I purchased this vest a few months ago for lifting and cardio. I am quite pleased with my purchase.
Pros:
- I've found that it fastens comfortably across my torso for both cardio (running, stairs, etc.) and weight lifting.
- Highly reflective for outdoor exercise at night.
Cons:
- It's a tiny bit uncomfortable at first, as the weighted bags which come with the vest are clunky and stiff. I got used to this pretty quickly.
- The cell phone/MP3 pouch on the front of the vest is basically useless. The weighted bags are not forgiving, and it is quite small. It may be useful if you remove the weighted bags behind it, but the size is hardly enough for a small MP3 player.
If you're on the fence, this is a good choice. j/fit 30lb Adjustable Weighted Vest
The vest works pretty well especially for the price, but these things annoy me:
1. The little weights are a bit of a pain to get in their slots. If you wanted to add or remove a bunch of them, it would take awhile. The weights often don't fit that well, either, and the flaps that are supposed to cover them don't work very well. It seems like they cut corners in the design or manufacture.
2. Because of the above, the weights sometimes fall out. Pick it up wrong, and half of them could end up on the floor.
3. The velcro flaps that are supposed to fold over your chest and keep the font and back together aren't that strong. If you do a motion like a pull-up, it might open up on you. For certain exercises, such as one where the weight of the front portion lays against the flaps, nothing I can do will keep them together. This may have something to do with my shape, since I'm pretty thin.
Overall, I'd give this 3.5 stars. With a better design of the flaps and velcro, it would be 5!
EDIT: I took a closer look in a brighter room, and if you're careful to make sure the flaps are over the weights, the problem of bags flying out shouldn't be so bad. It takes a little more time, but it's worth it. I still think there has to be a better design, but to be fair, items 1 and 2 aren't as annoying as I portrayed, so I bumped this up to 4 stars.
Surprisingly well made and easy to incrementally increase weight in a front-back balanced manner - by about 3/4 pound per weight. The only improvement I might suggest is that a provision be made to adjust the shoulder pads so they would move closer for small people and wider apart for larger people. I believe that, in addition to taking the right type of Calcium and Vitamin-D, this vest is the best thing one can add to prevent osteoporosis - by just wearing it around the house or out walking.
I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this vest. Firstly, it fits really well to my body. I'm about 5' 8", and it's the perfect size for me. As there's no way to expand it, I would imagine taller people having trouble with how high it would be on them. It's perfect for me, though. The main problem I had with this thing is the actual weights. They fit on the inside in the neoprene pockets. After a week of wearing it, the weights would all fall out when I picked the vest up or moved too much. As you can imagine, it got pretty annoying, and time consuming, having to put every weight back in the pockets every single time I did anything. So, I went for the old time tested remedy for everything-- I duct taped the mess out of it. I used the Gorilla Glue duct tape and went all along the inside with it. Since then I've been able to wear the vest while doing pretty much anything (except running; when you run with it, the vest comes out of the straps. I have used it while working a heavy bag, though, and it stays fine). So, this vest is definitely worth it, as long as you don't mind putting a little time in fixing up the inside. It fits well, and feels real good while you have it on.
Great item. Recommended if your looking for a vest. Earlier had another vest and it didn't fit very well and was wobbly. This one with the Velcro makes it fit almost perfectly.
Downsides- a little pricey (not for a vest, but in general). I see it was ~$50 before, and I got it recently for $70 (inflation is crazy these days) But I still love it though. Also originally I was sent one with one of the weights missing. Soo I had to send it back and receive a new one. (its an error on the part of Amazon) soo I am giving it 4 stars altogether.
The vest is great for walking. I especially like that the weights are very small and can be distributed. The product can be better if the material is breathable. I live in Florida and I sweat a lot. I would recommend to anyone who would like to use weights for walking. - Fitness Gear - Weight Vests - 40 Lb Weight Vest - Conditioning'
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