Can A Weighted Vest Amp Up Your Walks?

I love exercise. I really do. But I also have two kids, a large dog, a two-hour-plus round-trip office commute and packed work, family and social calendars. 

So any exercise that also takes care of one of the above? I’m in. I bike to work, run with my kids, and keep a yoga mat under my desk so I can knock off some sneaky office Pilates at lunch. 

My dog walks, however, have been a fitness afterthought (for me, at least, not my dog). Enter the weighted vest, which I keep spotting both IRL and online. (The trending fitness gear has gained a reality show’s worth of rando celebrity adherents, from Guy Fieri to Maria Sharapova.) So could a weighted vest be the answer to my lazy dog walks? Let’s find out!

What are the benefits of a weighted vest?

Weighted vests can level up any workout, says Christopher Gaffney, an associate professor in the Faculty of Health & Medicine at Lancaster University in the U.K., who has studied the use of weighted vests during simulated CrossFit workouts. “Without needing to change much, put the vest on and it's a more intense workout,” Gaffney says, adding the benefits are both cardiovascular and muscular. 

How can weighted vests help with healthy aging? 

“When we add weight, when we add resistance…we are combating the natural process of losing muscle and bone [mass],” says Mindy Terrington, a personal training specialist based in Windsor, Ont. She uses weighted vests both for her clients and herself.

Are weighted vests the same as rucking? 

Rucking—another trending, albeit slightly lower tech workout—uses a DIY weighted backpack, while weighted vests have equal distribution on both the front and back (and are much more comfortable to wear). 

What weight of vest should you get?

For beginners, Gaffney says, start with vests that weigh just a few kilograms. Then you can gradually increase the weight as you get accustomed to it. For this reason, the most versatile, Terrington says, are vests where you can remove or add weight. If you’re physically fit, you can start at five to 10 percent of your body weight. 

How should a weighted vest fit for women? 

“While they are ergonomically better in design in general than say, wearing a weighted backpack or wearing a baby, [most] are still very much designed for the male body,” Terrington says, cautioning that while weighted vests with removable weights are the most flexible, they tend to fit better on people with smaller chests. You want a snug fit, so ideally try it on, or read as many reviews as possible. And “it never hurts to go with a known fitness brand,” she says. 

How much should you spend?

While Maria Sharapova and Kaia Gerber have both worn Omorpho vests, which come in a bevy of colours and cost US$300, “your body doesn’t recognize whether you spent  $400 or $10. If it's ultimately adding weight to the body, it will do something,” Gaffney says. Terrington and I both own vests in the $60 to $70 range. 

Who should avoid a weighted vest?

Pregnant people, those with existing injuries or advanced osteoporosis should avoid weighted vests, Terrington says. (And if you have other physical concerns, it never hurts to check with your doctor before adding something new to the fitness mix.)

How should you get started with a weighted vest?

First off, if you’re not a regular walker, “start walking without the vest first,” Terrington underlines.

“If you're a regular walker, have the weight on for 10 to 20 minutes, and then build up to 20 minutes to an hour,” twice a week. Then you can build on the frequency. 

What is it like to wear one?

I opted for a 12-lb vest—close to 10 percent of my body weight—from AmStaff, a company known for its gym equipment. It rests on my shoulders and snaps around my chest and ribcage with two straps. It’s comfortable, much more so than wearing a backpack stuffed with my lunch and a laptop. However, even on the smallest setting the top strap is slightly loose (I’m slight and small-chested), making it not quite as snug as I’d like. 

For its maiden voyage, I wore the vest on a dog walk, and, despite a bit of sliding, it was easy to wear. It made the walk a bit harder without making it unpleasant, and my glutes, quads and core felt like they got more of a workout.

What about running with a weighted vest?

Next up, I wore the vest on a 5K run. It made me slower than my usual pace, though I was definitely working harder. Three days later, on a faster-paced 10K with my running group, my legs still felt more sluggish than usual and I needed to walk on a hill I could usually power up. Bottom line: I like it for walks, but not runs—they’re challenging enough as it is.

What else can you do with a weighted vest?

“You can enhance almost every exercise with it,” Terrington says. “You can do squats with it. I have an athlete who competes at the world-class level in Irish dancing, and we use the weighted vest for jump training.”

Amstaff Fitness Weighted Vest, $27-$59

This vest from the well-known gym brand comes in black or pink in weights ranging from six to 30 lbs; I opted for black because it was less obtrusive. I found 12 lbs added a bit of oomph while walking around but wasn’t completely unpleasant.