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I love to run.
Whether I hit the pavement, treadmill, or trail, I feel strong and powerful.
But once I started runningevery dayformonths, I began looking for ways to spice up my runs.
At first, I tested differenttypes of running, and that was funfor a while.
I wanted even more of a challenge, and got curious about weighted leggings.
In fact, professional athletes and leisure runners have hailedrunning and training in weighted vests.
running coach and founder of Running With Life
They have been positive as far as adding some strength, adding some speed.
However, not much research has been conducted onweighted leggingsspecifically.
The research thathasbeen out has been mixed, says Dworecki.
Theres been no change and also some positive results.
I wasthoroughlyimpressed with how chic the cardboard box and paper wrapping were.
When I took out the weighted leggings, I remember thinking they might betootight.
At first, I wondered if I had made a mistake.
I could tell that was meant to offer support by way of slight compression.
Whats more, the leggings didnt fall down even though they have weight on them.
running coach and founder of Running With Life
Since these leggings only weigh about a pound, theyre considered a microload.
The weight is spread throughout your legs via tiny beads on the fabric.
Lets say you put the weight on your ankle.
These leggings, however, are going to more evenly distribute the weight over an entire body part.
One notable downside: Theres only one pocket.
I also usually take my keys with me, and Ill place those in a different pocket.
I cant do that with the Omorpho leggings.
Initially, I found that the Omorpho G-Tight slowed me down a bit.
After a few weeks however, adding the extra challenge paid off.
I would run with the weighted leggings three to four times a week and then runfasterin my regular leggings.
I was eventually able to reduce my typical mile pace from nine minutes to eight and a half minutes.
Thats a significant jump in improvement.
The mental side, though, was a bit trickier.
That self-doubt permeated my earlier runs, which slowed down my mile pace to close to 10 minutes.
And that made me feel like a better runner.
I could run confidently even when I was wearing something meant to make each step extra challenging.
But that doesnt mean theyre right for everyone.
More experienced runners are the ones who should try weighted leggings, Dworecki says.
Keep things simplerunning itself is already difficult enough.
Really tune into how youre feeling with these, Dworecki says.
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