Before you buy, know your ‘why’.

Weighted vests are all the rage lately! If you’re a woman over 40, you’ve likely been bombarded by all the perimenopause/menopause information being shared on social media. The online world continues to present many challenges around knowing who to trust, what information is real, and what it takes for a study to offer conclusive evidence. Our intention here is to empower you with understanding based on what current science supports, and what’s gone awry with the newest weighted vest trend. We’re not here to sway you in any one direction, but rather to help you make informed decisions about what’s worth your time and money. 

What’s the deal with weighted vests? 

Many social media influencers and even medical professionals are touting the research behind weighted vests’ effectiveness. The claim: wearing this vest can build bone density and increase muscle mass. Many are specifically saying that walking with a weighted vest on is enough to build bone density. This is stated as being supported by research, so what’s the problem? 

The problem: more research is needed to demonstrate effectiveness

One of the biggest reg flags we see so far is the specific claim that a short walk (30 minutes or less) with a weighted vest is enough to build bone. Yes, studies have shown that wearing a vest during exercises like jumping, lunges, and squats may contribute to building bone, but VERY LITTLE has been done around simply walking. 

The main study being referenced involves 9 women who wore a weighted vest and did jumping exercises, while another 9 did nothing over a 5-year period. They found that the women who did jumping exercises with the vests saw improved bone mineral density compared to the control group, but it’s not clear if the benefits were b/c of the jumping (which science shows does increase bone density) or the weighted vest. 

Additional pilot studies with weighted vests were done with those who wore the vest for 8-10 hours per day. The results of this study were unremarkable, and many complained about low back pain. 

With all the hype around weighted vests being great for menopausal women, surely there have been studies that effectively demonstrate this, right? No, no conclusive studies are showing that walking with a weighted vest builds bone density or increases muscle mass outside of combining it with additional exercise. 

What’s happening now is people with influence are citing inconclusive studies, often to sell a product or jump on the latest fitness trend that doesn’t live up to the hype. We are certainly excited to see emerging research around women’s health and aging, but it’s good to exercise a little caution around promises that seem too good to be true. 

Back pain and weighted vests

A number of people complain about low back and/or neck pain when wearing a weighted vest. What causes the pain? It may be one or two main factors: posture and/or the need to build up to carrying weight that your body’s not used to. 

Carrying weight or even lifting weight applies extra downward force on your body. When we train our bodies by progressing (incrementally building up) strength, our tissues then adapt to being able to handle the demand. Just like you wouldn’t start with 20-pound weights if you’ve never lifted weights before, we don’t recommend jumping right into a heavier weighted vest if you don’t have a baseline of strength. Building up tolerance is key; we call this dosing – start with shorter wearing, lighter vests, build tolerance, and then increase time and/or weight.

Posture can also play a role here. Our body is most at ease when our bones are stacked – head over ribcage over pelvis. Stacking the body is the position with the most ease and variability, meaning you can move, adapt, and transfer load most effectively from neutral. When our posture isn’t stacked, and extra weight is added to the body, we may feel: 

• More compression through certain areas of the spine 
• Stress on joints that aren’t ready for extra stress yet
• More load on tissues already doing too much  

If you’ve started wearing a weighted vest and it’s not feeling great, it could be that both posture improvement and progressive strength could help! See THIS INSTAGRAM POST by Diana Zotos Florio, PT, covering this topic.

Conclusion: know your ‘why’

Have you already started wearing a weighted vest, or are you thinking about it? We want to empower you to understand why you’re choosing to do this. A weighted vest may help you to: 

• Increase the challenge of your existing workouts
• Add aerobic conditioning to walks or hikes so your body has to work harder to adjust to the added weight
• Train for competitive events like marathons

If your goal is improved cardiovascular benefits and a great workout, a weighted vest can be a good tool!

If your goal is to build bone density and increase muscle, it’s best to stick with what we know will get the job done: impact training (jumping), resistance training, and progressive loading.