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I have an odd request that I believe only people who train in martial arts or boxing might be able to answer.

I climb the stairs in my highrise, going through either a jab or cross motion with each step. It's not a snappy jab/cross, it's more to condition the body, but it helps when shadow boxing.

To add weight to my stair climbing, mostly for the lower limbs, I wear a backpack. But the shoulder straps aggravate bursitis or tendonitis (not sure which) on the shoulders. You get old enough and you get those things. Even the cross strap that pulls the shoulder straps inward, away from the tip of the collar bone, doesn't help much.

Is there a commercially available weight harness for this purpose? It should be easy to hang up and air out, and it should consume little space when stored. And it should be able to carry an adjustable amount of weight (I'm guessing that the back is where the weight would be). The weights should be easy to tuck away.

I imagine that it might look a bit like an S&M contraption, but hopefully not. I don't need to attract attention going to the stairwell.

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  • There are tons of weight vests, but unless the weight being central to the back is the cause, they all have shoulder straps like a backpack would. – JohnP♦ Feb 11 at 14:36
  • What is the maximum weight you are trying to carry? – mattm♦ Feb 11 at 16:51
  • I carry about 25 pounds sometimes. If conditioning gets better, I imagine hauling around 40 pounds. I'm imagining that something that pulls the shoulder straps toward the centre front, e.g., solar plexus area, might help. That would probably cause them portion that actually rides on the shoulder to move toward the neck, i.e., away from the tip of the collar bone. My backpack as a cross strap that pulls the shoulder strap toward the solar plexus, but not very much. – user2153235 Feb 12 at 2:02
  • I hope that I'm right about the desirability of this pull toward the solar plexus. I could be misconceived about it. For example, if it causes the portion that rides on the shoulder to move too much against my neck, that's not good either. Because of the skin aggravation, or maybe even restricting blood flow. But if it's a commercial product, they probably already account for this and design accordingly – user2153235 Feb 12 at 2:09
  • @mattm: Thanks to the tip about "weight vests". I was googling the wrong words! – user2153235 Feb 12 at 2:16

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