaner just by wearing it, instant result!

All joking aside at some point you have reached the limits of overloading trough harder exercises and adding more repetitions. Next to that adding more repetitions mostly builds up muscle endurance. Something that you shouldn’t neglect but muscle strength is just as important!

It might seem this article will mostly benefit the more advanced calisthenics athletes out there, but this will also benefit less advanced athletes who’ve might hit a plateau which seems hard to break through. Let’s get right into the reason why you should invest in a weight vest.

Exercises you can perform with a weight vest

You can perform almost every bodyweight exercise with a weight vest. The ones that might be harder with a weight vest are the ones you do upside down. The vest might slide down your torso and get in the way of performing the exercise correctly or performing it at all!

Usually, the push-up, pull-up, and the squat are the exercises people will be able to add the weight vest into their workout regiment first. These are three of the fundamental exercises in any routine.

Invest in a heavier weight vest

When you are considering buying an actual weight vest, I recommend purchasing a heavier one rather one than a light one. It is essential that the vest allows you to adjust the weight inside the vest. You don’t want to end up causing injuries because you are overloading.

The flexibility that comes with adjustable weight is excellent to enable progressive overload.

Budget or a more expensive one; which one should you choose

When taken care of properly a weight vest lasts for a long time. Therefore we advise going for a slightly more expensive one. Next to that the more expensive ones usually come with adjustable weights and a better fit.

Both of these reasons are essential to create the best workout environment. The weight vest will blend in perfectly into your workout regiment.

If you are on a budget, we suggest getting a weight belt instead of the weight vest.

An excellent alternative to consider

Even though calisthenics is all about using your body weight to perform exercises, adding extra weight to your workout routines can seriously step up your game in a short amount of time. Since you are interested in exercising the chances are you might have some weight plates lying around.

These plates bring me to a perfect alternative to the weight vest, and it’s a rather cheaper way of adding weight to your exercises. Apart from a weighted vest, something to consider is a weight belt. A weight belt allows you to add weight by using a belt and chain that goes around the hip.

Unfortunately, the weight belt doesn’t allow you to perform as many exercises as much as a weight vest does. But if you are on a tight budget, this might be a good option for you. You can pick up a weight belt from $15,- and if you don’t have any weight plates lying around you can easily find some second-hand ones online or at your local thrift shop.

Other weights you can use with it are things like kettle belts and sandbags as long as you can get the chain trough something attached to the weighted object, you are good to go!

To sum it all up

A weighted vest is an excellent addition to your calisthenics equipment. It allows growing more in strength, and it helps overcome plateaus.

When you are ready to invest in a weight vest make sure you go for one that is adjustable. Those weighted vests allow varying your added weight.

And remember you will instantly look like a total badass even before having done any exercising!