Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more

Outdoor Activities => Exercise, Fitness, Training, Competitions and General Health => Topic started by: Rich.H on September 11, 2013

Title: Thoughts on extra training weight?
Post by: Rich.H on September 11, 2013
In an ongoing attempt to keep my training sessions hard I have started to always carry weight with me. I have been simply taking a backpack and loading it with around 15-18kg for all runs/tabs of 5 miles or more. One thing that has occurred is that long term this could be doing damage to my back as such I wanted to find a way to still carry the weight but spread it around. With that in mind I got hold of two items, a  weighted vest as normally used in a gym environment, and a ultralight pack with hydration.

After some minor alterations of the vest to ensure a snug solid fit I now have the weight split so that 10kg is on my body through the vest split half front/back. With only 5kg or so on my back, after the first couple of uses I ended up with yet another concern I hope folks can offer input on. I have found the weight spread to be a lot nicer than one heavy lump on my back but wondering if it was taken a step further would it be even better. What would folks think to this method compared to instead having a series of slips/pockets made up that hold very little weight each but are evenly spread through the entire body, thus meaning you still carry that extra weight but every part of your body helps instead of just asking one muscle group to take it all?

My main concern is that you would end up with something that is almost an entire suit and thereby kill any heat dissipation/wicking properties of your clothing?
Title: Re: Thoughts on extra training weight?
Post by: twentyclicks on September 11, 2013
Rich, I think you have to consider what you want to achieve.

I've tried running with 12kg before (run being a very vague concept... due to change in body position and technique to accommodate the weight, let alone reduction in speed). Certainly a weighted vest would help allow better posture and hold the weight more securely. Running is already a high-impact activity, and I can't help feeling this just accentuates the impact and will lead to injury/wear on the joints. 5kg is the most I would run with now, as that is all I need for MMM. Walking with heavier weights would greatly reduce the impact, but it will make you technically good 'walking with heavy weights' (different from walking with moderate or light weights). What will you be doing?

I don't think spreading the weight further will significantly help. Essentially all your muscles are helping to carry the weight anyway, and once the front/back distribution is sorted there's not much beyond that... perhaps ankle & hand weights.

I believe general conditioning and technique should be separated. I'd use the weighted vest during strength workouts (pushup, pullup, dips, squats) and just run as normal: it adds resistance to these compound body-weight exercises which will strengthen all your muscles' capacity, but your technique will be honed under normal conditions... efficiency of which is as important as outright strength. You could practice shooting a basketball from the half-way line wearing wrist weights or a heavier ball, but you're going to miss every time in a match.

Just my thoughts on it - don't want to discourage or detract from your commitment!
Title: Re: Thoughts on extra training weight?
Post by: Rich.H on September 11, 2013
Thanks for the comments, I say run but what tends to happen for me at these distances is that I will run for perhaps 500m or so then reduce it back to a fast walk while I rest. Once I can run again I do so and repeat, though t is more of a steady jog simply due to the weight carried. The basketball analogy fits perfectly as my sole intention is to make training sessions much much harder than anything I will actually do thus making any activity far easier.
Title: Re: Thoughts on extra training weight?
Post by: whoRya on September 12, 2013
I carry my spare socks down the front of my pants, strictly in the interests of weight distribution y'hear  :-[
Title: Re: Thoughts on extra training weight?
Post by: Rich.H on September 12, 2013
I carry my spare socks down the front of my pants, strictly in the interests of weight distribution y'hear  :-[

Is that front/back or left/right distribution?
Title: Re: Thoughts on extra training weight?
Post by: Rusty Madra on September 18, 2013
Thats some pretty hardcore training: fair play to you! I'd agree with the above from Twenty Clicks with the additional nugget of wisdom thus:

There's training pain, and there's spraining pain. Training pain is the soreness that one generally handles with such conditioning. It shouldn't stop you doing the activity although can be annoying.

Spraining pain is when something's so sore your body says: "stop don't do that anymore" and sends a wee nudge in the form of a jolt of pain to remind you.

Easily worked out on a scale of 1-10. 1 being the mildest pain ever felt and 10 reminding you of the worst possible. Anything below a 5 is training pain. Anything above 5 is spraining pain and you'll risk injury.

With load carrying and running always remember being tough ain't enough: you've to be smart too. An injury free runner/hiker is an good and active one. I've seen many a person tough it out through an injury and all it's accomplished is a lengthy lay off from any activity.

Good luck with the training and kudos on the intensity of it.... That's some pretty hardcore sh*t  :D