{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"LiftingLindsay's More Than Fitness","title":"Why I'm Not Buying a Weighted Vest, Even Though I'm in Perimenopause","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/c32d0ef1\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2318,"description":"Weighted vests can be useful, but let’s be honest about the benefits.Topics discussed:Walking alone is not a strong enough stimulus for muscle or bone.Inactive postmenopausal women who walked with or without a vest for 18 months had no significant bone density changes (PMID: 22338922). Full breakdown belowEven wearing a vest for 8 hours/day (PMID: 40540267) or 10 hours/day (PMID: 30095153) showed minimal skeletal benefit.The muscle and bone gains you see in the research?They’re mostly in untrained individuals doing loaded exercises like squats, lunges, and jumps with the vest (PMID: 10995045, 9467434, 17724395).In these cases, the vest is just a hands-free way to add weight — not magic. As people progress, they’ll need more load than a vest alone can provide.And for fat loss?Calorie burn from vest-walking is only ~10–15% higher than without it. That’s 30–50 kcal for an hour walk — about a single untracked bite of food.Long-term fat loss comes from managing intake, not chasing small increases in burn. Your diet is the real game changer.If you lift weights regularly, walk, and are mindful about food, a weighted vest probably isn’t a “must-have” for you. it’s most effective in the right context.Study Overview: Walking With vs. Without a Weighted Vest  PMID: 22338922Authors & Journal: Tantiwiboonchai N., Kritpet T., Yuktanandana P. in Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand, 2011 (EurekaMag).Participants: 48 working women aged 30–60, randomly split into two groups: one walking with a weighted vest, the other walking without, on a treadmill 3×/week for 12 weeks (EurekaMag).Protocol: Vest group started walking without it for the first 2 weeks, then began adding 2% of body weight weekly until reaching 8% by week 6 (EurekaMag).FindingsBone Markers: Both groups showed large decreases in bone resorption (β-CrossLaps)—~19.1% for the vest group vs. ~21.8% for the non-vest group—no significant difference between them (EurekaMag).Physical Fitness: Improvements in leg...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/Qjpy_XZoH3zPRr2I0rv84TJUbuHkQbymaLbPPyKDWYQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzI3NTA4LzE2NDQ5/NjU0NjAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}