Your body weight regulates how many calories you will burn during an activity. This can make burning extra calories a challenge, but by adding resistance to your workout, you can boost your overall caloric output. Resistance in the form of a weighted vest helps to amplify your calorie burning results of any weight-bearing exercise such as running, jumping rope, or playing your favorite sport.
Turn up the Volume
Exercises such as push-ups, lunges, chair dips or pull-ups all use your body weight to burn calories. In order to burn more, you must increase intensity. A weighted vest increases intensity by adding weight to your frame, thus causing your body to work harder and burn more calories. A weighted vest around the torso makes your body to "think" that you are heavier and it compensates by expending more energy--burning more calories.
Less is More
When adding a weighted vest to your routine, it is best to start out with less weight. Going too heavy can put undue stress on your joints and cause injury. Start out with the lowest weight possible, about 5 percent of your current body weight. Gradually increase the weight over a few months up to about 12 percent of your weight according to the National Strength and Conditioning Association. This will allow your body to become accustomed to the new load while maintaining good bio-mechanics and overall balance. With each session, you will exceed your former calories-burned rate and build endurance, strength, and bone density.
Those Last 10 Pounds
When your body reaches the point where it no longer responds to your activity level with weight loss, you have reached the dreaded plateau. As you begin to weigh less and become more fit, you no longer burn the same calories you once did. According to Mayo Clinic research, "bodies of people who are larger or have more muscle, burn more calories, even at rest." For this reason you must incorporate simulated body mass onto your frame to jump start increased calorie burning action. As you progress, those last few pound will become a thing of the past, replaced with a more efficient metabolism and a leaner physique.
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