Can You Wear a Weighted Vest with Osteoporosis?

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What are you waiting for? Good night. Can you wear a weighted vest with osteoporosis? Those of you who are asking, can you wear a weighted vest with osteopenia?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer is how, and how you want to do it safely. Things to consider, contraindications that might discourage include you from this.

So in this episode, I really share how using a weighted vest with osteoporosis comes with frequently asked questions.

Not only that, whether or not you have osteoporosis, stay with me, all right? Because you also don't want to jump in on the fifth chapter.

You want to make sure that you onboard, that you go slowly, because anybody could experience injuries because of doing something incorrectly or too much too soon, not actually following a progression.

So I will talk about the overall benefits, the science that's been out since at least 2000 pretty clearly, and perhaps as long as I've been using my weighted vest, which was probably mid or late '90s. Questions that I'm going to answer in this episode: can you use a weighted vest with osteoporosis? If so, how do you get started? Safely?

What weight should you be using? And what if you already have fractured? And what if you have chronic upper back and neck pain? I'm going to hit all of those things. So stay tuned.

I'm Debra Atkinson. You're listening to Flipping 50. I started this podcast over a decade ago to answer questions about fitness in menopause and beyond before you knew to ask them. The goal: to help accelerate your results with science and the practical application of proven protocols while living your best life. There's no more powerful health influencer in the world than a midlife woman. And it's not just about you, but the 3 generations that you influence. My unique 40-year career, including being a university senior lecturer in kinesiology, an industry subject matter expert, and an international speaker, to founder of the first and the only exclusively made-for-menopause and beyond fitness membership in the world. Every week I interview experts behind the scenes and the science of optimal hormone balancing, fitness, and longevity, and share answers to our community's questions so you can have the vitality and the energy that you want, need, and deserve.

