Exercising while wearing a weighted vest is experiencing something of a renaissance. Social media posts and trainers are promoting it as a potential strategy to improve fitness and health.
Exercising with extra weight attached to the body is nothing new. This idea has been used by soldiers for centuries, even millennia – think long hikes with a heavy pack.
The modern weighted vest comes in a range of designs that are more comfortable and can be adjusted depending on the added weight. But could anyone be of help to you?
What the research says
One of the first research studies, published in 1993, followed 36 older adults wearing weighted vests during a weekly exercise class and at home over a 20-week period. Wear and tear was associated with improved bone health, pain, and physical function.
Since then, dozens of articles have evaluated the exercise effects of wearing a weighted vest, reporting numerous benefits.
It is not surprising that exercising with a weighted vest increases physiological stress – or the body’s work intensity – as shown by increased oxygen consumption, heart rate, use carbohydrates and energy expenditure.
Adding weight equal to 10% of body weight is effective. But it doesn’t seem like the body works much harder when carrying 5% more weight than body weight alone.
Does more load mean greater risk of injury?
A small 2021 study suggested that additional weights do not change the biomechanics of walking or running. These are important considerations for lower extremity injury risk.
Safety considerations of exercising with weighted vests have also been reported in a biomechanical study of treadmill running with additional weight of 1 to 10% of body weight.
Although physiological demand (indicated by heart rate) was higher with additional weight and greater muscle forces, the running movement was not negatively affected.
To date, no research studies have reported an increase in injuries from wearing weighted vests for recreational exercise. However, a 2018 clinical study on weight loss in obese people found back pain in 25% of those who wore such vests. It’s difficult to say whether this can translate to recreational use in non-obese people. As always, if pain or discomfort is felt, you should reduce the weight or stop training with the vest.
Better for weight loss or bone health?
Although wearing a weighted vest increases the energy expenditure of aerobic and resistance exercise, research showing that it results in greater fat loss or muscle mass retention is somewhat inconclusive.
An older study looked at walking on a treadmill for 30 minutes, three times a week, in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis. Researchers found greater fat loss and muscle gain in participants who wore a weighted vest (at 4 to 8 percent of body weight). But subsequent research among obese older adults failed to show greater fat loss among participants who wore weighted vests an average of 6.7 hours per day.
There is considerable interest in using weighted vests to improve bone health in older adults. A 2003 study reported significant improvements in bone density in a group of older women after 32 weeks of weighted vest walking and strength training, compared to a sedentary control group.
But a 2012 study found no difference in bone metabolism between groups of postmenopausal women with osteoporosis walking on a treadmill with or without a weighted vest.
Make progress
As with any exercise, there is a risk of injury if not performed correctly. But the risk of weighted vest training appears low and can be managed with proper exercise progression and technique.
If you’re new to training, the priority should be to just start exercising and not complicate it with wearing a weighted vest. Using body weight alone will be enough to put you on the path to significant fitness gains.
Once you have a good foundation of strength, aerobic fitness and resilience for the muscles, joints and bones, using a weighted vest can provide a greater intensity of load as well as a greater large variation.
It is important to start with a lighter weight (e.g. 5% of body weight) and not exceed 10% of body weight for ground impact exercises such as running, jogging or walking.
For resistance training such as squats, push-ups or chin-ups, progression can be achieved by increasing the loads and adjusting the number of repetitions for each set to around 10 to 15. Thus, heavier loads but fewer repetitions, then increasing to increase the load over time.
Although weighted vests can be used for resistance training, it’s probably easier and more practical to use dumbbells, kettlebells, or weighted bags.
Geert Pieters/Unsplash
The essentials
Weighted vest training is just one tool in an absolute plethora of equipment, techniques, and systems. Yes, walking or jogging with about 10% extra body weight increases energy expenditure and intensity. But training a little longer or at a higher intensity can produce similar results.
There may be bone health benefits to wearing a weighted vest during ground-based exercise like walking or jogging. But similar or greater stimulation to bone growth can be achieved through resistance training or even the introduction of impact training such as skipping, skipping or bounding.
Exercising in a weighted vest probably won’t increase your risk of injury. But it must be approached intelligently by taking into account fitness level, existing and previous injuries, and appropriate progression in terms of intensity and repetition.