The Best Weighted Vest [9 Ranked and Reviewed]
If you’re looking for the best weighted vest for running and working out, you’ve come to the right place.
This comprehensive review will rank and review the top five weighted vests on the market. We’ll consider max weight capacity, comfort, durability, and price to help you decide which weighted vest is best.
So, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, read on for the best weighted vests of 2024!
What is a Weighted Vest?
A weighted vest, typically worn over the torso and over clothing like shirts or hoodies, is a fitness tool with sewn-in weights used for physical therapy, general fitness, or weight loss programs. The additional weight increases resistance, requiring more effort from the body, which can boost calorie burn and cardiovascular fitness and enhance strength and muscular endurance.
What To Look For In The Best Weighted Vests
First, consider your body size. Heavier individuals may require a vest with a higher weight capacity, while smaller individuals should opt for a lighter vest to avoid joint stress.
Select a vest that allows full range of motion during exercises without feeling restrictive. Ensure the vest fits snugly around your lower back for additional support and injury prevention.
Proper sizing is crucial for comfort. Measure yourself carefully, as many vests are one-size-fits-all with adjustable straps. An adjustable weight feature is beneficial for progressively increasing or decreasing weight over time, offering long-term utility.
Lastly, look for vests with extra upper body support, like adjustable straps or shoulder and chest padding, for additional comfort during workouts.
Best Weighted Vests List Of 2024
The Tribe-WOD weighted vest is a versatile fitness equipment combining functionality and comfort. Built with high-quality materials for durability, it offers customizable weight distribution to suit individual workout goals.
What sets this vest apart is its integrated cooling system, a unique feature that reduces overheating during intense exercises. The ergonomic design ensures a comfortable fit and freedom of movement, making it suitable for various exercises.
The Tribe-WOD weighted vest is an innovative and high-quality fitness accessory with customizable weight distribution, a built-in cooling system, and an ergonomic design, making it an ideal choice for enhancing workouts and overall physical performance.
5.75LB Plates – 11.5″ Tall, 10″ Wide, 3/16″ Thick Laser-Cut Steel. One pair inside a vest will create a total vest weight of 14 LBS.
8.75LB Plates – 11″ Tall, 10″ Wide, 5/16” Thick Laser-Cut Steel. One pair inside a vest will create a total vest weight of 20 LBS.
13.75LB Plates – 11″ Tall, 10″ Wide, 1/2” Thick Laser-Cut Steel. One pair inside a vest will create a total vest weight of 30 LBS.
What Customers Are Saying
One of its standout features is a dedicated pocket for your phone, ensuring you won't lose it during your workout or run. It's a top choice among the best weighted vests available.
The RunFast Max weighted vest provides a weight range from 12 to 140 pounds, catering to different workout intensities. Whether you’re running or focusing on strength training, this vest offers versatility. You can enhance comfort with optional shoulder pads, and it includes a water bottle holder and phone pocket for added convenience during workouts.
Please note that the shoulder Velcro straps are available separately, but many users find them essential for comfort and preventing neck rubbing.
What Customers Are Saying
This high-quality nylon adjustable weighted vest is durable and breathable with oversized airflow panels. The padded yoke back shoulder pads offer even weight distribution, making it highly durable. It provides unrestricted movement with adjustable waist straps and tensional bands for security. The steel Wolf Tactical weight plates intensify workouts, with a heavy-duty design for effectiveness.
What Customers Are Saying
The CAP Barbell adjustable weighted vest offers size options and a high weight capacity, ranging from 20 to 150 pounds. It provides ample range of motion for the mid-section due to its shorter design. You can adjust the weight to your preference and enjoy padded belt and shoulder straps for comfort. Plus, it includes shoulder pads at no extra cost.
What Customers Are Saying
The mIR weighted vest offers comfort and airflow with its hybrid material. It features a unique zipper option for easy wearing, unlike most vests that require overhead sliding. While it has a smaller size and weight range (20-60 pounds), it’s ideal for cardio and versatile movements, making it a great choice for women as well.
What Customers Are Saying
The adjustable weight plates on this vest are molded to the shape of your body, providing a comfortable and supportive fit. Their 3D body-shaped design reduces the width of the vest, allowing for free body rotation and comfort. The curved weight plates distribute weight evenly across your shoulders, reducing pressure and discomfort.
The vest offers flexibility with two buckle options for different body types, and the adjustable straps accommodate various heights. Made from durable Oxford600D Nylon with a water-resistant PVC finish, this vest is built to last in outdoor conditions.
What Customers Are Saying
The Hyperwear Hyper Vest PRO is an innovative weighted vest with a unique fabric control system for a comfortable and supportive fit that doesn’t restrict movement. It comes pre-loaded with 10 pounds of high-density steel weights and is fully adjustable. The removable weights can be arranged in three different pockets, allowing for customizable weight distribution. The slim design of the Hyper vest ensures full chest expansion and stability during various movements.
What Customers Are Saying
This weighted vest has a lot to like, making it an easy choice to make our list of the best vests.
