Plate Loaded Weight Vests and Why Not To Buy One in 2025

Plate Loaded Weight Vests have a much higher weight capacity than regular Weighted Vests. This sounds very promising for Weighted Calisthenics, and more companies have started developing their version of the Plate Loaded Weight Vest. After using the Kensui EZ Vest for a while, arguably the number one Plate Loaded Weight Vest, we are not fans of this concept. Let me explain why there are better options for your weighted exercise, despite the promise of an easily scalable, high-capacity “solution” like the Kensui EZ Vest or other Plate Loaded Weight Vest.

You can also watch my reasoning on my YouTube video:

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1. The Plate Loaded Weight Vest

Like the iconic Kenzui EZ Vest, a Plate Loaded Weight Vest uses weight plates instead of inserts for added weight. The idea with these vests is to use regular bumper plates, which means you can achieve a much higher maximum weight capacity than with standard Weighted Vests. You can mix and match bumper plates to get the ideal weight for your exercise. 

Where regular Weighted Vests go up to about 30kg at the most, Plate Loaded  Weight Vests have a much higher weight capacity. At least, that is the theory. We’ll discover many other problems with Plate Loaded Weight Vests that make them less suitable in practice. Even that theoretical higher weight capacity comes with some unfortunate caveats.

1.1 Advantage(s) of a Plate Loaded Weight Vest

The supposed advantage of a Plate Loaded Weight Vest is the higher maximum weight capacity. Where other vests go up to about 30kg, the limit to vests like the Kensui EZ Vest is the number of bumper plates you can fit. This quickly surpasses anything a regular Weighted Vest could achieve. You could easily exceed 40kg or 50kg with just a few plates. All the weight is still on the upper body, just like with any other Weighted Vest.

Spoilers ahead: it doesn’t always work out that way. This setup has some problems that make this type of vest much less than ideal for Calisthenics exercise.

1.2 Disadvantages of a Plate Loaded Weight Vest

Where to even start? I’ll leave problems with loading and exercising with a Plate Loaded Weight Vest aside for now and discuss them in-depth below. Let’s begin with the costs. 

A Plate Loaded Weight Vest comes without bumper plates. You need to buy the bumper plates separately, and those are expensive. The vest itself is typically also more costly than a regular Weighted Vest (our example Kensui EZ Vest MAX vs coming in at 299 without plates). Worse, not all bumper plates are compatible with the threading on the vest. If your plates are incompatible, you must buy an adapter for the vest. This increases the cost of your equipment yet again. 

You could also buy proprietary plates made for the vest to ensure compatibility and so you can stack multiple plates (keep on reading where we try and load the vest up with plates). These plates are typically more expensive than generic bumper plates.

In our experience, a single Plate Loaded Vest with just two plates will cost as much, if not more, than a whole set of weighted Calisthenics Equipment. Money might not be an issue for you, and some high-quality or innovative products justify a higher price. That’s why I’ll focus on the practical disadvantages next.

2. Loading Up the Plate Loaded Weight Vest (w. Kenzui EZ Vest)

In theory, you can add as many bumper plates as you want to your vest. It’s not all smooth sailing in practice. Not all plates are compatible, so make sure that any plates you have will fit the vest’s threading. If you don’t have any plates, buy those that will fit the thread of the vest. If you have incompatible plates, you need to buy the adapter.

A second issue is the width of your plates and the length of the threading on the vest. With thicker bumper plates, you can often only add one on each side of the vest before you can no longer apply the locking nut. The solution is either another adapter that increases the length of the thread or using thinner bumper plates.

Heavier but thinner plates are larger, which will become an issue during exercise. Even with smaller but thicker plates, you’ll encounter problems with exercises like Pull-Ups and Chin-Ups (again, read about this below).

Point in case none of our bumper plates could create a combination exceeding 30kg and fit on our Kensui EZ Vest. That defeated the whole purpose of the vest.

