Are weighted vests good for bones and muscle? Fact-checking a fitness trend

It seems like you can't go anywhere without seeing someone wearing a weighted vest. They're at the gym, on hiking trails, in public parks and on social media feeds, where influencers claim wearing one can do incredible things for your health.

"The benefits to walking with a weighted vest are insane," one paid promoter, theashleywill, said in a recent post on TikTok. "Your posture, your bones, increased calorie burn, your strength, your endurance," she continued. "I could go on and on and on."

Other social media influencers stress benefits for women who are in perimenopause or menopause, when bone density declines and women are more vulnerable to breaking bones. The vests, they say, can help maintain bone and muscle strength even as you age.

All the attention is having an impact. Market research shows a growing demand among consumers, with the global market expected to reach $313 million by 2031.

So is there any truth to these claims? We looked at the research, and here's what we found.

The claim

Weighted vests offer a host of fitness benefits including improved posture, weight loss, improved cardiovascular health and increased muscle and bone growth.

The evidence

There just aren't that many studies of weighted vests, and the ones that do exist do not bear out many of the claims made on social media — especially around bone density and muscle strength.

"All physical activity is good, so I don't want to demonize anything that is going to make people more active," says Lauren Colenso-Semple, who studies exercise science at McMaster University in Canada. However, she says, a lot of the marketing that promotes walking with a weighted vest promises results for bones and muscles. And "then when we actually look at the data, it really doesn't support the use for that," she says.

One small study compared people walking with weighted vests with those who walked without them and found no significant difference in bone health. Another small study did find some benefits for people who wore weighted vests while engaging in resistance workouts, but the study doesn't make clear whether the vests or the exercises were the cause of healthy bone growth.

Colenso-Semple says there is a much more well-established body of research showing that the best way to improve strength is to exercise a muscle through its full range of motion using significant resistance, as in a bicep curl with hand weights or a squat with a barbell.

"That's the stimulus that is going to say, 'Hey, let's incorporate more amino acids into the muscle and actually grow,'" says Colenso-Semple.

Walking and running — with or without a vest — doesn't stress the muscle enough to make it grow significantly, she says.

While walking with a weighted vest won't necessarily cause any damage, she says, she worries that people will do it instead of other proven exercises for building strength and notes that she "was floored" when her mother's endocrinologist suggested she use one recently.

Weight-bearing exercises are better, says Monica Christmas, an OB-GYN in Chicago who specializes in treating women in menopause.

"I always say if you gotta pick one in one day, I pick the weight-bearing stuff. That's at least what I do for myself," she says. "I would tend to steer them towards things that I think would be a better use of their hard-earned dollars."

Resistance training with weights, Pilates and exercises for balance are all things she regularly recommends for patients in this stage of life.

"Without rigorous testing, these seem like a novelty item that will provide people with the illusion of embracing wellness while making the purveyor wealthy," says Nanette Santoro, an OB-GYN in Colorado who treats women in menopause. Santoro says she's suspicious of people making money off claims to help women in this stage of life. There's "way too much of that going on in the menopause world these days."

The nuance

Weighted vests may have some benefits for cardiovascular health, says Roger Fielding, who studies exercise science at Tufts University. " It will increase your energy expenditure, your oxygen consumption — all those vascular responses will go up," he says. "And they'll go up proportionally to how much added weight you're putting on."

Walking with more weight, Fielding points out, requires burning more calories. "It's certainly a reasonable approach to being more physically active," he says.

Some people say they just like the experience of wearing a weighted vest. "I have noticed benefits," says Katie Brodnik, who runs workshops on menopause in Boulder, Colo., and says she considers the weighted vest a "tool" to help her feel more confident and stronger.

"Everyone knows I mean business on my walk around the neighborhood," she says. "And every time I see a 70-year-old neighbor walking around with their vest on, I holler, 'Nice vest!!'"

The bottom line

The research does not support claims that weighted vests improve muscle and bone strength — other exercises such as weightlifting have shown to be far more effective.

That said, at least one expert doesn't rule out the possibility of future studies that could demonstrate more value. Fielding says it "wouldn't be surprising" if a future study showed that weighted vests helped maintain bone mass.

There are some cardiovascular benefits to adding weight to your workout, says Fielding, especially if weighted vests make the difference between someone exercising or not exercising at all. He says that he has seen worse buzzy fitness trends and that the risks of not exercising — especially for older adults — are significant.

"If it's something that motivates you to be more physically active," says Fielding, "have at it."

But if you're happier exercising without the weight, that's great too.
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