Aduro weighted vests are a great choice for anyone looking to add extra resistance to their cardio or training routines. The Aduro Sport Weighted Vest is designed from comfortable neoprene material and has an adjustable front belt, so men, women, or kids can wear it.
One convenient feature is the mesh pocket on the back, which allows you to add weight if needed.
Overall, this Aduro Sport Weighted Vest seems well-designed and made from top-quality materials. It’s also backed by Aduro Sport’s lifetime limited warranty and friendly US customer service so that you can feel good about your purchase. If you want to increase the intensity of your workout, this weighted vest is worth considering.
What Customers Are Saying
After testing and trying the new HuntIt weighted vest, it deserves a spot on this list.
This vest has an incredibly simple, streamlined design that allows for a full range of motion during your workout. Unlike some other ways to invest at tend to be bulky, this vest took a more minimalistic approach, only using what was needed without any fluff.
With plenty of adjustability, from the shoulder pads to the torso, this is a likely fit for most body types with ease. The high-density nylon has a great feel and high quality to it.
What Customers Are Saying
Best Weighted Vests Alternatives
A rucksack is an alternative to a weighted vest that can provide many of the same benefits.
Rucksacks are typically backpack-style bags with weight added, usually in the form of sandbags or metal weights. This means that the weight is predominantly loaded onto your back and shoulders, whereas a weighted vest weight distribution is between the front and back of the best weighted vest for women and men.
Like weighted vests, rucksacks can help increase the resistance your entire body must overcome to move.
The Benefits Of Wearing A Weighted Vest
Wearing a weight vest with weights can yield some great results. Let’s look at some of the main benefits of using the best weight vests.
The Weighted Vest Can Help Build Muscle
The benefits of running or working out with a weight vest for running are numerous, such as increased strength training and bodyweight workouts for building muscle. The added resistance of added weight will force your muscles to work harder when you wear a weighted vest, resulting in an increased range of motion, lean muscle mass, and improved air flow.
This results in your muscles breaking down, working harder, and rebuilding themselves stronger than before. The muscles must exert more effort and energy to accomplish exercises that may not have been so difficult without a running vest.
Check out our article on great weighted vest exercises and workouts HERE.
In other words, wearing a weighted vest can help you build muscle!
Adjustable weight vests also allow you to customize the amount of weight you want to add, so you can gradually increase the difficulty of your strength and cardio workouts as you become stronger.
The max weight capacity of a weight vest is also an important consideration, especially if you want to add more weight as you progress.
The Weighted Vest Can Help You Burn More Calories
A weighted running vest is a great way to burn more calories and lose weight. Even an adjustable weighted vest for walking can be a great option. The additional resistance created by the weight in the running vest will make your body weight work harder, which will cause you to burn more calories.
One study found that participants who wore a weighted vest while walking on a treadmill had a 12% higher calorie burn* than those who didn’t wear a running vest.
And while a vest alone cannot cause a person to lose weight, it can be a great supplemental tool to do so.
The Best Weighted Vest Can Make Your Current Workouts Better
You are probably already doing many exercises that benefit from bodyweight workouts with the top weighted vests.
Consider push-ups, which require arm and upper body strength to push your body weight against gravity and away from the floor. This exercise can be challenging but add in some extra pounds from an adjustable weighted vest, and push-ups go to the next level.
A squat, in any form, is another great example of this. The lower half of the body must generate enough power to push the body weight into a standing position. Add in a weighted vest, and your leg workout goes up a notch due to the increase in pounds.
Pull-ups are another great exercise that can benefit from adding extra weight. The same goes for other types of fitness training, such as box jumps, cardio training, and CrossFit workouts.
On the hunt for more fitness wearables? Check out my Sweet Sweat waist trainer review!
The Weighted Vest Can Revive Body Weight Workouts
This is one of our favorite reasons for wearing a weighted vest.
Throwing a vest with weights into the mix can bring back some bodyweight workouts that you thought were “too easy.” A great example of this is walking. For many, walking is seen as a low-return workout since it does not do a great job of raising the heart rate and is not very strenuous.
But, with a weighted vest, walks on even the flattest surfaces can elevate the heart rate and turn an ordinary and boring walk into a full-scale cardio session. That makes a vest for walking a great idea.
“Easy” bodyweight exercises become a different kind of challenge when including a weighted vest.
Questions? We Have Answers.
Weighted Vest Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion Of The Best Weight Vest List Of 2023
I love wearing my weighted vest. I wear it on almost every long walk and even on some runs. It feels like I’m wearing body armor when I put it on. I love wearing it on steep hills, thanks to a tip from my friend John Loftus, running coach and owner of the website runyourpotential.com.
My pick for the #1 weighted vest is the RunFast Max, but you might prefer a different vest option.
A weighted vest workout can add resistance to push-ups, pull-ups, and most body movement exercises.
Whether you are looking for a weight vest for men or a weighted vest for women, there are many weight options for you to choose from. Consider a weighted vest if you are looking for a fun and unique way to add more resistance to your body weight workings, walks, and runs.
*study by American Council on Exercise
