Weighted Vests

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ccruz985
ccruz985 Posts: 646 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
How big a difference do you think a weighted vest makes in terms of a calorie burn?

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  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,977 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Depends on the activity involved.

    When hiking or walking, I use the following calculator to estimate the cals burned which (for me) is about 315 cals/hr at the rate of 2.5 mi/hr on flat ground. Add 25# in my weighted vest and that increases to 364 cals (49 or about 15.5% more). Add 50# and its 414 (99 or 31% more).

    Increase the slope to over 10%, which is common on my currently favorite trails, and those numbers go up to 541, 627 and 712, respectively (or 72% more across the board) than when walking on a flat surface.

    See: https://caloriesburnedhq.com/calories-burned-hiking/

    But I don't think that a weighted vest's greatest useful is in increasing cals burned. IMO, its greatest value is in increasing strength and endurance while walking/hiking and when doing bodyweight exercises (like pushups, pullups, dips or lunges), where holding weights in your hands is inconventient or impractical. At least that's what I use my weighted vest for.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    Sounds like a good way to get ready for hiking with weight. Of course, you can just put crap in a backpack and carry that.

    I note that losing weight has paid well for my jogging and cycling. Probably for my hiking as well, but I don't time that.

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