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One of the latest fitness trends involves wearing a weighted vest as you walk around or hike. NPR's Katia Riddle asked if they even work.
KATIA RIDDLE, BYLINE: Not only are weighted vests all over public parks and hiking trails lately, they're all over social media.
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ASHLEY WILL: The benefits to walking with a weighted vest are insane.
RIDDLE: This is from a TikTok account called theashleywill. She's a paid promoter of the weighted vest she wears.
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WILL: Your posture, your bones, increased calorie burn, your strength, your endurance - like, I could go on and on and on.
RIDDLE: The truth is, there just aren't very many studies that look at the impact of using weighted vests. The ones that do exist don't offer proof of many of the benefits that social media influencers are claiming. Take strength building. Some studies show no improvement in strength or bone health from wearing a weighted vest. One small study that did show a benefit didn't make it clear if it was the vest or the exercise that made the difference. Lauren Colenso-Semple studies exercise science at McMaster University in Canada.
LAUREN COLENSO-SEMPLE: It's definitely not optimal when we compare it to more traditional forms of strength training.
RIDDLE: Colenso-Semple says in order to truly grow stronger, walking or running with or without a vest isn't that helpful. Something like a bicep curl while holding a weight stresses a muscle through its full range of motion.
COLENSO-SEMPLE: And that's the stimulus that is going to say, hey, let's incorporate more amino acids into the muscle and actually grow.
RIDDLE: There's nothing wrong with wearing a weighted vest, she says, but she thinks the fervor around them is misleading.
COLENSO-SEMPLE: My mom went to her endocrinologist the other week and the endocrinologist said, you know, oh, have you considered a weighted vest? And I was floored.
RIDDLE: Weighted vests are not on the list of things Monica Christmas advises for her patients. She's an OB-GYN who specializes in menopause. That's a time when it's especially important for women to improve bone density and muscle strength.
MONICA CHRISTMAS: I would tend to steer them towards things that I think would be maybe a better use of their hard-earned dollars.
RIDDLE: Resistance training with weights, Pilates, exercises for balance are all things she regularly recommends for patients in this stage of life. She says she prioritizes exercises that have been proven to improve strength.
CHRISTMAS: I always say, if you got to pick one in one day, you don't have enough time to do both, I'd pick the weight-bearing stuff. That's at least what I do for myself.
RIDDLE: Weighted vests, she says, might technically add weight to your body, but they're just not as effective as more targeted resistance training. So are weighted vests good for anything? Roger Fielding studies exercise science at Tufts University.
ROGER FIELDING: It's certainly a reasonable approach to being more physically active.
RIDDLE: Fielding points out that it takes more energy to walk with more weight. That means burning slightly more calories and more cardiovascular benefits.
FIELDING: It will increase your energy expenditure, your oxygen consumption. All those vascular responses will go up and they'll go up proportional to how much added weight you're putting on.
RIDDLE: All these experts stress that any exercise is better than no exercise, especially for older adults.
FIELDING: So if this will add a little bit of benefit, increase the intensity a little bit, and if it's something that motivates you to be more physically active, have at it.
RIDDLE: In terms of buzzy fitness trends, says Fielding, he's seen far worse.
Katia Riddle, NPR News.
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