So if you do have osteoporosis and/or osteopenia, which is that point between apparently healthy bone and 2.5 standard deviations, which is a significant difference from where you want to be, which is the diagnosis point for osteoporosis, meaning you are at minus 2.5 points away from where healthy bone is, that's osteoporosis. So potentially you're somewhere between healthy bone and osteoporosis. That little gray area there is osteopenia. Is it possible to reverse both? I will say that I know I've talked with other guests I've interviewed on this show, and they're very hesitant to say that. And I have to say to that, but we've done it. So we're not making a claim. I'm talking historically about what's happened. We've had members do this, going through the program, exercising at home. We're not making claims. I want to tell you what is possible and what we've seen in the research be true. So coming right up— by the way, shortly after this episode publishes will be an episode that is another solo released on Fridays where I'm talking about research. And yes, research as it relates to menopause, but How do you sort out and question, filter for yourself, what is research that I should really be paying attention to and what is research that the media takes and runs with that really isn't valid, that doesn't have relevance for you, that could just be a runaway train that gets you all upset and up in arms for no good reason and or gets you excited, which I gotta say, I'd love to let people more excited about exercise and what they can do, but you have to take one with the other. So how do you know what to trust and when to definitely put your eggs in that basket, knowing this is really what I want to do, should do, would do if I could do it? And if I can't do it, I'm going to find another way, and what would be second best? So know that's coming out next, but with this one, let's dive right in, in everything we do. So I'm gonna do what I'm gonna talk about in that next episode, which is, this is so meta, and that is everything we do here is science-based, science-backed, which means nothing anymore because everybody uses those terms. So valid science, as you will find in the next episode, meaning it is about women just like you.. And you, I mean this, and you're welcome to stay if this is not you, but you're a woman in midlife or older or preparing yourself for being in that moment. You are maybe a health coach or a trainer who works with them and/or wants to and wants to know more. By the way, you should be a specialist. We would love to have you on our team. You want to do the right thing and know what that is and be proactive. Amen to that. So let's talk about this. Number one, let's go back to the short answer is yes, you can use a weighted vest with osteoporosis. However, if you are somebody who is already fractured, then my answer would be no, unless you have discussed with your practitioner the location of your fracture, the reason and incident of your fracture, and together with your practitioner determined that it does make sense for you to start small, short, light— meaning short periods of time— and slowly over time progress. But you would not do that simply in coordination with me, even as a medical exercise specialist. You need to have your whole team on board, and ideally that team talks to one another. You know, as a medical exercise specialist and 40-year fitness professional, what I don't see happen very often anymore is physicians and trainers or medical exercise specialists communicating. And part of that is based on time for both. But I think we can all understand how little time a doctor or physician has with a patient. You know, the time that they're there they're spending in what, 15-minute appointments, and they're in and out of the room. Then they've got somebody else, or maybe they themselves are doing charts and recording, and there's not a lot of time to do extracurricular things. So unless you often, as a patient, take charge and maybe bring your trainer or medical exercise specialist with you to an appointment and say, you know, I would like medical clearance, I wanna sign a medical release, and make sure that you can communicate together. Because of HIPAA and because of litigation, doctors, number one, don't have the time, but number two, they're also a little fearful. And they get very little education about exercise in relationship to any of the medical conditions that they may actually treat. I mean, realize the volume of information that would be asking one individual to cover, you know, how to diagnose, how to treat from a medical standpoint, let alone they're not an exercise expert. And so just realize the position you put somebody in expecting them to know more. So you really do need a team. You don't need your trainer or medical exercise specialist even trying to diagnose you. And you also don't need your doctor trying to prescribe your workout for you. So in fairness, know that we all have limitations and It takes a village, truly does. So there's your answer for two major questions. But if you do then use a weighted vest, how do you get started safely? So within this episode, I, I hope to share also some images. So if you are looking for information about what a weighted vest looks like, how it should sit, I think there are plenty online. There are plenty of physicians now very recently beginning to talk about menopause, write about menopause, and beginning to wear weighted vests themselves. You will see what it looks like. And almost using Instagram, for instance, or using your YouTube channel as a search engine, you can go and look and find. And it's called by some rucking, which is simply wearing your weighted vest while you go for a walk or for a hike. We use one, we employ one now with women who are training for hikes that are, say, in Boulder, Colorado at altitude, or are at the Grand Canyon that will be starting already up. We go down to begin and then finish with a 9-mile hike up. So we use a weighted vest to prepare women for that extra load. Now, they're never going to use that weighted vest on the hike itself. No, what they're doing is wearing it in training leading up to it over the last, you know, 6, 8, 9 months in order to prepare their body to be more resilient to the climbing, the altitude, and the heat, even when they're in a place where they can't acclimate to that directly. Helping your body train for hard things and, and stressors is one way to overcome. Okay, well, I can't train at altitude. I live in the Midwest, for instance. Then what? What do I do? So we figure out ways to overcome those things, and we also figure out ways to onboard very slowly. So the weighted vest of today is so much better than it used to be. The original one that I got at some point in the '90s was long, super long on me. I have a longer torso, although I am short. I have a long torso. Which was an asset I couldn't imagine, but it still even so ran into my thighs. So if I were doing a squat, I would squat down and it would hit my thighs. Going for a walk was really obnoxious because it would hit my thighs with every step. And I also had to put it over my head. There wasn't such a thing as like the jacket kind where we're slipping them on today, you know, and then pulling them closed in front. And so the worst case scenario, the risk was shoulder issues putting it on and taking it off. That was a bigger risk than wearing it. And, and I worked with clients with osteoporosis, and so if they would come over or I was bringing it to them, you know, I'd have to put it on them. It was just— it was a hoot, actually. But there are far better. But back then, they were made for men, almost all of them. There was no woman pictured in ads for weighted vests, and there just weren't that many that were in use. I was already at the time well on my way to becoming a strength and conditioning coach. I don't know that I was actually had gone through the testing and certified at that point, but, you know, in a different arena, I was slightly ahead because I was, you know, advanced in looking at athletic training and what others were doing in the field. And that was just before also medical exercise specialist became a certification too. So definitely there, things are better for women whether you're small in stature or larger, and you want to start and onboard with a vest that will grow up with you as you get stronger. You can do that. I've been lecturing about osteoporosis, osteopenia since 1995. The first adult education class I taught was probably the first time I had left my house without my infant son. In fact, that's why I remember it so well. And back then, I had to draw pictures on the chalkboard of modeling and remodeling bone and explain then these what were new terms and what was happening and why women in menopause were prone to bone process. We had a long list back then of contraindications for exercise during osteoporosis, and as there is now, there were— here's the set of standards, these are the things that you want to do to prevent osteoporosis, here's the things that you want to do once you're diagnosed— and they were very, very different set of things. And there's still to this day some of that, but let me tell you, that list of contraindications has changed. Quite dramatically. In fact, one of them that stood out was that a high protein diet actually was a contraindication and a— or a risk factor for osteoporosis, suggesting that the protein was a diuretic, it was going to leach calcium from your bones. And now we know there couldn't be something further from the truth. So we did so many people a disservice by telling them that, you know, 70% of bone is protein.

