Do weighted vests really help bone health and weight loss? Here is what science says

Weighted vests have become a fashionable fitness accessory, spotted on celebrities and promoted on social networks for alleged advantages such as weight loss And Muscle gain.

They have become particularly popular with elderly women, said Kristen Beavers, PHD, professor of gerontology and geriatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine – due to the conviction that they can Stimulate bone strength This can be lost during menopausic changes.

But this assertion – and the wider health benefits attributed to the weighted vests –is not as strongly supported by evidence as the beaten media Around them could suggest.

A recent study by beavers and colleagues, for example, revealed that wearing a weighted vest for seven hours a day for an entire year has not reduced the loss of hip bone in 150 obese adults actively trying to lose weight. Participants, however, lost around 10% of their body weight, but two other groups (one focused on cutting calories and another which combined the restriction of calories and resistance exercise training).

Although the results, which were published in Jama Network Open, Perhaps disappointing for fans of weighted vests, researchers say that they are not necessarily the last word on their advantages.

“The results of this study are contrary to certain research and in accordance with others,” said Colin Haines, MD, surgeon of the certified spine and research director at Virginia Spine Institute Health. “What is clear is that all the evidence includes neutral and positive results.”

So what should we do weighted vests? Are they a waste of time or a fitness tool that deserves to be tried? Below, we decompose science.

While the Jama Network Open paper is one of the most recent studies examining the impact on the health of weighted vests, this is not the first.

In fact, research dates back to the 1990s and early 2000s suggests the opposite of weighted vests, which they may hold promise for the increase in bone density and the reduction in the risk of falling.

More recently, a 2013 study revealed that six weeks of exercise in a weighted vest stimulated bone synthesis and reduces bone resorption in menopausal women. Likewise, a 2015 study revealed that weighted vests have helped menopausal women to increase the strength of the quadriceps and the bone density of the femur.

Beavers said that the apparent gap between these results and the new study of his team could be due to a different approach. For his study, the participants began by wearing vests that weighed only one book, with a gradually added weight because they lost body weight.

“This is an intervention different from that of wearing a weighted vest of 15 pounds during a structured one hour exercise,” she said Health. It is also possible that the weight of the participants influenced the result. “That said, we have not specifically examined an interaction with obesity,” she added.

As for whether the weighted vests accelerate weight loss, research is limited, but the new study is not the only one to suggest a possible link. In a study in 2020, people who wore a heavier weighted vest for eight hours a day over three weeks lost more body fat than those who wore a lighter vest. And in a small study in 2025, wearing a weighted vest in combination with the restriction of calories seemed to help prevent the weight of resuming the weight after a weight loss program.

According to the beavers and hatreds, an image emerges from weighted vests as a potentially useful tool for advantages such as weight loss and bone density – but More research is necessary To know with certainty.

Some groups may benefit more benefits than others from this type of fitness wear. Hatred said that he would recommend weighted vests for both Menopausal women And anyone looking for a More efficient and difficult resistance training.

“The general directive is to maintain the weight of the vest at 10% or below your body weight,” he said. “Listen to your body and adjust your training accordingly.”