Today seems to be the day for "innovative posts" so I figured I'd add my own.

Has anyone rode a bike with a weighted vest:

https://www.weightvest.com/

I know NFL players swear by them... and even though it can be hard on your knees (and not recommended by some) a few runners have used them with crazy increases in speed when compared to their regular training routines.

I figured starting with a 5 lbs or 10 lbs.
Back pain might be an issue but it may work.

It'll only make a difference on climbs. If you want to get a better workout on climbs....climb faster, or pick a gear that you can't go below.

No way will this work for cycling. Shift into a harder gear. If you can climb the nearest hill using your hardest gear then climb the hill faster. If you can spin out climbing the hill in your hardest gear then find a bigger hill (and join the Pro Tour).

--Steve

I started wearing a backpack with extra weight on it to simulate riding to school while I started getting in shape and riding a bike seriously for the first time this summer. Taking off 15-20lbs for the same ride does give a noted improvement. Probably not what you were looking for though.

It works, but having ridden in France with 3-4 bottles of wine in a backpack on several occasions, I can say it gets painful pretty quick.

A kid trailer, though--that's a freakin' workout.

I've ridden with a bunch of textbooks in the backpack, and all I can really say is that they're an annoyance.

Anyhow, some of the pictures on the site looks shifty to me. They could easily be mistaken as terrorists, strapping C4 all over them... o_O

Or you could ride with your tires at 60 psi and adjust your brakes so they rub. Gives a great workout.

Pinchflats aren't good. Neither is that vest.

I have an x-vest, which is the only one you want to buy - it's form fitting and won't move even if you're running. Ignore the naysayers - it will do you some good.

I knew people who tried this in the 80s and 90s, but from what I hear, it's been debunked by some noted trainers.

Back when I played basketball in HS I used to wear an old school weight vest filled with lead shot during the first 1/3 of practice. By my senior year I had a 360 dunk.

But really, unless you're planning to cross train (running and plyometrics) a whole bunch, the vest will do nothing for you on the flats so you'd probably be better served by finding some steeper/longer hills to attack and then focusing on aerobic/anaerobic transitioning.

Work to accomplish WHAT???

My shoulders ACHE just thinking about it.

I guess I'm in the middle here. I generally try to train with a heavier bike (two full bottles, a packed saddle bag, other incidentals that add weight). I do this under the assumption that the bike will feel a little lighter and I will climb hills faster in a race situation. But I agree with those who think a weighted vest would be too cumbersome.

not worth it.

They only work to convince people to lose weight -- inother words, used very rarely. There's a well known coach down here who puts them on his riders when they don't believe an extra 10 pounds will slow them down

if you want to add weight for training purposes, add it to your bike and not your back. you could easily add 5-10 pounds of rolled pennies to an empty water bottle, put that on your bike, and you're set. then, if you ever want to add more weight, just add more rolls.

also, make sure you have a second cage and bottle for hydration purposes...

i used to play basketball with a weighted vest on. i liked it, but i doubt i'd like it for cycling.

I carry extra weight inside my vest, does that count?

I used to train for rockclimbing with a divers weight belt on: huge extra work out, but very rough on the finger tendons.

The backpack (or pannier) full of work clothes on the daily commute builds strength too, but isn't it better and far more cycling-directed to just push a higher gear on the hills? And there is nothing at all to be gained from using a weight bag or vest on the flats...

Why drag extra weight around when you can just work harder with the gearing?

I carry the extra weight in my shorts. Fortunately it comes in useful off the bike

Like anything you have to be carfeul but I can't stop to think about stundents to carry a backpack which can sometimes be 30 lbs or more. How is that different? I know the weighted vest is molded to your body and has less chance to shift and cause injury or pain then the back pack.

There was a study done (I have to find the link). Where 2 groups of experienced runners (sub 5min mile). 1 group did the usual (fartlek, strength training, etc) the other just used the belt during their runs (group 2). Group 2 showed a 3.5 second improvement to their time.


just my 2 cents.

Well the way I look at it there was a guy who put a post yesterday.

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycling/303609-losing-weight-increasing-speed.html

He said he dropped 40 lbs and his avg went from 13.4 to 16.2 Now I'm sure that the muscles had something to that but he proves in reverse that the adding weight works. He was in essence wearing a 20 lbs vest (it was probably body fat) and when he took it off his speed went up.

They say that some of the best bikers are big people who got small. There is a former NFL player who became a great cyclist and also countless ex hokey big frame players who are really good cyclists.

There was a 25% increase in vertical jumo in 3 weeks with a vest. See the bottom of the page for the referenced studies.

https://www.jumpusa.com/hypergravity2.htm


I think I may go with the idea of pennies in a bottle.

+1. Add it to the bike. I don't know about the water bottle - need a strong cage - but there's plenty of places you could place some formed lead.

Cycling's equivalant to the weighted vest is a fixed gear.

Even at that, it would make more sense to add aerodyamic drag than weight.

+1 The vest is of little use unless you're on your feet. On a bike, your bike is doing most of the work holding it off the ground.

That said, training with a heavier bike is of little use. On a bicycle, the speeds are great enough that you can get any amount of resistance you want in the pedals. You have a shifter that can make it as tough as needed. It can give you a mental edge to show up at a race knowing that your bike is 3 lbs lighter than what you were training on that week, but it really makes no difference in training.