The best weighted vest exercises for improving callisthenics

The weighted vest is one of the most powerful pieces of equipment for taking your callisthenics/muscular training to the next level.

Once you've mastered bodyweight, it becomes your best ally in continuing to progress, building strength, muscle mass and stamina.

👉 In this article, we reveal the 6 best exercises to do with a weighted vest to boost your performance, along with tips on how to incorporate them into your routine.

Why train with a callisthenic weighted vest?

Using a weighted vest means adding progressive resistance to movements you've already mastered. It allows you to :

• Further stimulate muscle growth

• Improve relative strength (strength in relation to your body weight)

• Strengthen joint stability

• Prepare your body for advanced tricks such as muscle-ups, the front lever or the handstand push-up.

👉 Simply put, it's the ideal equipment to help you keep progressing!

Top 6 exercises to do with a weighted vest

1. Weighted pull-ups

Pull-ups are a mainstay of callisthenics. By doing them with a weighted vest, you'll intensify work on your back, biceps and shoulder girdle.

🔹 Goal: Develop a massive back, powerful arms, and prepare for strict muscle-ups.
🔹 Tip: Start with a light load (+5 to +10% of your body weight) and gradually increase.

2. Weighted dips

Bodyweight dips are already formidable, but doing them weighted changes the game: triceps, pectorals and shoulders are put to much greater use.

🔹 Goal: Gain mass and strength in the upper body.
🔹 Bonus: Ideal for building a solid base before tackling ring dips, for example.

3. Ballasted pumps

An often underestimated classic. With a weighted vest, push-ups become a real muscle-building exercise, especially if you're aiming for muscular failure.

🔹 Goal: Overall strengthening of pecs, triceps and gainage.
🔹 Variation: Try weighted decline push-ups to target shoulders and upper pecs more.

4. Weighted squats/squat jumps

Even with callisthenics, the lower body shouldn't be neglected. As you add weight, you engage the quadriceps, glutes and ischios more.

🔹 Goal: Develop leg muscle strength and endurance.
🔹 Tip: Combine squats with weighted squat jumps to boost your explosive power.

5. Weighted sleeving

A classic abdominal workout becomes immediately more interesting with an additional load. The weighted vest strengthens your abdominal muscles in depth.

🔹 Goal: Solidify your core, key to all advanced tricks (plank, front lever, etc.)
🔹 Variant: Also try weighted lateral gainage for more intensity.

6. Bulgarian clefts

Weighted vest lunges are ideal for balancing strength between your two legs, while working the glutes and stabilizers.

🔹 Goal: Improve coordination, unilateral strength and balance.
🔹 Pro tip: Add them at the end of the session for a scorching finish.

The concrete benefits of weighted vest exercises

The weighted vest enables effective progressive overloading, precisely adjusting the load to gain strength without compromising technique. By making sets more intense, it increases mechanical stress on the muscles, promoting greater muscle density and faster gains.

Finally, every kilo added is a step closer to mastering advanced figures such as the muscle-up, the front lever or the strict handstand push-up.

Tip 1: Control your body weight first

Don't rush. Before adding ballast, make sure you've mastered bodyweight exercises properly.

Tip 2: Start small

Even +5 kg changes the difficulty radically. Don't try to break records right away, focus on the quality of the movement.

Tip 3: Structure your sessions

👉 Example:

• Day 1: Push-ups, dips, handstand push-ups
  
• Day 2: Pull (pull-ups, weighted Australian pull-ups)
  

• Day 3: Legs & Abs (squats, lunges, sit-ups)

Gradually add the vest to each of these blocks.

In a nutshell

Exercising with a weighted vest helps unlock a new level of callisthenics. In concrete terms, here are the benefits:

• Build muscle mass

• Reinforcing relative strength

• Building a strong, stable body

• Prepare your muscles for advanced movements

But to reap the full benefits, intelligent progression is the key.

👉 You can find our 10 kg and 20 kg weighted vests, designed for street workout, directly in our store.

FAQ

When should I add a weighted vest?

As soon as you've mastered a bodyweight exercise (e.g. 10 strict pull-ups). The vest is there to create a progressive overload, not to compensate for a lack of technique.

Which vest weight to choose for beginners?

Start with a vest weighing 5-10% of your body weight, then gradually increase the weight. 

Can I train with a weighted vest every day?

This is not recommended at first. Ballast significantly increases muscle fatigue. We recommend using it 2 to 3 times a week maximum, leaving at least 48 hours' rest between sessions targeting the same muscle groups.