Hey, this is Debra Atkinson, and there is one thing you can't do in the gym at your age, and that's get all the protein that you need. You've got to do that in the kitchen. To make it easy for myself, not only to get the protein but the fiber, the fruits and vegetables I want daily, I started drinking a smoothie. A day 30 years ago. But when I realized all the junk, the sugar, and the extras that you don't want, that I don't want, hiding in most protein powders, that's when I finally caved in after years of saying I will never ever ever sell supplements. Stop skipping, skimping, and sabotaging yourself in the morning after workouts by always being prepared. Look, yep, I agree, real food first. But it's just not convenient to carry a turkey sandwich. Sometimes the protein— and don't forget the fiber— they kill cravings and they boost satiety. And you've got to make it easy to do the right thing. You can use code PODCAST for 10% off your first order at flipping50.com.

If you increase your protein and stop dieting, you will do your bones a world of good. For all of you who are thinking, I have to work on my bones, and then you're dieting constantly, you're doing the exact opposite. You need to fuel. And by the way, you will be leaner. Once you start doing that. All right, we no longer have to pop somebody into bubble wrap when they are diagnosed with osteoporosis and osteopenia, although I will empathize with some of you who feel that way, who still feel the fear potentially. And maybe it's because you've got a physician who still is a little bit in the dark and in the dark ages because of They were educated about osteoporosis and bone loss decades ago, and they're still operating potentially with the same concepts and ideas and the increased risk of fracture. Remember this, no matter what we're talking about, is the research that you hear telling you the details, the data, the percentage, the statistics we're reading about historically. Historically, in the past, retrospectively, because people had these habits. Here's the statistics. We don't have to become that same statistic if we change the habits. So if we look at our own habits and say, well, traditionally, statistically, we are still dieting and eating too little protein, well then yes, we are going to become the second statistic set in this generation, but we don't have to. You can decide not to participate. I vote yes. Okay. All right. So this fearmongering, I think, has to end. You know, this— that women are gonna lose bone density, it's automatic, or that you have osteoporosis, you're prone to fracture, you should not do anything, you should not run, you should not jump, you should not lift heavy. And that really has to end. Not that you shouldn't be informed about how to exercise correctly and what starting and what progression looks like. Back in 1996, I started working with one client, and then another would be diagnosed with osteoporosis. And if you're listening, Mary, you were the first to break some barriers and overcome the fear. You had a good doctor who understood the whole person and the real way we get better. And, and here's Mary's story. I have told this numerous times, but if you're new to the podcast, Mary was a recently retired— I'm gonna get this wrong, it's been a minute— psychologist and working for a counseling center. And her plan was to retire and they were going to move to a mountain home in Colorado and spend their retirement years skiing and loving the living in Colorado. However, she was diagnosed with osteoporosis and felt like the rug had just been taken from under her. And she was tiny. She was a tiny individual. She was small. She was very active, walked regularly, you know, ate, enjoyed normal, not a dieter necessarily. It's just, that was her frame. She was very small, like a size too small. And so of course she was at higher risk and higher risk for fracture because of the low weight, never done strength training before in her life. And you know, it all changed in a moment for her. So I will tell you the rest of the story at the end of the podcast. But I want to tell you right now what I would do if I were concerned about osteoporosis or had it.

And by the way, I have a mild osteopenia in my left forearm.

