here ya go.. homemade weight vest
http://www.home-gym-bodybuilding.com/homemade-weight-vest.htmlHomemade weight vestWeight vests are an excellent way to add resistance to bodyweight exercises. Any exercise that you can do with bodyweight you can make harder with a weight vest.
For example, once you can do 3 sets of 25 push-ups with your bodyweight only, add a 10-20 pound weight vest and start again. When adding weight to the vest, always start light and work your way up. The bodies core muscles need time to adjust to the weight.
I found this quote while surfing the net: “The Israeli government set about to discover what form of exercise was best at developing cardiovascular fitness. Military and civilian workers as well as Olympic athletes were tested. As a group, the most cardiovascular fit individual was the mailman - the mailman, walking three to five miles per day, carrying 20-35 pounds. Tests soon demonstrated that walking with a weighted load was far and away the most effective exercise to develop and maintain cardiovascular fitness.”
In researching weight vests, I found there are short vests and longer vests. The longer vest covers your abs, reduces mobility and sometimes makes it harder to breath. A shorter vest worn higher on the torso allows you to breathe and move freely, and increases the load on your core muscles. Sit-ups are much more difficult if the weight is located higher on the torso.
Well made vests cost big bucks. You can buy cheap ones, but the reviews say they fall apart quickly. Highly recommended vests such as the ones made by weightvest.com cost $200 for a 50 pound vest!
I knew I had items lying around the garage that I could use to make a lower cost homemade weight vest.
To keep costs low, I wanted to utilize my existing Olympic weights as the weight source for my vest. Grip plates will work better than standard plates because they have four slots or holes to tie down the weight plate to the vest:
The vest itself is an old hockey shoulder pad:
You can find these on craigslist, eBay, garage sales etc. I played hockey for over thirty-five years, so I had a few pads lying around. The pad I used has a liner, which allows air flow, keeping me cool when I sweat. Perfect for a heavy, weight vest.
First, I cut the shoulder pads off of the vest, saving them for future homemade projects. Initially I tried just strapping the Olympic plate directly to the vest, but even though there’s hard plastic under the vest material and foam, it wasn’t sturdy enough to support the plate. I reinforced it by adding a piece of 3/8” plywood to the front and back of the vest:
I attached the plywood and strapping to the vest using 1/4 inch bolts, large fender washers, lock washers and nuts ($5 for all of the hardware at Home Depot, and I had the plywood scrap already). I figured the larger diameter fender washers would help keep the bolts from pulling through the vest and strap material.
Drilling the clearance holes through the vest material was a challenge because the material would get hung up in the bit. I ended up just ripping the material away so the bit would go through easier.
