Weight vests are a great way to add intensity to workouts. I’d always opt for a weighted vest over some of the best ankle weights while walking, as ankle weights can put unnecessary pressure on the lower-body joints.
That said, I never exercise with a weight vest, so I wanted to ease myself in with a 5K walk each day while wearing one to see what, if anything, happened to my body. And with that, I bought a basic adjustable weight vest from Amazon, strapped it on and got walking. Here’s what happened.
What is a weight vest?
A weight vest is exactly as it sounds — a vest that you can strap around your chest like a jacket and add weight to, increasing the amount of resistance you experience during a workout. During walks or runs, it may make you feel heavier, and during strength exercises, it can make the moves feel even tougher to complete.
There are many different types of weight vests, as my colleague found out when he exercised with a weight vest for a week back in 2021. But the idea is simple: secure weights to your front and back and get to work. From a CrossFit WOD to walking or calisthenics, a weight vest can add intensity without breaking the bank on gym kit like dumbbells or kettlebells.
I walked 5K every day with a weight vest for a week — here’s what happened
Unlike my colleague, I wasn’t planning on performing strength exercises wearing the vest throughout the week, so brushing moves like squats, push-ups, and lunges aside, I added slightly more weight than I would have otherwise; I opted for 16 lbs (roughly 7kg).
I walked slower — and my daily walk felt more challenging
Although my arms weren’t weighed down I certainly noticed the additional 7kg. For reference, I weigh roughly 57kg (around 125 lbs) and reach 5”2 in height.
Although this isn’t an enormous amount of weight to add to your daily walk, it made me feel a little sluggish, and I certainly got a sweat on, especially when walking uphill. It definitely made my walk feel more challenging on my legs and core muscles, and I had to focus on bracing my stomach to prevent my lower back from taking the strain.
I took a few more hills than usual and found myself puffing as I strode along with my dog. It’s a simple way to add gentle conditioning to walks.
My balance felt off
As my colleague also reported, my balance felt slightly off from the change in weight distribution. However, the vest is strapped evenly around the torso rather than isolated to the wrists or ankles, so it doesn’t put too much pressure on my joints. I also chose to avoid high-intensity or sudden changes in movement (think burpees), so it didn’t pose too much of a problem.
Had I opted for rucking — adding weight to a backpack on your back — I believe this would have put more pressure on my back, particularly the upper trapezius muscles that sit along either side of the neck.
My fitness tracker picked up on the difference
I’m a brisk walker, and with 7kg strapped to my torso, this brought a morning cardio element to my day. I noticed my calorie count was slightly higher, but I don’t check calorie burn while I walk, as it can be an unreliable metric to track.
I have a competitive streak, so closing my Apple rings serves as a daily motivator for me; I tend to look at my overall movement for the day rather than individual workouts and their associated metrics — unless I’m going for a run and want to check my time and splits.
Cumulative energy expenditure, known as NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis), is a great way to naturally burn calories and boost your metabolism. Walking with a weight vest just helped to ramp things up a little.
For example, I noticed my heart rate increase with the intensity of the exercise without resorting to HIIT or running. That’s not to say it increased to the same level it would if I were out jogging, but studies have suggested that a weight vest can boost VO2 max during treadmill walks.
Whether you choose to go rucking or walk with a weighted vest, you can combine low-impact resistance training with endurance and improve your daily energy expenditure.
It still felt meditative
But don’t forget, walking can also benefit your mental health. I recently started making a 5K walk a non-negotiable part of my routine, and I found it helpful for building better mental stamina. Thankfully, I still benefitted even while walking in a weight vest.
One week later — Is it good to wear a weighted vest while walking?
What did weighted walking workouts do for me?
It takes much longer than a week to build noticeable differences in strength and fitness metrics, but I could feel my legs and trunk working much harder with the added weight, and I had to focus on core engagement to prevent my back from taking too much of the load. That said, a rucksack would have been even more challenging.
I usually use my morning 5K walks for mindfulness (and to exercise my four-year-old pooch), but a week of walking with a weighted vest felt more like a low-impact conditioning workout before starting my day.
Walking has plenty of benefits, aside from increasing your step count and getting you into nature, it can also improve various components of fitness like cardiovascular health, which can decrease the risk of chronic conditions like high blood pressure while strengthening your muscles, bones, and joints.
To make bodyweight strength workouts harder or add more intense cardio conditioning to your routine without going high-impact — a weight vest may help.
We know that walking with weights can also contribute toward bone loading — loading the bones with resistance to help build them up. One study even found bone density increased by 1% when exercising in a weighted vest compared with a control group who didn’t.
I’d need to continue testing this out daily for a few weeks to a few months to really notice the physical impacts. However, because wearing a weight vest during walks is low-impact, you can tick the boxes for consistency and frequency without overstraining your muscles and joints.
If you plan to start walking with weights, increase by a few kgs or lbs every few weeks as you get stronger and fitter, and try to keep your strides even without leaning too far forward as you walk. Think proud chest and strong core.
My final verdict? A weighted vest for walks could help you slightly increase overall calorie burn, build strength and endurance, and increase the intensity of workouts, including walks.
It’s simple and affordable, too, but sometimes, I like to walk for pure enjoyment, so I’m not sure this is a challenge I’ll (quite literally) carry into my daily wellness routine going forward.
