Weighted vests are having a second. They’re touted as a easy method to increase energy, construct bone, and make on a regular basis motion extra “efficient.” “Ought to I put on a weighted vest whereas I stroll?” is likely one of the most typical questions I hear in my position as an osteoporosis energy coach.
Weighted vests have grow to be a well-liked “hack” within the wellness world, usually promoted as a simple method to construct bone density, energy, or endurance. A number of the voices most loudly touting their advantages are additionally benefitting ultimately from their sale — so it’s necessary to separate advertising and marketing claims from research-backed actuality.
After I began digging into the science, I wished to know what the proof really says. Do weighted vests dwell as much as the hype, or are they simply one other shiny instrument within the wellness toolbox?
How Did We Get Right here? Why Weighted Vests Turned So Widespread
As with most health developments, a couple of high-profile influencers began touting them for every little thing from bone-building to weight reduction and — bam! — they had been immediately in all places. Check out a vest promoter’s social media feed and also you’ll possible see a number of research cited as “proof” that weighted vests are research-backed.
These of us declare what they’re saying is evidence-based, after which checklist a couple of research. As a result of these research embody the phrases “weighted vest(s),” you are taking them at their phrase. In any case, they’re “specialists,” and also you assume they’ve really learn the analysis they’re citing. Sadly, simply because a research used weighted vests doesn’t imply the analysis helps the influencer’s claims.
There additionally appears to be a reasonably predictable checklist of references that get recycled. It makes you surprise in the event that they’re all copying the identical citations.
What Does the Analysis on Weighted Vests Truly Say?
Listed below are a couple of of essentially the most generally cited research — and what they really inform us about weighted vests.
Lengthy-term Train Utilizing Weighted Vests Prevents Hip Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Girls (Snow, 2000)
Who: 18 postmenopausal ladies (9 management, 9 intervention)
How lengthy: 5-year research, 32 weeks per 12 months, 3 instances per week
What: Contributors wore a weighted vest throughout a 60-minute class together with strolling or delicate stretching, 35 minutes of lower-body resistance and affect coaching (stepping, squats, lunges, toe raises, leaping), and a settle down.
Outcomes: Exercisers prevented hip bone loss; controls misplaced bone.
TL;DR: This research — an extension of a 9-month trial (Shaw, 1998) — included extra leaping. Strolling was solely used within the heat up and funky down. The vest was worn throughout resistance coaching, not throughout affect work. Due to the combined protocol and small pattern measurement, we will’t draw conclusions about sporting a weighted vest whereas strolling. The intervention prevented bone loss however didn’t construct bone.
Results of Train Coaching with Weighted Vests on Bone Turnover and Isokinetic Power in Postmenopausal Girls (Klentrou, 2007)
Who: 16 postmenopausal ladies (7 management, 9 intervention)
How lengthy: 12 weeks, 3 instances per week
What: The train group did a 65 minute class. This included a heat up, 20 minutes of strolling with the weighted vest, quarter-hour of decrease physique strengthening with the weighted vest (squats, lunges, leg lifts, calf raises), 5 minutes of again and core train, quarter-hour of stability workout routines, and a settle down.
Outcomes: The train group gained energy and improved physique composition. There have been no vital modifications in bone turnover markers.
TL;DR: Contributors did stroll with a weighted vest, however additionally they did resistance coaching whereas sporting it. Due to the combined protocol, it’s unattainable to attract conclusions about strolling with a weighted vest alone. Regardless, this intervention didn’t construct bone.
Results of train on bone density, stability, and self-efficacy in older ladies
(Jessup, 2003)
Who: 18 postmenopausal ladies (9 management, 9 intervention)
How lengthy: 32 weeks, 3 instances per week
What: Train contributors took 60- to 90-minute lessons that included a heat up, machine-based resistance coaching, 30-45 minutes of strolling and stair climbing, stability workout routines, and a settle down. The research additionally included calcium and vitamin D supplementation.
Outcomes: There have been statistically vital will increase in bone density on the femoral neck and lumbar backbone within the train group. Non-exercisers misplaced bone.
TL;DR: Weighted vests had been used throughout strolling and stair climbing — however the protocol additionally included resistance coaching and supplementation. The enhancements can’t be attributed to weighted-vest strolling alone.
A comparability between the consequences of the strolling train with and with out weighted vests on bone resorption and health-related bodily health within the working ladies
(Tantiwiboonchai, 2011)
Who: 48 ladies aged 30–60 (24 weighted vest, 24 no vest)
How lengthy: 12 weeks, 3 instances per week
What: Each teams walked on a treadmill for half-hour at a time. The load vest load progressively progressed from 2% to eight% of the participant’s physique weight.
Outcomes: Each teams lowered bone-loss markers and gained leg energy. No variations between teams.
TL;DR: This was the one direct comparability of strolling with versus with out a weighted vest — and the vest supplied no extra profit.
What About Weighted Vests for Stopping Muscle and Bone Loss throughout Weight Loss?
Some research had contributors put on weighted vests for 8–10 hours per day throughout dietary weight reduction. Even with that excessive protocol, weighted vests didn’t forestall muscle or bone loss (Normandin, 2018; Beavers, 2025). Many contributors additionally reported again ache — not shocking given the lengthy put on time.
So, What Are Weighted Vests Good For?
In any case that, you may be questioning whether or not there’s any cause to put on one in any respect.
Whereas weighted vests aren’t the bone-building magic some declare, the analysis does counsel they are often useful in particular contexts:
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Stability and stability: In a 9-month research of postmenopausal ladies, those that carried out lower-body energy and energy workout routines whereas sporting a weighted vest improved stability and lowered fall threat (Shaw & Snow, 1998).
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Purposeful mobility: An 8-week trial discovered that including a ten% body-weight vest to a purposeful stability and energy program improved single-leg stance and mobility in older adults (Music, 2022).
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Mountaineering and backpack coaching: Adjustable vests assist your physique progressively adapt to heavier hundreds.
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Grip or wrist limitations: For anybody who can’t safely maintain dumbbells, a vest can add load with out straining the palms or wrists.
Like every health instrument, context is every little thing.
Key Takeaways
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There’s no proof that strolling with a weighted vest builds bone.
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Most research examine an train group to a non-exercise group — and train will all the time outperform doing nothing.
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Lowering bone loss just isn’t the identical as constructing bone. The one modalities persistently proven to construct bone are progressive resistance coaching and affect coaching.
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The one direct comparability of strolling with vs. with out a weighted vest discovered no distinction in bone-health markers.
Weighted vests can completely have their place — particularly for hikers coaching for elevation achieve or for folks with grip limitations that make conventional lifting tough. They might additionally improve sure stability or stability workout routines. However like most wellness developments, a few of the loudest promoters additionally revenue from their sale, and lots of of their claims merely aren’t supported by analysis.
That doesn’t imply a weighted vest has no worth; it simply means its advantages are sometimes overstated. The secret’s understanding what the proof really reveals — and utilizing that to information your selections. —Karin