What I've done to improve that and make it better over the course of the last 11 months is use my Power Plate. So I also was diagnosed with lower bone density and osteopenia in my lumbar spine, and One other place— gosh, what was that? I'm not sure that was my hip. I don't think that it was, but it was something else. And both of those other two have also improved. So I improved my forearm, but it's still in the category of osteopenia. So left being— it's my non-dominant arm. So for me, what that means is, you know, I have been very successful in lifting heavier and had hoped that by pressing heavier and pulling heavier I would do my forearms some good, but didn't. And I have used my power plate regularly, so I'm pretty sure that contributed to the lumbar spine because I don't load my spine. I will wear a weighted vest. I don't consider that loading, but I do not do any back squats where I'm actually putting heavy weights here. I do all my leg presses sitting and vertical anymore. I— compression of the spine is not something that I really want to do anymore, and it's something that I probably haven't done for about 14 years now, and I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. Somebody the other day said to me, you know, I really loved compressing my spine, and I was like, yeah, said no educated person ever. Okay, so yeah, that's just not something people say out loud. He said you shouldn't say everything that comes to your mouth Yeah, comes to your mind. All right, so here's what I would do. Resistance training, progressive overload to as heavy as safely possible. Progressive overload means you first start with a weight, probably 15 to 20 repetitions. Now that's, you know, you have to reach muscular fatigue. You get to the end of it, you really can't lift many more than 1 or 2. You could have 1 or 2 still in the tank, we call that in reserve. If you prefer, but 15 or 16, I'm 16 to 20-ish. That range is appropriate. It's not as an excruciatingly heavy weight. You're going to do more than that if you take a 40-pound bag of dog food or your salt pellets out of your trunk yourself. I hate doing that, by the way. But then you're going to very slowly progress every 2 weeks. Maybe you're adding another set. Or you're reducing the reps and increasing the weight so that you reach fatigue at that. It's 12 to 15 maybe the next time, and then it's 8 to 12, and slowly over time— and that takes months, by the way. So my preferred right now for bone density is a protocol of 5 times 5. I will do 5 sets of 5 repetitions. Now sometimes you get that wrong, or you have a good day and you're picking up a weight and you think, okay, I kind of got a feel for what this is. And if you're not there yet, by the way, you will. If you think, I don't have any idea what I would lift, but you haven't been doing it for 40 years. If you've done it for 4 months, you will have a good idea. You will already know this is what I need for that exercise. I, you know, will sometimes feel better, so maybe I'll get 6 or 7 instead of 5, but other times Maybe I'm at the fourth or the fifth set, I'm picking up that weight and I, I got 3 in me or I've got 4 in me. By the way, that is successful. I heard the other day somebody make this comment, you know, I just hate it when I can't get all my reps. And I'm like, really? I love it. It means I worked really, really hard, you know, because it's not about checking the number of the reps off, it's about Did I overload? And if I did, I got stronger and my bones got the benefit. So it's a different way of thinking about things. And I like to say that, you know, exercise, particularly strength training, even interval training, it's one of the only things where failing is success.. And if you don't, you haven't really done your job, right? So think about that. Those who are able, meaning their joints and their ligaments will tolerate it, should reach fatigue before maybe that top goal of repetitions. That top goal is not a quota. Get that. And then it's not like money, you want more of it. It's more like golf, you know, get the fewest number to get the ball in the hole. Much more like that. Okay, so I would also employ power in those workouts. And what that means is that there's a point where on certain days I don't go quite as heavy, where I have to go slowly. I'm going to back off of that weight just a little bit, maybe 10-20%, so that I can powerfully push it up or pull it, decelerate under control, and then release it the rest of the way. And power has actually been proven to be as or more effective as going in a slow, controlled fashion when you're lifting weights on bone density benefit. So for those of you who feel like, I feel nervous going heavier, I feel vulnerable going heavier, okay, When you found, I'm at my ceiling, can't go heavier than this, try adding power to it. So even if you're not getting to that really lower number of repetitions, 10 or fewer is associated with bone benefit, has always been. And that's about 80% of your one rep max. You didn't need to know that, but I'm compelled as an exercise administrator to say that out loud. But I like 5 times 5. It's what's been studied. Belinda Beck out of Australia in her lab has been using