Weighted vest: what it adds to walks, bodyweight work and sprints, by the studies

A weighted vest is a vest with weight sewn in or slotted into pockets, worn snug on your upper body. It makes your own body heavier, so a walk, a set of push-ups or a jump takes more work without changing the movement or holding anything in your hands.

This page covers what studies measured when people walked, did squats and lunges, and sprinted in a vest, how heavy those vests were, and how to fit one into a week.

Walking with a weighted vest

In a 2006 study, 10 adults with an average age of about 23 walked on a treadmill at five speeds, from about 2 to 4 miles an hour, wearing vests of 0, 10, 15 and 20% of their body weight.¹

• Oxygen uptake went up. Every vest raised it compared with no vest, and the 20% vest raised it more than the 10% vest at every speed.¹
• Relative exercise intensity rose only at the faster speeds. At the slower speeds, the vest made no significant difference to it.¹
• Each step hit the ground harder. The force under the feet was higher with every vest than without, and the rate it built up was higher with the 15% and 20% vests.¹

So a vest makes a walk harder work, and how much depends on the weight and the pace. Walking on a treadmill, from the setup to the workouts: the treadmill workout.

Bodyweight exercises in a vest

In a 2020 study, 19 healthy, recreationally active men did squats and lunges unloaded and with a barbell, dumbbells or a weighted vest (and a kettlebell for the squat). Every loaded version produced more leg muscle activity than the unloaded one. In the lunge, which of the loads people used didn't change the activity; in the squat it did, with the kettlebell standing out from the others.²

Exercises that take a vest well (practical):

• Push-ups, once you can do 15 or more with good form.
• Pull-ups and dips, once bodyweight reps come easily.
• Inverted rows, once the horizontal version is easy for 15 reps.
• Squats, lunges and step-ups, where a vest keeps your hands free.

Sprints, jumps and wearing one all day

• Sprinting in a vest didn't beat sprinting without one. In a 2010 trial, 20 male college lacrosse players did 13 sprint sessions over 7 weeks: 6 in a vest of 18.5% of body weight, 7 towing a sled of 10%, and 7 with no added weight. No group improved its sprint time more than the others. The no-weight group showed small gains and the vest and sled groups trivial ones, so the authors suggest sprinting without weight may be the better choice at those loads.³
• A vest worn all day made a small difference. In a 2012 trial, 8 men with an average age of about 32 wore a vest during waking hours, 3 days a week for 3 weeks, outside their sport; 9 men didn't. Time on a figure-of-eight running test improved by 2.2% with the vest, but jump power and running speed didn't change. The authors call the effect small and suggest a vest of 5 to 10% of body weight, worn for up to half of training sessions over 3 to 4 weeks.⁴

Jump training without a vest: plyometric exercises and box jumps.

How heavy a vest to use

For a first vest, start at the light end, around 5 to 10% of your body weight, and add weight only when the walk or the set feels easy again (practical).

How to fit one into a week

These are practical guidelines, not findings.

• On a walk or two a week, at your normal route and pace, before adding speed or hills.
• In a bodyweight or home session, once the reps above come easily, as the next step after more reps. More on building those sessions: the bodyweight workout.
• Not on heavy barbell days. The bar is already the load.

Common mistakes

• Too heavy, too soon. Start light and add a little at a time (practical).
• A loose vest. If it bounces when you walk, tighten it (practical).
• Wearing it for everything. Pick the walks and sets it's for (practical).
• Training through pain. If you have pain, an injury or a medical condition, stop and ask a doctor or a physical therapist.

Common questions

Is walking with a weighted vest harder work?

Yes. In the 2006 treadmill study, every vest from 10 to 20% of body weight raised oxygen uptake compared with walking without one.¹

How heavy should a weighted vest be?

The studies here used 10 to 20% of body weight for walking and 18.5% for sprints, and one group of authors suggests 5 to 10% for training sessions.^1,3,4 Start at the light end (practical).

Is a weighted vest for women too?

The studies here can't answer it directly. The squat, lunge and sprint studies tested only men, and the walking study's summary doesn't give the sex of its 10 adults, so none reports a result for women. How you load a vest and add weight is the same (practical).

Can I run in a weighted vest?

In the one sprint trial here, sprint training in a vest didn't improve sprint times more than sprinting without one.³ For running fitness, run without one (practical).

If you'd rather have it built for you

A vest is one way to make home training harder. Which sessions it belongs in, how heavy it should be this month, and what else changes when it gets easy are the parts a page can't settle. Coaching is the version where your workouts live in Trainerize, built around the days you actually have, and a weekly call goes over the week you just had and sets the next one. Coaching for a busy week explains how that works, and apply is where you tell me about your week.