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It's that time of year again when I am slimming down (reduce body fat %) to show off my hard work. I'm looking for an effective way to increase my calorie burning during a routine. I picked up a 40lbs weight vest for christmas and I wanted to know if adding the vest will help increase the rate at which calories are burned during walking/running, cardio, etc.

My question is, will adding the weight vest to my routine aid in reducing overall body fat % in a way that is worth while?

Edited to rephrase my question

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    I'll bet the trainer told her to stop wearing the vest while running in order to minimize joint damage. That's not necessarily a bad idea, but it doesn't have anything to do with effectiveness for fat loss.
    – Dave Liepmann
    Apr 2, 2013 at 21:56
  • @DaveLiepmann That's a good point on that note.
    – DustinDavis
    Apr 2, 2013 at 22:09
  • I don't think just walking around with a weight vest is enough to cause some major fat loss (eg. see this question on ankle weights). Weight vests are usually used to make bodyweight movements harder (eg. pull-ups, dips, any exercise where it's hard to decrease leverage).
    – VPeric
    Apr 3, 2013 at 10:40
  • Don't you just want to look at tweaking diet?
    – Megasaur
    Apr 13, 2013 at 6:30
  • @Megasaur my question is specific to using a weight vest to increase calorie usage during activities/workouts. Nothing to do with diets.
    – DustinDavis
    Apr 13, 2013 at 19:19

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Yes using a weight vest will make you burn more calories while running. Much like a heavier person burns more calories than a lighter person doing the same movement at the same intensity so too using the weight vest will help you burn more calories. In essence the vest is making you a heavier person. this means you will have to work harder to do any activity that you normally do at your own body weight.

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  • Your calories per mile would certainly go up -- I know I burn more calories when hiking with a 40-pound overnight pack than with a two-pound belt pouch -- but do your calories per hour go up? With the aforementioned belt pouch, I cover about four miles per hour, but only around two per hour with the pack.
    – Mark
    Jun 27, 2016 at 23:07
  • I think logic would dictate that if the calories burned increases overall, then it would also have an effect on the calories burned per hour.
    – usedToBeFat
    Jul 29, 2016 at 17:50

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