3. Plate Loaded Weight Vest Exercises (w. Kenzui EZ Vest)

The meat and potatoes are, of course, how these vests perform during exercise. The weights that fit our Kensui EZ Vest were the proprietary Kensui bumper plates. These are thin enough to fit two per side, but they are very large. The plates immediately restrict your Range of Motion, especially in front of your chest.

3.1 Pull-Ups/Chin-Ups

Plate Loaded Vests are not ideal for Pull-Ups or Chin-Ups. The wide plates tend to bump into your chin during the ascent if you’re not very careful. Your Range of Motion is so restricted that you must hollow the area around your armpits to allow the plate to clear your arms. This is awkward to begin with and makes narrow Pull-Ups impossible altogether. If you had smaller but thicker plates, your Range of Motion might not be as affected, but the plate itself would bump into the bar.

3.2 Dips

The plates also affect your ability to do Dips. If you wear a back plate, your elbows can bump into them and wedged between the plate and the bar. The front plate also tends to come up and can touch or bump into your chin. Again, not ideal. In hindsight, this would be less of an issue if you had smaller but thicker plates for this exercise.

3.3 Squats

The wide plates tend to wedge against your thighs when doing dips. Smaller but thicker plates would work here. However, there is a safety concern if you’re wearing a Plate Loaded Weight Vest for its high capacity. 

If you fail the exercise, there is nowhere for you to go. With a Dip Belt, the weight naturally drops to the floor and off your body if you fail the exercise. You can just let go of the kettlebells or dumbbells you’re holding. With a regular Weighted Vest, the weight is limited to 30kg, and these vests tend to follow the shape of your body so you can just roll over.

We don’t see any safe way of failing a heavy Squat wearing a Plate Loaded Weight Vest. Just fall over gently and hope for the best.

3.4 Push-Ups

For Push-Ups, this type of vest would work. A spotter can load the back plates and observe while you’re doing very heavy Push-Ups. The weight would stay in place, not get in the way, and the high weight capacity means you can push this exercise to any limit you please.

3.5 Handstands and Handstand Push-Ups

The vest works with handstands and handstand push-ups. With your arms above your head, the plates are less of an issue with your Range of Motion. I’ve also seen people do very heavy handstand push-ups with the Kensui EZ Vest specifically, so it is possible. 

However, this is such a tiny niche of athletes that I don’t think many people will see this benefit. For 99% of Calisthenics practitioners, a regular Weighted Vest is more than enough weight for their handstands and handstand push-ups.

4. Better Alternatives To Plate Loaded Weight Vests

It’s probably apparent already that we don’t recommend Plate Loaded Weight Vests. Even our Kensui EZ Vest isn’t something we’d recommend to 99% of people due to issues with plate compatibility, costs, range of motion and sometimes even safety.

A much better option would be a regular Weighted Vest. These are cheaper, easier to wear, and more comfortable to wear, and they leave your Range of Motion intact. With a maximum capacity of 30kg, these regular vests are more than enough for 9 out 10 Calisthenics practitioners, if not more.

A Dip Belt is cheaper, more convenient, and more comfortable for heavier exercises. They also leave your upper body’s range of motion intact and are safer for those exercises where you might typically see a higher load.

A set of a Weighted Vest and a Dip Belt with some plates combined could also be cheaper than a Plate Loaded Weight Vest with plates. Here are two great products that cost less (combined):

5. Conclusions And Why Not to a Buy Plate Loaded Weight Vest

Our conclusion is simple. We can’t recommend you buy a Plate Loaded Weight Vest. There are better solutions that leave your Range of Motion intact and add sufficient weight for most people. A Weighted Vest and Dip Belt combination is the tried and tested solution for Weighted Calisthenics.

Although we are always curious about innovations that can improve Calisthenics, the Plate Loaded Weight Vest is, in our opinion, a dud.

Frequently Asked Questions About Plate Loaded Weight Vests

A few more questions we’ll answer regarding plate loaded weight vests and their alternatives.