Women's Health April 10, 2026 0 Comments

Are Weighted Vests the Secret to Explosive Gains—or Just Another Fitness Fad?

Ever caught yourself scrolling through social media, and bam—a sleek, modern weighted vest pops up, promising to take your workouts from “meh” to monster? Yeah, I’ve been there too. These vests have morphed from bulky, “special-ops-only” gear into trendy gym accessories aimed squarely at fitness-savvy women. But here’s the kicker—do they actually make a difference, or is it just clever marketing spinning a heavier tale? I’ve strapped on a few of these myself (because where’s the fun without a little hustle?), and along with fitness pros Jacqueline Andriakos and Cori Ritchey, C.S.C.S., we dug into whether these weights genuinely boost your moves or just weigh down your hype. Spoiler alert: the science isn’t as heavy as the vest itself, and yet, if it gets you off the couch and moving, who’s really counting the calories? Let’s unpack this weighted mystery and see what’s worth your sweat—because in the fitness game, knowing what really works is everything. LEARN MORE

2 min read

If you’re a gym girly who’s logged on to social media at least once in the the last five years, you’ve probably been served an ad for a weighted vest—those heavy harness-like contraptions that, until recently, were the province of meatheads and special-ops. Nowadays, however, they’re sleeker, more stylish, and being marketed to a female demographic.

At Women’s Health, we’re always investigating the latest and greatest in fitness tools and devices, so of course, we’ve taken our fair share of weighted vests on the road, quite literally, for testing. But does strapping one of these on your back for a run or brisk walk really do anything? Editors Jacqueline Andriakos and Cori Ritchey, C.S.C.S., separate the hype from the research on the latest episode of The Huddle, the podcast where we talk sports, sweat, and everything in between.

Unfortunately, says Ritchey, though weighted vests have been around for decades, there aren’t a ton of studies out there to indicate whether it truly moves the needle on your 30-minute morning walk.

“A lot of the research hasn’t necessarily gotten there yet,” Ritchey says. “The hype has certainly outpaced what we really know about it.”

Even in the cases where there is research, it’s not always applicable to how the average person uses a weighted vest on a daily basis, Andriakos says.

“A lot of the research is done in older adults that are wearing them for eight hours a day, and when you think about it, people that are going for walks or they’re adding it to a strength training session in the gym, that’s 30 minutes to an hour, probably,” she says. “There isn’t an exact parallel there with what’s going on in the research and how people are actually applying it.”

Yet, for some, the weighted vest, in and of itself, can be a motivating factor in actually getting a workout in. (That’s certainly been the case for some of the clients Ritchey trains.) So if a weighted vest helps get you moving, by all means, strap one on and hit the trails!

To hear more of Andriakos’ and Ritchey’s discussion of weighted vests, press play on the latest episode of The Huddle above!

Amy Wilkinson is a contributing entertainment editor at Women’s Health, where she edits the magazine’s celebrity cover stories and writes health features. She has previously held editor titles at Entertainment Weekly and MTV News. In 2021, Amy completed her 600-hour teacher-training at Core Pilates NYC to become a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor.