20kg Weighted Vest

Fitstream Vest Review

By jimboki

2011-02-28 17:43:00

At last a vest that you can actually train in. After trying other vests I was put off by the idea as they restrict the way you move and as we all know the free natural motions of the body are very important when it comes to training.

I first put the vest on without the weighted blocks and I was amazed how snug it was. It really clings well to your upper torso and sits just above the core. I was able to move as if it wasnt on at all. Was very happy so far.

I took it off and put in all 30 blocks. They slot very firmly into the pouches. It is very easy to put on even at 30kg, it slips on doing an over head press. The padding is amazing and the weight is very well spread. I could still move as I pleased without restriction.

Ok time to test it out. With my own body weight I can do about 20 pull ups. With the vest I did 3!! This was perfect as I always aim to hit under 12 reps max and as you can adjust the weight from 1kg to 30kg I can now build my self up at a pace.

I will be using the vest for all body weight exercises such as pull ups, press ups, squats etc. Will also work well with the fitness rings. 10/10 perfect!

Bar-barian review of Fitstream weight vest

By retro

2011-06-23 21:11:18

As part of elite bodyweight group the Bar-barians we tested out the Fitstream weighted vest down during one of our workouts at Primrose Hill park, London... 
We've both trained with weighted vests/jackets before - some have been good, others a waste of time - when we got our hands on the Fitstream vest you could see straight away that it was very well made with 30 velcro fastening pockets (15 at the front and 15 at the back) each able to hold a 1kg weighted block so you can load it up with as much or as little weight as you require up to 30kg.
We started out with a little stretch off before the workout then slipped in 10kg into each of the vests and went for a little jog.
The vest's velcro and ring fastening design was easy to use and the vest fitted snugly around the torso and there was no unfastening of the velcro  during the run. 
We also tried out some squat thrusts, burpees and a couple of sprint bursts with the vest on, again the vest held tight during the exercises and you could really feel the intensity increase with the extra 10kg strapped to the body.
After the warm up we got into a hard weighted dip and pull up session. We loaded up one vest with 20kg and the other we maxed it out with  30kg. We started out doing supersets, 10 x pull ups with the 20kg vest then take that vest off and put on the 30 kg vest for 15 x dips - taking it in turns.
We definitely recommend using a vest over a dipping belt for exercises as it distributes the weight better and has much more uses (ever tried doing a muscle up with a dipping belt and plate?). With the extra weight added the intensity of the workout went up dramatically - the vest was perfect for doing both exercises, the vest doesn't flap around like some of the jacket style ones and there was no awkwardness in the shoulder straps when performing the pull ups. 
The Fitstream weighted vest is as good a vest as any we have tried out, including the MiR and BOX vests which are probably the best known brands on the market.
The vest is easy to use, the blocks easily slide in and out of the pockets but sit snugly inside. It can be taken off quickly and easily for when you want to do a drop set of pull ups, dips, press ups etc.
It's a good heavy duty, durable bit of equipment and we now train with it to build body weight/lean muscle two or three times a week as part of our routines - If you train in a gym or park, keep the vest in the boot of your car or if you train at home store it under your bed for when you need it.

Fitstream Weighted Vest

By ken1

2011-10-19 13:07:45

OK I have just recived my vest today, the quality is first class. I agree with everything said in the other reviews, so I wont go over it all again, but I would like to say, I recived first class servise from the guys at Fitstream and I will surly be ordering more Items in the future.

10/10 frome me

Weighted Vest

By robymurray

2011-10-26 19:57:29

First things first, an absolute first class service from fitstream, well done guys.

The weighted vest is well made, fits well and really intesifies your work out. From squats to press ups and pull ups you really get a sweat on. I'm 5'10 and 11 and a half stone, I will be buying more weight for it soon.

Weighted Vest Additional Weights

By ken1

2011-10-28 9:32:22

I have just added more wighted blocks to my vest, they fit nice and snug in the pouches, no movement while training.

Once again great service from the guys at Fitstream, and super fast delivery.

Many thanks

Ken

Fitstream weighted vest review

By sly

2012-04-12 12:36:49

As the bar-barian's review is very complete and I completely agree with this, i will not write a very long review.

I'll just add that I live in France and the vest came within a week, so as ever, Fitstream's delivery is quick.
They make very-quality products that don't cost you an arm and a leg.

A good choice for improving your way to train, eventualy work with the gym rings to make your training a real challenge.

awesome tool

By fox

2012-05-31 10:06:22

This piece of equipment is simply the best. I can do all the moves i love and makes them much more challenging:-)

Fits perfectly, allows full range of motion.

I applaud you and thank you for this

luxury weight jacket

By crixus22

2012-08-07 11:52:56

Wow was not expeceting 20kg to weigh that much please work your way up the weight as for the quality of the jacket seems fantastic didn't think it would fit at first but theres extra straps at back that come undone and the jacket doesn't dig in neither so will fit any size man comfortably. Fantastic quality for money, price and quality wise best jacket on the market period.  

Good piece of kit!

By lytnus

2013-03-06 10:30:42

I finally took the plunge and ordered the 20kg weights vest, as I wanted some extra resistance for pushups, pullups, squats and dips.

The vest itself is tough and high quality, and I'm confident will withstand a lot of usage. The distribution of slots (1kg per slot) is great, and lets you increment in 2kg jumps while keeping the weight balanced left to right and back to front (or 1kg jumps for a tiny imbalance back to front with odd numbers).

The vest doesn't get in the way at all with squats and dips. Regular pushups off the floor suffer from a restricted range of motion due to the bulk of the vest, so I have taken to setting up some chairs instead for weighted pushups, which removes this issue and gives a much nicer ROM in general anyway.

The vest does restrict movement a bit for chinups and pullups (less so with pullups as you can position the grip wider, putting less pressure on the shoulder straps), however I have found that by keeping the vest unfastened this problem is greatly alleviated, and I can comfortably enough do chinups with 20kg without the vest getting in the way. It's worth noting that some other weights vests have far wider shoulder straps than this one, and so I reckon this one has it as good or better than most.

The waist straps seem to offer a fair bit of adjustment for different sizes, and hold the vest snug and with very little movement. Jumping squats with 20kg posed no issue whatsoever for the vest.

Frankly, I'm not strong enough to use it for anything like handstand pushups, but it held well for back bridges so it has a fair chance of not slipping off for them if you are that way inclined.

All in all, a great purchase. Fitstream were very fast to dispatch and offer great fast email response. Top stuff. Ordering another 10kg now to give me some wiggle room for progression.