10/01/2025
* Should you wear a weighted vest? (This comes from our recent patient newsletter) -- More links are down below
This information comes from the Journal of Obesity in May 2025
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-025-01795-5
and is reviewed by YouTuber Physionic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIojfAWU9FA
It's a pilot study of 18 overweight participants, almost all women, and all around the age of 70.
They had osteoarthritic changes in their joints.
It's important to know this because these were not young, in-shape, athletes who experienced these changes in metabolism.
Participant change in metabolism is why I decided to highlight this information here.
They also didn't wear the vest as long as was recommended per day, and they still had positive response.
(Weighted vest wearing can also be called "ruck-sacking")
🎯 Study Overview
Researchers ran a pilot study with 18 overweight participants (many with osteoarthritis).
Participants were randomly assigned to:
Calorie-restricted diet only
Calorie-restricted diet + weighted vest use (for 6 months).
Follow-up lasted 2 years, though the vests were only worn for the first 6 months
🔑 Key Findings
Weight Loss & Maintenance
Both groups lost similar weight after 6 months.
At the 2-year mark, the diet-only group regained all weight.
The vest group regained some, but maintained part of their weight loss, even after stopping vest use.
Resting Metabolism
Diet-only group showed a ~200 calorie drop in resting metabolic rate.
Vest group maintained their resting metabolism, even 18 months after no longer wearing the vests.
Suggests a lasting physiological effect, possibly via the “gravitostat” mechanism (bones sensing load and influencing energy balance through signaling molecules).
📌 Implications
Weighted vests may:
Improve long-term weight maintenance.
Help preserve resting metabolism during and after weight loss.
Results are promising but come from a small pilot study, so larger research is needed
So, should you start wearing a weighted vest?
Maybe.
More than anything I was impressed with the age and health level of the participants.
And the effect of the experiment on their metabolism.
If they could wear a weighted vest around the house for 4 to 6 hours per day for six months, then probably most people could wear one for a few hours.
There's a lot of discussion by fitness influencers on the benefits of weighted vests.
Here is information with more studies, and usually the recommendation is not to read YouTube comments, but there is even more gold in the comments if you're interested in trying this:
Weighted vests cause weight-loss but not for the reason you think
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5bwEQtjfzk
I walked with a weighted vest for 30 days - mistakes to avoid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niADD_eYxh8
The best and worst weighted vests (I ranked all of them)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucIHtSXurwo
