Worn A 30 Pound Weight Vest For A Day
March 23, 2011 Filed in: CrossFit
I tried an interesting experiment today. I decided I wanted to put on the weight I used to have at my heaviest and wear it for a day. Back at the end of 2008, I weighed over 200 lbs, which for my height put me in the obese category on the Body Mass Index (BMI).
In 2009, I changed my diet and started exercising (CrossFit). I lost about 30 lbs in the beginning of that year and have maintained that weight for over 18 months.
The idea was to wear the vest from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed. J set the vest out for me last night. This vest is Short Weighted Vest from Mir. It has a capacity of 60 lbs, but I only have weights for 40.
I set up a couple of guidelines:
- -I would put the vest on when I woke up, and I wouldn’t take it off until I went to bed that night. I considered sleeping with it on, but since I have mild apnea, it probably wouldn’t be a great idea.
- -I would not take the vest off.
- -I would do everything else normally.
I woke up a little before 6:30 and immediately put the vest on.
I weighted myself with the vest on. My weight tends to fluctuate in the mid to high 170’s now, and I guess today was a heavy day because the scale said I was 211.6 lbs.
I got ready for work just as if it were a normal day.
I did have one concern when doing this. I thought walking around in a weight vest could have people thinking I’m a bomb threat. So, I tried just covering it up with my sweatshirt.
I went to work this way. It looked a little odd but it worked.
Then, it was just another day at the office.
Because of a significant raise in prices, I am currently boycotting the services of the company’s cafeteria. This also means unless I pack my lunch, which I really should be doing, I have to take a walk to get food for lunch. I ended up at Baker Street Bistro and travelled there with my sweatshirt.
I went home and got a few burpees in.
After I did that, I helped J make dinner. It was a stir fry.
After dinner, I did some dishes.
At around 10:30, I took off the vest. I literally had a weight lifted off my chest.
The vest left a red mark and an imprint on my shoulders.
A few notes about the day:
- -It definitely makes it more difficult to breathe, but you get used to it... for the most part. There were times in the day that I was getting a little light headed.
- -Sitting helps with the discomfort most of the time. Standing was very hard on my shoulders. The weight was just pulling down on them, and I had done 140 pull-ups in the two previous days.
- -Sitting and eating became uncomfortable. The vest just pushed on my stomach when I was eating. It didn’t feel too good.
- -It was fun telling people about my site when they asked why I would even do this.
- -Burpees suck. Burpees with a vest really, really suck.
I thought this was a success, and it was a really good reminder for me to see why I wouldn’t want to be that heavy again. I should add that on the BMI, I’m still considered overweight. I don’t really rely on the BMI to tell me where I’m at as far as healthiness is concerned. I care more about body fat percentage and physical ability.
Related items:
MIR 50 lbs. Adjustable Weighted Vest
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