Weighted Vests May Improve Fitness, but Weight Loss Effects Are Less Clear

Weighted vest training will likely add some intensity to your fitness routine.

Whether you wear one during an evening walk or incorporate it into circuit training or body weight exercises, carrying a few extra pounds will rev up your cardiovascular system.

“The use of a weighted vest during walking and running increases oxygen uptake, heart rate, carbohydrate oxidation, and overall energy expenditure, without adversely affecting gait biomechanics, suggesting a safe method for increasing exercise intensity,” Fredericson told Healthline.

Weighted vest training may also help to improve sports performance for athletes, specifically sprintingTrusted Source.

“Athletes can especially benefit from weighted vest training for improved strength and endurance, and can incorporate sport-specific exercises,” said Jamie Confino, MD, orthopedic surgeon with Keck Medicine of USC.

For most people who are interested in improving their baseline cardiovascular fitness, consistent moderate exercise should be sufficient.

“The typical individual is going to get more bang for their buck with regular cardiovascular exercise — 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise weekly,” Eby told Healthline.

Whether the added intensity of wearing a weighted vest contributes to weight loss isn’t clear, and it would likely depend on other lifestyle factors, such as diet.

A small pilot study published earlier this year found that among older adults with obesity, combining a weighted vest with caloric restriction led to similar weight loss after six months as caloric restriction alone.

However, participants who wore the vest regained weight more slowly.

After two years, participants who used the weighted vest regained only half of the weight they had lost, while those who did not regained all of it.

The authors hypothesize that this difference may be due to preservation of resting metabolic rate during weight loss.

Weighted vests can also be worn throughout the day to increase overall energy expenditure, but doing so could discourage physical activity.

Another recent study from researchers in Sweden found that people with obesity who wore heavy vests (11% of body weigh  t) for eight hours per day for five weeks lost fat but preserved muscle, despite no increase in physical activity. Participants lost fat mass but increased lean mass, without significant effects on body weight.

“In our trials, the vests were used as a chronic daily load; participants were instructed to maintain their usual routines and simply wear the vest, without any additional prescribed exercise,” said Jakob Bellman, MD, PhD student at the University of Gothenburg, and first author of the research.

“These changes point toward a healthier body composition and potential benefits for metabolic health,” he told Healthline.

Despite these positive changes, sedentary behavior increased among those who wore heavier load vests, which researchers say may be related to physical discomfort from the heavier load.

Musculoskeletal side effects also increased in the heavier load group. This could imply that wearing a heavier load vest might discourage people from exercising due to the increased effort and potential side effects.

Additionally, these findings were limited in some ways. Participants who wore heavier weighted vests were only compared to a control group of those wearing lighter vests; there was no non-vest control group.

Besides turning up the cardiovascular intensity of a workout, there’s little research to support the myriad health claims made about weighted vests. Here are some of the most common claims you’ll see:

Better posture

There are no studies to support this claim, but that doesn’t mean it’s totally without merit.

“Weighted vest training may help improve posture when combined with appropriate resistance exercises, but evidence for its effectiveness in correcting postural deviations is limited,” Fredericson said.

Eby points out that more effective options, such as targeted stretching and strengthening exercises, are available for individuals primarily interested in posture correction.

Muscle growth

When combined with specific exercises, such as stair climbing, weighted vests may help with muscle growth. But if the goal of your workout is to build muscle, weightlifting is essential.

“The best way to improve muscle growth is exercising a muscle with resistance through its entire working length. From a muscle-building standpoint, wearing a weighted vest during regular activity is not equivalent to true resistance training,” Eby said.

Improved bone density

One of the most prominent claims made about weighted vests is that they can help maintain bone density, particularly in females in perimenopause or menopause.

A small 2000 study found that an exercise protocol involving the use of weighted vests and jumping prevented bone loss in older postmenopausal females, but it’s not clear whether the benefit resulted from the use of the vest or the exercise.

Fredericson affirmed that weighted vests may be helpful in this regard.

“Higher-intensity bone loading activities — including walking with weighted vests — can have more significant effects on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women, at least in the short term,” he said.

However, recent research did not identify any benefit. A 2025 study in JAMA found that neither weighted vest training nor resistance training mitigated bone loss associated with weight loss in older adults with obesity.

“Mechanical loading is beneficial for bone health in principle, but no human clinical trials have yet shown that weighted vests increase bone density,” Bellman said.

Weighted vests are dynamic and can be added to a variety of exercises or even worn around throughout the day, adding a sustained load to daily activities.

“Older adults may particularly benefit from weighted vest training, as evidence demonstrates improvements in muscle power, balance, and functional ability, with reductions in fall risk and frailty when combined with task-specific or velocity-based exercises,” said Fredericson.

While weighted vests may help improve balance and reduce fall risk as part of a supervised training regimen, Confino warns that those with balance issues should be especially cautious when using them.

Generally a good rule of thumb is to start with a vest weight that is less than 5% of your current body weight. It may be smart to start with as little as 1% of your body weight, depending on your fitness level.

Once you get comfortable with the weight and feel of the vest at this starting weight, you can experiment with increasing the load.

“I always tell patients to start low and build slowly with any new exercise or activity. We want to build success on success,” said Eby, “Incorporating weighted vest training as part of the overload portion of your training regimen may be reasonable, depending on your physical fitness and exercise goals.”

However, weighted vest training may not be right for everyone.

Adding weight increases strain on the cardiovascular system, so people with cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure should speak with their doctor prior to starting. Individuals with injuries, particularly to joints, should also be wary.

“If you have active back, hip, or knee injuries, you should be cautious about using weighted vests. Weighted vests will increase the stress felt by your joints, which may aggravate joint or arthritis pain,” Confino told Healthline.

Weighted vest training is an option that some may find appealing as a simple addition to their current walking or jogging routine, or for an exercise intensity boost. What matters most, though, is consistency with your routine.

“If wearing a weighted vest on your walk gets you more motivated to go out and get those 150 minutes, by all means, go for it,” Eby said.

Weighted vests are not a “miracle solution,” said Bellman.  “But they may be a helpful tool alongside diet, exercise, and medical treatment.”