I recently picked up two sets of Egg Weights after they started appearing in my Facebook newsfeed. The small weights can be used for a variety of activity and they seemed like a good opportunity for Obstacle Course Racing (OCR) training. After all we are one of the sports that need good arm strength as well as running/cardio ability. Here is how the tiny weights are stacking up:
Ashley Samples going for a run with her Egg Weights and her Squirrel's Nut Butter running singlet.
What are they? Egg Weights are small handheld weights that have a rubber sleeve over them with a finger loop. I picked up the 2 lbs. cardio mini set (1 lbs. each egg) and the 3.5 lbs. Mercury running pod (1.75 lbs. per). Essentially they are small weights you put in your hands for exercise. By putting them in your hands (at the far/distal end), it increases the work required to perform any activity compared to carrying a similar amount of weight on your body. The weights are small and they don’t sound heavy but they feel incredibly dense making them heavier than they look.
Conquer The Gauntlet Pro Jenny Overstreet with the 2 lbs. cardio egg weights.
How are they used? You simply put the Egg Weights on your hand and start training. The little rubber loops goes over your middle finger and the weight sits comfortably in your hand. The 2 lbs. ones are small enough my hand naturally wraps around them no problem. The 3 lbs. ones have a unique shape that have been contoured to your hands. As an OCR athlete, you should be primarily using them for running to add stress to your upper body/arms while doing cardio training. However, they can be used for more than that.
6x American Ninja Warrior finalist Michelle Warnky using her Egg Weights for calisthenics.
Favorite Uses:
Cardio: Throw a pair of Egg Weights in your hand and go for a run to get the benefits of cardio and arm training at the same time. As OCR athletes, this is especially important. While the website heavily focuses on runners, I would argue that these are better training tools for OCR athletes than any other cardio sport.
Calisthenics: My teammate, Michelle Warnky, uses them for calisthenic/body weight exercises. Essentially if you are doing an exercise where your hands are free, adding egg weights to your routine can make things harder. This creates progressive training (it gets harder as you get better), which means it creates further stimulus for change.
Masters athlete Doug Snyder on a run with his Egg Weights, VJ Shoes and Mudgear shorts/socks.
Training While Traveling: I travel a lot for work and it is not convenient to bring all my OCR training tools with me. However, the Egg Weights are small enough I can throw them in my bag without taking up a lot of space. This allows me to work my arms at the same time I’m working my cardio/endurance training. It’s been great, especially since COVID, with most of the hotels I’ve stayed at closing their hotel gym for health concerns.
Cross Training: During quarantine I also picked up some additional hobbies including some martial arts. The Egg Weights have been great for training arm strength and speed. They add stress when keeping my hands in a guard position and require me to use more effort while punching. Once I remove them for the end of my training session I feel faster and more explosive.
Quality: The Egg Weights are high quality and have not shown any sign of wear over the last couple of months of use. The rubber sleeves and metal egg can be cleaned easily with warm water and a little bit of soap. Furthermore, the eggs come in, what I would describe as, a mini duffel bag. This makes them easy to transport without losing and also provides me with comic relief when my 2 year old son decides to carry them around (which is frequently).
Cardio Egg Weights next to the form fitting Mercury Egg Weights.
Selecting The Right Size: The size of weights you choose will depend on how you will use them primarily. Luckily the website does a good job of helping you choose breaking them down by sport and goal in the name of the product. I like having the two options, 3.5 lbs. Mercury for harder days/cross training and the 2.0 lbs. Mini for easier training. They also have options for 4 lbs. and 5 lbs. ones that are more focused on boxing/punching/martial arts. I haven’t used those but I’m currently happy with my 3.5 lbs. ones because they seem more versatile for my training. If you can’t decide they also have a running bundle with four sets that will save some money. For those concerned about style, Egg Weights also recently released colored versions to make them more stylish.
Overall: Overall, I’m glad I added these to my training repertoire. It provides a unique type of stress to my system in a convenient package. OCR is a unique and adaptive sport that is constantly training different systems. Egg Weights are a great addition to an overall OCR training plan to help you crush your goals whether you are looking simply to lose a couple more pounds or make your way to the top of the podium.
Not all eggs are created equal…
5/5 Stars