Weighted vests are having a second. They’re touted as a easy approach to enhance power, 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 function as an osteoporosis power coach.
Weighted vests have turn out to be a preferred “hack” within the wellness world, typically promoted as a simple approach to construct bone density, power, or endurance. A few of the voices most loudly touting their advantages are additionally benefitting not directly from their sale — so it’s vital 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 stay as much as the hype, or are they simply one other shiny software within the wellness toolbox?
How Did We Get Right here? Why Weighted Vests Turned So Widespread
As with most health developments, just a few high-profile influencers began touting them for every thing from bone-building to weight reduction and — bam! — they have been immediately in every single place. Check out a vest promoter’s social media feed and also you’ll seemingly 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 record just a few research. As a result of these research embody the phrases “weighted vest(s),” you’re taking them at their phrase. In spite of everything, 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 record of references that get recycled. It makes you marvel in the event that they’re all copying the identical citations.
What Does the Analysis on Weighted Vests Really Say?
Listed here are just a few of probably 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 Ladies (Snow, 2000)
Who: 18 postmenopausal girls (9 management, 9 intervention)
How lengthy: 5-year research, 32 weeks per 12 months, 3 occasions per week
What: Contributors wore a weighted vest throughout a 60-minute class together with strolling or gentle 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 blended protocol and small pattern dimension, we will’t draw conclusions about carrying 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 Ladies (Klentrou, 2007)
Who: 16 postmenopausal girls (7 management, 9 intervention)
How lengthy: 12 weeks, 3 occasions 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 power and improved physique composition. There have been no vital modifications in bone turnover markers.
TL;DR: Contributors did stroll with a weighted vest, however in addition they did resistance coaching whereas carrying it. Due to the blended protocol, it’s inconceivable 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 girls
(Jessup, 2003)
Who: 18 postmenopausal girls (9 management, 9 intervention)
How lengthy: 32 weeks, 3 occasions per week
What: Train individuals took 60- to 90-minute courses 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 have 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 girls
(Tantiwiboonchai, 2011)
Who: 48 girls aged 30–60 (24 weighted vest, 24 no vest)
How lengthy: 12 weeks, 3 occasions per week
What: Each teams walked on a treadmill for half-hour at a time. The load vest load regularly progressed from 2% to eight% of the participant’s physique weight.
Outcomes: Each teams decreased bone-loss markers and gained leg power. No variations between teams.
TL;DR: This was the one direct comparability of strolling with versus with out a weighted vest — and the vest provided no further profit.
What About Weighted Vests for Stopping Muscle and Bone Loss throughout Weight Loss?
Some research had individuals put on weighted vests for 8–10 hours per day throughout dietary weight reduction. Even with that excessive protocol, weighted vests didn’t stop muscle or bone loss (Normandin, 2018; Beavers, 2025). Many individuals additionally reported again ache — not shocking given the lengthy put on time.
So, What Are Weighted Vests Good For?
In spite of everything that, you is perhaps 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 girls, those that carried out lower-body power and energy workout routines whereas carrying a weighted vest improved stability and decreased fall danger (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 power program improved single-leg stance and mobility in older adults (Track, 2022).
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Climbing and backpack coaching: Adjustable vests assist your physique regularly adapt to heavier masses.
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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 fingers or wrists.
Like every health software, context is every thing.
Key Takeaways
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There may be 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 is just not 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 acquire or for folks with grip limitations that make conventional lifting troublesome. They might additionally improve sure stability or stability workout routines. However like most wellness developments, a number 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 bottom line is understanding what the proof really reveals — and utilizing that to information your decisions. —Karin
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