FOR THE LOVE OF BONES
The way I did it.
FOR THE LOVE OF BONES
I bought a weighted vest.
It was a funny YouTube video that pushed me to move the vest from my cart and finally place the order. In the video, a couple in their fifties danced down a street in their neighborhood, singing the praises of their weighted vests to the tune of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. I’m a sucker for a good parody.
Wearing a weighted vest is one of several suggestions in the “longevity” column on my long list of things to try. I hesitated for a while on this experiment … partly because I wasn’t sure my shoulder could tolerate the weight and partly because they just look a little dorky.
Coming off the high of actually enjoying going to the gym and slogging through the circuit after I added listening to an audio book to my routine, I thought I might wear the weighted vest while I listened to the book at home. I’ve also wanted to walk the dog more, and that would be yet another excellent opportunity to wear the vest. It’s been difficult to walk him now that he’s in his teenage phase. He gets distracted and pulls toward every squirrel, dog, and person—basically anything that moves in his line of sight. The last thing I want is another broken shoulder! But even if I don’t walk the dog, I’m standing a lot at home, mostly at the kitchen sink. Fortunately, I have a nice view, but it sure seems like I’m stationed at that sink an awful lot. I may as well wear the vest to add some weight to my weight-bearing exercise.
Does that count? The advice I’ve read is to do more weight-bearing exercises. Does standing at the kitchen sink count as exercise?
Hold, please…I’ll look it up!
Okay, I’m back, and the answer is yes … kind of. “Wearing a weighted vest increases the gravitational pull on your skeleton, which forces your bones and muscles to work harder, stimulating bone density and increasing overall calorie burn.” Hmm … that sounds good, so I guess I can count standing at the sink as exercise IF I’m wearing the vest.
The vest arrived nicely boxed with a lavender sachet and a thank-you card that informed me it was designed for women by a woman-owned company. That made me feel good … it’s a nice extra touch. The vest made an “X” across my chest when I put it on. For obvious reasons, that is a good design.
The first time I wore the vest, I lasted about 30 minutes, partly because I had to go to work, and partly because my shoulder was a little sore. The next time, I put on the vest when I got home after work, which allowed me more time for my experiment. I found an old shoulder pad and stuck it under the strap on my “bad shoulder” side. That seemed to help a little. I also tightened the straps around my waist, which helped distribute the weight down a bit.
By the third time, I was used to the weight and feeling motivated to do something more vigorous, so I vacuumed and mopped the floors! That took over an hour, and I did feel like I had gotten a workout! With all the bending and reaching, my core muscles especially got a workout.
The way I did it. For the love of bones.
This is part of what I’m calling Expeditionvision—my quest to find what a meaningful life looks like. One experiment per week: Possible strategies for a happier life. Trying things on purpose and paying attention to what happens. I’m not offering advice or giving instructions. I’m just sharing the way I did it. If there’s something that you’ve been wanting to try—but haven’t—I’d love to hear about it. I’m open to reader suggestions for future experiments.
Field Notes: For Paid Subscribers
Paid subscribers, I’ve added a short field notes section below with what surprised me the most, what I didn’t expect, what I might do next time, plus things I’m still working on.