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Using Euro coins as weights (2004)

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180 points Tomte | 3 comments | 20 Oct 24 10:18 UTC | HN request time: 0.501s | source
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modulovalue ◴[20 Oct 24 12:53 UTC] No.41895049[source]▶
I'm using euro cents as weights in my weighted vest.

When I started doing this I didn't want to afford dedicated weights as it seemed like a waste of money, but I had many cents saved up from my childhood, which I started to use instead.

I have roughly 15kg in euro cents in my vest and I'm regularly talking walks with it.

To get one kilo you need 435 cents and it turns out that in Germany you can also "buy" coins "for free" at the "Bundesbank", that is, you can exchange actual money for weights without any fees. You give 4 euros and 35 cents and you get a kilo. Once you need the money back, you can also sell those coins back to them for free.

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rwmj ◴[20 Oct 24 12:57 UTC] No.41895065[source]▶
What's a weighted vest? Something for diving?
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dmd ◴[20 Oct 24 13:00 UTC] No.41895092[source]▶
It's a way to increase the risk of injury to your knees and ankles and strain your back and shoulders while taking walks, and in general make walking more unpleasant.

Some people think it's an exercise 'life hack'.

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t-3 ◴[20 Oct 24 13:31 UTC] No.41895259[source]▶
The risk of injury while walking in a weighted vest is not much higher than walking normally. A very high weight of vest is probably ill advised, but walking on a very flat/regular surface for long periods is far more damaging than walking with a little extra weight. Weighted bracelets/limb weights are dangerous though, and shouldn't be used unless you know what you're doing and take care not to move too quickly and put excess strain on joints.
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dotancohen ◴[20 Oct 24 13:47 UTC] No.41895339[source]▶
How much weight on a weighted arm band is considered dangerous? I'm considering 500 gram bands for my arms, that's just about twice the weight of a cellular phone today.
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Yodel0914 ◴[21 Oct 24 00:58 UTC] No.41899800[source]▶
Your body weight varies by more than that during the course of a normal day. Carrying 1kg should not increase any sort of risk of injury unless you exceptionally weak (as in, have trouble walking at all).

For the same reason, you probably won't see much benefit from such light weight over just walking a little faster or a little further.

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Eisenstein ◴[21 Oct 24 01:41 UTC] No.41899984[source]▶
The problem is that when you put weight on your limbs you are creating levers and inertia which get transferred to joints in ways those joints are not good at dealing with.
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1. Yodel0914 ◴[21 Oct 24 02:19 UTC] No.41900159[source]▶
How to you carry groceries (or, basically, function at all) if you can't handle a 500g weight attached to your arm?
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2. t-3 ◴[21 Oct 24 02:55 UTC] No.41900287[source]▶
One usually doesn't do much with their arms while carrying groceries, they just hang at the side or move the bag around when putting it down or picking it up. When performing other movements, especially when they are fast or forceful, the extra weight can add momentum that is potentially hazardous, especially if it bounces or moves around (makes it very hard to compensate for reflexively). If present during repetitive tasks, extra weight can increase the risk of repetitive stress injuries occurring.
3. ◴[21 Oct 24 03:01 UTC] No.41900316[source]▶