Tactical Weight Vest Workouts For Crossfit, Cardio, Core Strength And Power

One of the better health benefits from quarantine that I discovered is my love  weight vest workouts. I decided to purchase one with 4 separate chest plates, totaling 22 pounds, at the start of the lock down in March and I’ve never been happier with a purchase.

 

Bodyweight strength, athleticism, range of motion, core and overall strength all require movement through multiple plans of motion and angles to be continually challenged.  With limited access to equipment or the desire to increase overall training intensity, weight vests can add an extra and unique layer to your workouts regardless if it’s for Crossfit, running, triathlons, bodybuilding or more.

 

Before I get into my favorite tactical weight vest workouts, I do need to give a word of caution. I personally love throwing my vest on for a few sets each workout but I found it actually impairs recovery. Think about it, even the smallest external load, let’s say  5 pound weight plate in your vest, adds an extra stressor to your system.

 

In the same way that lifting 5 extra pounds is a tougher challenge, often times extra weight in your vest goes unnoticed. You may get one or two less reps but the load is greater on your system. When used consistently, a weight vest may inhibit your recovery. I favor selective use of a weight vest with a purpose in mind and BCAA supplementation to increase muscle recovery. 

 

I’m also cautious about doing a lot of burpees or jumping with a weight vest. I find there is a lot of low back compensation as well as rounding, though if you’d like, the lighter the better in terms of weight.

 

5 Best Tactical Weight Vest Workouts.

 

“Murph”

 

We might as well start off with the hardest weight vest workout, in memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, this memorial hero workout is typically done on memorial day but some athletes will often test it multiple times per year.  Murph has been done at the Crossfit games a few times where it is performed with the men wearing 20 lbs and women wearing 15 lbs. .

 

And while you don’t have to aspire to those levels, whether you want to give Murph a try with a few pounds in your vest or not, here’s the workout.

 

For time

1 mile run

100 pull ups

200 push ups

300 squats

1 mile run

You're going to have sore legs after this workouts. Read up on our sore leg recovery article. 

Weight Vest Upper Body Workout

 

This is my personal favorite upper body weight vest workout to increase athleticism, power and core strength.

 

Kettle bell push ups 4 sets of 60 seconds

Perform a push up with your chest lowering between the kettle bells. This adds extra range of motion.

 

Renegade Rows-3 sets of 10 (rep arm)

Superset with

Shoulder Press-3 sets of 8 reps

 

Weight Vest Get up-4 sets of 6 reps

 

Diamond crunches-4 sets of 60 seconds

Superset

Farmers walks-20 feet both ways

 

Weight Vest Lower Body Workout

 

And my favorite lower body weight vest workout

 

Kettlebell Deadlifts-4 sets of 60 seconds

Superset

Weight Vest Reverse Lunges-4 sets of 8 reps

 

Weight Vest Step Ups-3 sets of 8 reps

Superset

Weight Vest Squats-3 sets of 8 reps

 

Weight Vest Low Lunges-4 sets of 12 reps per leg

 

Weight Vest Core Workout

 

Plank Press Up-3 sets 8 per arm

 

Pull-ups-3 sets of max reps

 

Rear Foot elevated split squats-4 sets of 8 reps

Superset

Box Handstand Press-4 sets of 8 reps

 

Weight Vest Full Body Workout

 

Repeat 4 times.

 

200 meter run

 

8 reps of each exercise

Bench Dips

Push Ups

Lunges

Jump squats

 

200 better run

 

L sits-3 sets of 3 reps (here's our article on how to do L-sits) 

 

There you have it. Give these tactical weight vest workouts a try to increase your cardio, core strength and power.