How to choose the best weighted vest for your goal

Should you use a 10kg, 20kg, or 30kg weighted vest for your specific type of training? Gravity Fitness stocks all three weights of weighted vest, so let’s look at when and why you’d use each type.

Why do people wear weighted vests for fitness

Before we look at the differences between our 10kg, 20kg, and 30kg weighted vests, let’s recap the benefits of using a weighted vest. Weighted vests are a great way to add external load to your body without having to hold or carry a barbell, dumbbells, or kettlebell. In that way, they’re perfect for cardio workouts, calisthenics, and body weight exercises.

What are the benefits of wearing a weighted vest

There are so many reasons to add a weighted vest to your workouts. The simplest way to understand it is that the vest adds extra weight to your torso, tricking your body into thinking you are heavier. In this way, your muscles and cardiovascular system work harder than they would without the weighted vest.

You’ll build muscle and strength, endurance, fitness, and even burn more calories than you would without the added weight of the vest.

Once you’ve mastered a calisthenics skill or bodyweight movement like strict pull ups, you can add a weighted vest to make the movement more challenging.

How to choose the right weight weighted vest

Weighted vests are a convenient and hands-free way to add extra weight to your body during cardio sessions, bodyweight workouts, calisthenics, street workouts, or Crossfit WODs. But you need to choose the right style, size, and weight for your goals.

Top 7 questions before buying a weighted vest 

1. What percentage of your bodyweight do you need?
2. What kind of training will you be doing with your weighted vest?
3. How much movement do you need to do in the weighted vest?
4. Does the weighted vest have full adjustable Velcro straps?
5. Can the weighted vest be cleaned and dried easily at home?
6. Is the weighted vest padded in all the right places for comfort?
7. Has this vest got removable weights so you can adjust the load?

How to decide between 10kg, 20kg, 30kg weighted vests

We proudly stock three different weights in our weighted vest range – 10kg, 20kg, and 30kg so you have plenty of options to choose from. The main differences are, obviously, the weight.

Reasons to use a 10kg weighted vest 

Our 10kg weighted vest is the lightest in our range, and thanks to the removable 1.1kg cast iron weights you can adjust it up to 10kg. This vest is short (above the waist) and sits snug to the body, making it perfect for calisthenics, street workouts, rig work and strength work like pull ups. You could also use it for any bodyweight session like squats, lunges, and press ups.

Our 10kg weighted vest is also great for getting your daily steps in (walking with a weighted vest is an amazing way to increase your NEAT calories). As for running, you might find this vest moves around a bit too much. We recommend weighted vests that use thin plates for running.

Reasons to use a 20kg weighted vest

If you are a heavier individual, or you want to add more weight that our 10kg vest allows, go for the 20kg vest. 

Depending on your bodyweight and strength, you could do calisthenics, bodyweight exercises, push ups, pull ups, squats, lunges, and street workouts in our 20kg weighted vest. And of course you could wear it for walking or hiking. It’s a great way to level up your training.

Don’t forget you can adjust the weight by removing or adding some of the 1.1kg weight blocks. And if you take a couple of blocks out, you could use them to warm your shoulders up!

Reasons to use a 30kg weighted vest 

Our Gravity Fitness 30kg weighted vest is the latest addition to our weighted apparel line, and it’s popular with heavier athletes, advanced or stronger individuals, or people who want some significant extra weight for strength workouts. Like all our weighted vests, it’s adjustable thanks to the removable cast iron weight blocks. 

Our 30kg vest is a bit longer than the 10kg and 20kg versions, sitting just lower than your waist. This might make it unsuitable for some bodyweight movements where you need to bend at the waist. It’s perfect for exercises like press ups, pull ups, planks, squats, lunges, and anything where your torso is long.

The 30kg weighted vest option is also a great way to boost your endurance, fitness, and calorie burn during cardio, especially if you feel you’ve hit a plateau with lighter vests.

How to get started with a weighted vest

Most people start out wearing a weighted vest that is between 10-15% of their bodyweight. This is a great start point if you’re going to be wearing the vest for cardio, walks, or longer training sessions.

If you’re not sure which weight of weighted vest to get, feel free to drop us a line for advice. Or scale up, because the weight-block design of our vests mean you can adjust them by removing or adding blocks.

Check out our range of best-selling 10kg, 20kg, and 30kg weighted vests and start taking your training to the next level.