Locksmith is one quarter of Brit-winning band Rudimental, but away from the music he’s also a fitness fanatic, and recently launched his own activewear range: They Call Me Locksmith.
Among the brand’s apparel is a selection of training equipment, including the Tactical Weighted Vest used here.
Weighted vests offer the simplest solution for levelling up your bodyweight workouts. While adding dumbbells or other external weights changes the basic mechanics of bodyweight exercises, with a weighted vest you can press-up, pull-up, squat and more just as you would without weights. The extra load will place added stress on your muscles and cardiovascular system, which means your strength, endurance and body fat will all benefit.
For this weighted vest circuit, you’re going to complete each exercise back-to-back, with 15-30 seconds’ rest in-between. Do each exercise for 1 minute, and once 1 round is complete, rest for a further minute before aiming for 4 more rounds (5 in total).
1a. Weighted Vest Squat
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Sit back and squat as low as you can while maintaining good form, with your knees driving out and back staying straight.
1b. Weighted Vest Bear Crawl Kick-Through
- Assume a bear crawl position with your arms straight, hands below your shoulders, and knees bent 90 degrees below your hips (only your hands and toes should touch the floor).
- Keeping your back flat, core engaged, and right hand on the floor, lift your left arm and right leg and rotate to your left, pivoting on your left foot as you thread your right leg beneath you and extend it straight (don’t allow it to touch the floor).
- Reverse the movement to return to the starting position.
- Repeat in the opposite direction, lifting your right hand and left leg, and pivoting on your right foot as you thread your left leg through.
- Continue alternating.
1c. Weighted Vest High Knees
- Starting in a standing position, bring your left knee to your left palm at a 90-degree angle.
- Switch to the right knee and repeat.
- Pick up the pace to fire up fat loss.
1d. Weighted Vest Burpees
- Stand tall.
- Drop down into the start of a squat thrust, then jump your feet back to a press-up position.
- From here, you can either drop your torso all the way to the floor, or go straight into jumping your feet back to your hands and returning to standing.
- As you stand, jump up before landing with soft knees.
- Gather your breath and repeat.
1e. Weighted Vest Jumping Jacks
- From standing, jump your feet out to the sides while simultaneously raising your arms into an overhead clap.
- Keep your head fully upright, with your gaze directed forward.
- Hop your feet back to shoulder-width, while bringing your arms back to your sides at the same time.
