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Everybody has heard about training while wearing weights in different parts of your body: ankles, arms, torso, etc.

There are many references in cartoons that treat about Martial arts like the episode where Rock Lee battles Gaara (Naruto) (1:45) showing a considerable improvement in speed, or when Goku trains with them while flying (Dragon Ball) (1:40).

There are other references, summarized in the Wikipedia article for Weighted clothing, see the sub-article Cultural references.

Obviously removing the "superhuman" factor that those cartoons show, I'm strictly referring to the real world. I know I wouldn't be able to move at superhuman speed, but does training with weights actually improve my body's performance?

All I find are articles, blog posts, but nothing actually reliable, like medical studies or similar research.

Oddthinking
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Alenanno
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    I'm not sure there are enough references, this is my first question on the site. If I can improve it, please let me know. Also, I wasn't sure about the tags, so if you know others that might fit better, feel free to retag. – Alenanno Jan 24 '12 at 14:12
  • Er...why would we treat cartoons about extraordinary characters as a meaningful sources about real people in the real world. Most martial arts instructors advocate resistance training at some level. Some advocate a lot (particularly those doing so-called *hard, external* styles). Very few (none?) advocate trying to look like Mr. Universe. – dmckee --- ex-moderator kitten Jan 24 '12 at 17:07
  • This might be better asked at the [Fitness SE](http://fitness.stackexchange.com/) - Unless you are skeptical of the entire process of resistance training. – Chad Jan 24 '12 at 17:13
  • I was wondering whether it is true that it improves body performance and if it is true that it can create problems to your body in the long-term. Isn't this kind of question/wondering good for Skeptics? – Alenanno Jan 24 '12 at 17:20
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    Are you casting doubt on a claim made by cartoons? I don't know if this is really a worthwhile claim to try to dispute. Is there another source/myth which advocates this claim? (Same point made by dmckee above) – Asaf Jan 24 '12 at 17:22
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    Note that the original claim is not done by cartoons. As you can see in the Wikipedia article I linked, there are other references, in literature and movies too. If you google about this, you can find mentions everywhere, that makes it notable, if I understood what you mean by "notable". – Alenanno Jan 24 '12 at 17:24
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    Alright, well the Wikipedia article doesn't exactly make any radical claims, other than to say it's "generally a kind of weight training". I personally have read plenty of good information on using weighted clothing while training, but I still don't feel this is quite what this particular website is made for. Here's an example of a study you might be interested in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16679992?itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum&ordinalpos=3 – Asaf Jan 24 '12 at 17:49
  • So you are skeptical of the entire process of resistance training? I think you would need a notable claim saying it is not valid since the existing research would indicate that it is. I Still think this would be better on fitness SE you will get the answer you are looking for there. Here we are just going to address a specific claim that you do not have yet. – Chad Jan 24 '12 at 20:33
  • I defend the use of cartoons, like movies, as notable claims *IF* the writer is actually making a claim about the real-world and not about the cartoon world. For example: http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/3824/does-wearing-a-headband-help-for-toothache – Oddthinking Jan 24 '12 at 22:40
  • That said, a question about there being "more" advantages and disadvantages isn't a science question - it is a personal preference question. I acknowledge that there are benefits to having a six-pack, but it is not worth the cost FOR ME. Others clearly disagree. Can we reword the question to be fact-based rather than subjective? – Oddthinking Jan 24 '12 at 22:43
  • @Oddthinking As I specified in my question, I removed the "cartoon" thing, asking about the real world. About the subjectivity, like I said in chat (pinging the present mods) I noticed my question was worded differently from others... Anyway, I reworded that last paragraph and the title. Let me know if the new wording is ok. – Alenanno Jan 24 '12 at 23:05
  • @Oddthinking: Maybe my comment came across wrongly. I was trying to defend your use of cartoons as appropriate. – Oddthinking Jan 24 '12 at 23:43
  • @Oddthinking Your comment didn't came across as particularly against me, but thanks for the clarification! :) Is my question ok as it is now? – Alenanno Jan 24 '12 at 23:46
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    I tweaked it - particularly to wearing weights, rather than all weight training. Although now that I come to read it closer, rather than referencing the "cultural references" section of the Wikipedia page, why not reference the claims made on the Wikipedia page itself? – Oddthinking Jan 24 '12 at 23:47
  • @Oddthinking I referenced both... Although I felt that Cultural References was stronger, if you think the other one is actually stronger, you can change that too. Thanks for the help! – Alenanno Jan 24 '12 at 23:52
  • VTC as offtopic - fitness would be a better place – Rory Alsop Jan 25 '12 at 09:32
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    I don't understand why you think it's off topic, considering there is a similar question with 7 upvotes on this site. Besides, *I'm not asking how to get fit*, but whether this claim that "training while wearing weights improves body performance" is true and referenced. – Alenanno Jan 25 '12 at 09:42
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    I posted a [meta discussion](http://meta.skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/1335/is-the-question-about-training-while-wearing-weights-actually-off-topic) about this question, so we don't clutter the comments area. – Alenanno Jan 25 '12 at 11:33

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