that, finding really good results with women postmenopausal who've been diagnosed with osteoporosis and reversing those losses, which is exactly what I'm after in case you've got it, and then present— preventing any further from happening. High impact. So I also focus on 4 sets of 10 to 20 impacts a day, most days of the week. It's actually between 5 and 7 is the exercise protocol, the prescription associated with help for bone density. And these are called ground forces. So when I say high impact, I think if you're like me And we were like adults in the '80s, you know, young adults in the '80s. You know, there was always this like, ooh, high impact is bad, right? Low impact good, high impact bad. And I think a little of that lingers in the back of my head, like, but actually that it's that high impact work that is going to give you the best benefit. So as I do this, we're just recently Past the Olympics. So I mean, imagine— I would imagine that probably Simone Biles' left wrist, if she's right dominant, her left forearm is not going to be osteopenic. Gymnasts are among some of the most dense bones ever because usually they have grown up as adolescents when their bone was forming and through their 20s. And, and if not, if they stopped sooner because maybe they grew or sprouted in puberty and no longer did it, they still put a lot more bone in the bank than those of us who were just running and jumping and playing kickball, or especially those of us who were swimming and biking most of all for our exercise. Gymnasts have more dense bones. Moving throughout the day is also very important. And when I say this, I'm not talking about like walking but that would count. But it's just being up more, being on your feet more. If you are in retail, you're standing, you're moving around. That's actually good, you know, for you in terms of your bones. And I know it's not impact, it's not strength training, but it is better than you sitting at a desk in terms of your bone density. So move throughout the day, break up sedentary periods of time. If you do have to sit— I'm right now I'm gonna do 2 podcasts back to back. We need to get a couple done. My podcast manager is like, I have a concern about this, and she's so polite. I'm like, just tell me to get, get at it, right? It's okay. But I have to do two back to back, and I, I love to do that. Don't mean that I have to do this, but sitting in order to do it, because that's where I match with my mic, I need to get up between them and go and move around a little bit. And we all need to kind of have that Here's the rule, you know, I'm going to do if this, then that. That's how I'm going to play it. That's really what you want to do. So you also want to go walking potentially on those days when you're not lifting and you're not doing any high impact because you don't necessarily want or need to do high impact every day. Now, when I said those ground forces, those 4 sets of 10 to 20 impacts a day, most days of the week, That's not like a high-impact workout. You know what that is? That's less than 2 minutes of activity, and you can string it throughout the day. You can do 10 jumps right there. That's less than 5 seconds. So don't think of that as, oh, I'm going to get breathless. You might not at all, and that's fine. But also doing high-intensity work, you know, is also valuable, and you are getting a lot of impact in the same time. Potentially if you can. So you might be doing yours on a bike or, uh, power walking up a hill, less impact there. Swimming, you may not be getting it there. If it's not appropriate for you, that's okay. Whole body vibration. I mentioned this, this is one of the things that I need to focus back in again because I've gotten away from it last 6 months. I haven't done a lot of forearm-specific planking. Or on palm planking, which is going to be even more beneficial. But that directly puts the Power Plate whole body vibration up my forearm, you know. And yes, I can lift heavy, but I probably can't lift any heavier than I am. I'm really at a point where I think this is really good. If I went any heavier, potentially I'd be risking injury. I, you know, do yoga. I don't do it regularly, but that's another way that you could do it. So weight-bearing exercise and weight-bearing on your upper body. How often do we do that? I don't know about you, but I don't walk around on my hands. I don't do handstands, and that's, you know, not probably gonna be a part of my routine going forward either. I just don't see that happening for me. But whole body vibration is one way to get it. And doing planks and core work, you get the added bonus of the muscle recruitment for your core as well. But I am just past— so this is 2 years ago I did a bone density test. I'm just a little over that. Just did an update. I'm better, but I'm not there. So I am— insurance covers it or not, I don't care. It's personal insurance. I need to know that I'm improving it, so I'm going to pay for one myself if I can't get a doctor on board to actually request it. So If you want right now, right now, and it may not be on any longer, but you can get 20% off with the Flipping 50 code at the link that I will put in the show notes. That we have a very good