{"id":17283,"date":"2014-01-10T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-10T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/\/\/uncategorized\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance"},"modified":"2023-09-11T11:09:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T16:09:51","slug":"sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/","title":{"rendered":"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Progression in training is one of the cornerstones of improving performance in athletics, but it isn\u2019t always easy to achieve. <\/strong>Athletes have used a countless number of tools and methods over the years to improve performance. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research<\/em><\/a>, one such tool, the weight vest<\/a>, was analyzed as a way to improve sprinting.<\/p>\n

In some sports, like weight lifting, progression<\/a> is easy enough to understand. Lift more weights for more sets and more reps than you used to. Easier said than done, for sure, but simple enough. In sprinting performance, a progression is just as simple \u2013 you just run faster. But actually achieving this progression is a completely different animal. In fact, speed improvement over short distances is perhaps one of the most elusive goals in fitness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since increasing the resistance is one way to induce progression, several methods are commonly employed for sprinting, but their benefit is sometimes controversial. For example, some athletes use parachutes, which make wind resistance a greater factor than usual. In today\u2019s study, the researchers were concerned with the use of weight vests<\/a>. <\/strong>Unlike many tools, a weight vest is easy to measure progressively and easy enough to employ.<\/p>\n

The researchers were concerned with the effects of vests of two different weights on sprinting. <\/strong>The participants ran either with no vest or with a vest that weighed either 19.8lbs or 39.6lbs. The researchers were concerned primarily with the kinetics (force) and kinematics (motion) of using a weighted vest. This means they didn\u2019t look at speed increases<\/a>over time, but at what actually occurs in a single sprinting session when you don a vest.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start by discussing the most obvious results. Horizontal force output<\/a>overall was not changed by the vest. In other words, although it takes more horizontal effort to run with a vest on, it also slows you down.<\/strong> The relationship is linear with the weights they used in this study, so the average force output was unchanged. This result makes a lot of sense. Unlike the aforementioned parachute, the vest applies resistance in the vertical vector because it works with gravity, so the horizontal effect was insignificant.<\/p>\n

The vertical realm is where we get perhaps some surprises. Similar to the horizontal forces, there were no changes in peak vertical forces. After analyzing the motion changes in the sprint, the researchers discovered that the athletes had reduced \u201cflight times,\u201d which means they spent more time with their feet on the floor because of the weight. <\/strong>This effect greatly reduced the peak forces that resulted from landing, which pretty much evened out the peak vertical forces. Only the 39.6lb vest caused an increase in average vertical forces. This result indicates that if an increase in vertical force output is a goal for a sprinter, he or she might only benefit from a vest that is heavier than normally recommended.<\/p>\n

While a heavy vest<\/a> is needed to improve vertical forces, we also need to consider the value of doing so. <\/strong>Any time an external load is applied to a technical movement like a sprint, the technique also changes, as seen in the kinematic differences during this study. This is why pitchers in baseball often avoid weighted balls, as their pitching velocity with a normal ball is ultimately reduced, which defeats the point. While a heavy vest might be an important method of progression for a sprinter, coaches should also dedicate ample time to keeping form sharp.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/u>:<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Matt Cross, et. al., \u201cEffects of Vest Loading on Sprint Kinetics and Kinematics,<\/a>\u201d Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research<\/em>, DOI: 10.1519\/JSC.0000000000000354<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of CrossFit Impulse<\/a>.<\/em><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Progression in training is one of the cornerstones of improving performance in athletics, but it isn\u2019t always easy to achieve. Athletes have used a countless number of tools and methods over the years to improve performance. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, one such tool, the weight vest, was analyzed as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":859,"featured_media":17282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4642],"tags":[944],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance? - Breaking Muscle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance? - Breaking Muscle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Progression in training is one of the cornerstones of improving performance in athletics, but it isn\u2019t always easy to achieve. Athletes have used a countless number of tools and methods over the years to improve performance. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, one such tool, the weight vest, was analyzed as a...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking Muscle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/breakingmuscle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-10T09:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-09-11T16:09:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/8865865531141747291232085609236o.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"402\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Doug Dupont\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BreakingMuscle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BreakingMuscle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Doug Dupont\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Doug Dupont\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7017a7b889f17ba84c18e5d82b18b2\"},\"headline\":\"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance?\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-10T09:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-11T16:09:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/\"},\"wordCount\":617,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"sprint training\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Fitness\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/\",\"name\":\"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance? - Breaking Muscle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-10T09:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-09-11T16:09:51+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Fitness\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/fitness\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking Muscle\",\"description\":\"Breaking Muscle\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Breaking Muscle\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/bmlogowhite-red.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/bmlogowhite-red.png\",\"width\":714,\"height\":714,\"caption\":\"Breaking Muscle\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/breakingmuscle\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreakingMuscle\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/breakingmuscle\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/breakingmuscle\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/BreakingMuscleVideos\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7017a7b889f17ba84c18e5d82b18b2\",\"name\":\"Doug Dupont\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-dougdbiopic-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-dougdbiopic-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Doug Dupont\"},\"description\":\"Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club. Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued \u00ad\u00ad\u00adto develop his business into today.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/author\/doug-dupont\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance? - Breaking Muscle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance? - Breaking Muscle","og_description":"Progression in training is one of the cornerstones of improving performance in athletics, but it isn\u2019t always easy to achieve. Athletes have used a countless number of tools and methods over the years to improve performance. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, one such tool, the weight vest, was analyzed as a...","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/","og_site_name":"Breaking Muscle","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/breakingmuscle\/","article_published_time":"2014-01-10T09:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-09-11T16:09:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":402,"url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/8865865531141747291232085609236o.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Doug Dupont","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BreakingMuscle","twitter_site":"@BreakingMuscle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Doug Dupont","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/"},"author":{"name":"Doug Dupont","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7017a7b889f17ba84c18e5d82b18b2"},"headline":"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance?","datePublished":"2014-01-10T09:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-11T16:09:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/"},"wordCount":617,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["sprint training"],"articleSection":["Fitness"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/","url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/","name":"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance? - Breaking Muscle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-01-10T09:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-09-11T16:09:51+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/sprinting-with-a-weighted-vest-help-or-hindrance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Fitness","item":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/fitness\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sprinting With a Weighted Vest: Help or Hindrance?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/","name":"Breaking Muscle","description":"Breaking Muscle","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#organization","name":"Breaking Muscle","url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/bmlogowhite-red.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/bmlogowhite-red.png","width":714,"height":714,"caption":"Breaking Muscle"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/breakingmuscle\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/BreakingMuscle","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/breakingmuscle\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/breakingmuscle\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/BreakingMuscleVideos"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2b7017a7b889f17ba84c18e5d82b18b2","name":"Doug Dupont","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-dougdbiopic-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/cropped-dougdbiopic-96x96.png","caption":"Doug Dupont"},"description":"Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club. Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued \u00ad\u00ad\u00adto develop his business into today.","url":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/author\/doug-dupont\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17283"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/859"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17283"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196830,"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17283\/revisions\/196830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingmuscle.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}