Ankle weights are waist vests are an easy way to burn more calories and build more muscle in your daily life. Discover which delivers the best results in the fastest time.
Ankle Weights vs Weight Vest - What's the Best Way to Add Bodyweight?
This showdown is between ankle weights vs weight vests. Both ankle weights and weighted vests can give you extra resistance to help make your workouts more challenging. In this article, the focus will be on the benefits of ankle weights and weighted vests.
Ankle weights are a great way to make your workouts more intense. Cheap to buy and easy to use, they can make a real difference to your fitness.
Ankle Weights – Make Your Legs Work Harder
Ankle weights are pieces of fitness equipment that are filled with varying amounts of weights. You can get ankle weights that are adjustable (usually the weight varies between 1 and 5 pounds), or you can get them in a set weight.
Benefits of Ankle Weights
Ankle weights can help give you extra resistance when performing bodyweight exercises for your legs. Leg and knee raises are two exercises that help strengthen muscles in the legs.
Usually, it is necessary to perform lots of repetitions if you want to work your leg muscles when doing leg and knee raises. Ankle weights will make the exercise a lot more difficult and will help you strengthen the muscles in your thighs, calves and butt.
Using ankle weights can also help you strengthen your abdominal muscles. One of the hardest areas to train is the lower abdomen.
Instead of doing sit-ups, which generally aren’t good for your lower back or effective in developing your core muscles, add ankle weights and perform reverse leg crunches, leg raises or bicycle crunches. This will help target your lower abdomen and help you develop your abs.
If you like working out in the water, ankle weights can make your water workouts more challenging. Working out in the water with ankle weights make the resistance greater when you swim, helping you to strengthen muscles not only in your legs but in your entire body.
Another benefit of using ankle weights is that they are versatile. They can be used when walking, running or using the treadmill to add resistance to your workout. You will burn more calories when using them and increase endurance.
The only caveat to consider when using ankle weights in this way is that you shouldn’t use them for every workout. Using them daily for walking or running may put extra strain and stress on your joints and lead to pain or injury.
Weight Vests – Working Your Upper Body
Weight vests are vests that have heavy material sewn into the vest or pockets specifically made to add different amounts of weight. Wearing a weight vest can help you increase strength, endurance and speed because of the extra force that needs to be generated when doing strenuous cardio exercises.
Benefits of Weight Vests
Put on a weight vest when you are jogging or walking and you will feel a huge difference immediately. The extra weight will make your workout harder, but it will also benefit you in the following ways.
Jogging while using a weight vest will help you improve your stamina and burn more calories. One study found that athletes who used weight vests on alternating days were able to increase their oxygen consumption and their running time.
Another benefit in using a weight vest is increased calorie expenditure. The more weight you have to carry around, the more calories you burn.
A person who weighs 150 pounds burns more calories than a person weighing 135 pounds. Adding an extra 15 pounds or more in the form of a weight vest will let you safely burn more calories.
Wearing a weight vest while doing body exercises increases strength. Pushups, pullups, squats and lunges will all be more difficult to perform with a weight vest, but after a period of time you will notice that you can perform more of each exercise without the vest.
You can also wear the vest when you are performing your household chores. Wearing a weight vest while cooking, cleaning and doing laundry, will give you an easy workout just by doing what you normally do every day.
Weight vests can also give you added resistance when doing squats, deadlifts, barbell cleans and barbell rows. Using a vest will make you work your core muscles, lower back and respiratory system to a greater extent. You’ll burn more calories, further strengthen your abdominal muscles and improve your posture.
Weighing it All Up
In summary, ankle weights can help you burn more calories, improve your bodyweight workouts and make working out in the water more challenging. A weight vest gives similar benefits by increasing the challenge of bodyweight exercises, helping you increase strength and working core muscles.
It will also help you improve your posture. If you’re looking to add variety and challenge to your exercise routine, ankle weights and weight vests can help you.
