Osteoporosis Canada frequently gets inquiries about Weighted Vests.

We posed some questions about weighted vests to Dr. Lora Giangregorio.  She is a Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, and also serves as an executive member of Osteoporosis Canada’s Scientific Advisory Council.

What is a weighted vest?

A weighted vest is a vest that has compartments where you can add weight.  You can wear the vest while walking, or during daily activities or exercise, to add resistance or make the activity harder.  The amount of weight added can vary, but it is usually somewhere between 3% and 20% of a person’s body weight.

Is there any evidence supporting the use of weighted vests for bone health?

There is little to no evidence confirming that wearing a weighted vest during your everyday activities or during walking will increase your bone mineral density.  There is little evidence that walking is effective for increasing bone mineral density in people with low bone mass, and even less evidence that walking with a weighted vest is effective.  In fact, the studies that do exist show no benefit.

Some studies examine whether wearing weighted vests during exercises like squats and lunges could increase bone mineral density. 

The science on wearing weighted vests during exercise is very uncertain.  Several studies report that wearing weighted vests during exercise has no effect on bone mineral density, and the few studies that do report benefits are often flawed. Most do not include enough participants to be confident in the findings. 

Bone takes a very long time to change, so studies should be at least 8 months or longer before measuring bone mineral density. Some studies attempt to make conclusions about bone changes after only 6-8 weeks! We are not confident that any conclusions should be made about weighted vests and bone mineral density based on the existing research.

When might a weighted vest be useful?

In our opinion, the only way a weighted vest might be useful is as a way to increase muscle strength by making strength training exercises more challenging compared to using body weight alone. That said, they would not be our first choice for a source of resistance. The amount of resistance you can achieve with a weighted vest may not be high enough to be sufficiently challenging for some people. Exercise difficulty should get harder over time, and a weighted vest does not allow for a broad range of difficulty levels. Other options include free weights, cables, or machine based training. That said, a weighted vest might be a way to add resistance for people who cannot grip things or cannot add resistance with other types of exercises or equipment.

Are weighted vests safe?

There is very little science on the safety of weighted vests.  If you want to exercise with a weighted vest, practice the exercises without the vest first. A weighted vest might affect your balance, so your exercise program should include other exercises to improve your balance.  A weighted vest adds loads on your spine, which might not be tolerated well in people with arthritis in the spine or disc injuries.  Wearing a weighted vest can increase the forces on your spine compared to not wearing a vest, especially during bending and twisting.  Therefore, it is possible that a weighted vest could contribute to injury or fatigue for some people.  We assume the risk of injury is low if the weight added to the vest is low (e.g., 3% of body weight), but it is possible that discomfort, fatigue, or injury risk may increase as the weight increases.  

If you want to try resistance training, consult an exercise physiologist with experience designing strength and conditioning programs, and who has expertise on osteoporosis.

For more information you can view the following video on YouTube: Things you should know about weighted vests and bone mineral density