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Weight vest

To improve fitness and/or improve functional ability, many people work out by participating in aerobic activities and weight training, as examples. Many athletes use weights in order to tone and develop muscles. Weights used for weight training range from free weights, including a bench press and dumbbell weights, to weight training stations. A common training technique is the moving of a mass, such as a metal weight. In one form of training, one or more weights are either directly moved or mounted to a support which is moved. This type of training is known as "free weight" training. Resistance-type weights have electronic displays and adjustments. Recent weight designs include deformable weight bands that can be worn about the ankles or wrists. Professional athletes often utilize more exotic training equipment than the average exerciser. Weighted clothing such as weight vests have been designed for use in athletic training, for example, in polymeric or jump training, which comprises explosive strength training that is used to increase lower extremity strength and agility. Runners, downhill skiers, football players, and other athletes benefit from adding weights to the body above the waist during a workout. Wearing a weight vest intensifies the workout and challenges the athlete's performance. It is well known that one of the best methods to develop greater speed and endurance in running is through use of added weight above the waist. Added weight above the waist imposes greater resistance upon the leg muscles as well as all of the other muscles that are involved in running, thus strengthening them. The relative degree of muscle strengthening which occurs during an athlete's training depends on the resistance which these muscles meet. The resistance imposed upon thigh muscles is the body weight of the athlete in the area above the thigh. Accordingly any increase in body weight by means of weighted training devices, to impose more resistance on these muscles and thereby strengthen them, must occur above the thigh muscles to be worked, i.e. above the waist area. Weighted training vests have been used to impose increased muscle resistance above the waist and thereby strengthen the thigh muscles as well as the other muscles involved in running.

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