relationship with Power Plate, and inside of our membership we have some extra videos coming about balance, about how to use it while you're doing core, how to do a total body routine on it. With body weight or with strength training and how to make that fit. So again, I mentioned yoga for the anti-gravity benefit of unique positions. So we're talking not just weight-bearing for the upper body, but also just, you know, moon pose, warrior poses. Those are putting your spine in a different position than you are used to normally being. We're used to this. So as soon as you do a moon pose where your spine is parallel to the floor, you have a different kind of gravitational pull on that spine, and that works. We've seen it. Dr. Lauren Fishman is someone I've interviewed for the What, When, and Why to Exercise for Women 40+ Summit, and that was in May of 2023. He was actually on the speaker panel, and his research is fascinating. So I would have been the first one, and in fact I believe I was, to say, wait a minute, you know, this is not weight-bearing and it not isn't weight-resistant, so where does this come in? I would have thought this is really not going to improve bone density. And he said, yeah, well, you know, he also has a background in rehabilitative exercise. He's, he's got a background in exercise science. So he actually said, well, as it turns out, it is weight-bearing. It is gravitational force coming down on the spine and is coming down differently than it would. So you remember too, in poses, while you're holding them statically, you have muscle pulling on the bone, and that's a big part of improving bone density. So wearing a weighted vest did not have a significant positive impact on the lumbar spine in studies. Whole body vibration does. Your weighted vest is going to sit on your shoulder, so you do have to remember that as you're Beginning to do that, we have an entire month-long challenge set up in our membership about how you begin. And I have you wear it in your kitchen first for 10 minutes while you're cooking dinner, and that's it. And then the next week or so when you're wearing it, you might wear it a couple days a week, and you're wearing it for 15 minutes and then for 20. And then while you're walking around the house picking things up, walking to and from the laundry room, just day-to-day activities. Before you ever wear it when you go for a walk around the block. And, you know, part of the reason is we want to get your shoulders and your upper back to be sure they're not over-firing by throwing too much at them at once. But although we are loading the spine somewhat, we are loading more the hip. It's like we've caused you to gain whatever weight you're wearing, so it might be 10 or 15 or 8 or 20 pounds., and yet we're not really loading the lumbar spine. So it's important in that distinction is in a study looking at wearing a weighted vest, using a power plate, or using the two of them together, the lumbar spine reduced significantly when aerobic exercise was incorporated compared with resistance training that utilized resistance training, combined training, and whole body vibration. So weight training, really, really important for bone density specifically. And just like any other sport, if you want to get better at golf, you can't play tennis, right? If you want to get better at golf, you can't go for a walk and/or run and just get yourself in better shape and think you're going to be a better golfer. Now, you might hit the ball a little bit further because you have a little bit more power, but it's a skill-related thing and it's gotta be some specificity in relationship to what's the match for the goal that you have? What's the work that's gonna get you there? That's not a creative exercise. It is specifically, let's look at this, let's study it, let's see what's happening. So there's a lot to be said. We've included a couple studies here specifically discuss that. But the whole body vibration— now I use the brand Power Plate. There are other whole body vibrations, by the way, that you can look at. It's my method of choice. They have reached out to me for more than 15 years, actually closer probably to 20, and they're still in business, actually still thriving, still publishing research studies often will use them like third-party studies. So not Power Plate conducting the research on Power Plate, but a third party saying, we want to test whether this works clinically, we're going to use this product. And that too, I love, you know, if a clinical study validated the use of it by simply choosing it in order to look at it. That's important to me. So we'll put the references there for you. Prove it to me, girls. But these are the ways that I would incorporate, you know, all of the activities. And in terms of weighted vests, this is for the activity that, yes, you could use this at home while you're doing squats and weight it a little bit more. You can go for a walk, it's going to make your walk a little bit more prone to benefits for your bone density, and it's also not going to do damage. So I want to be clear with that. However, we opened with at the very beginning, if you're already prone to fracture, you are already high risk. And the definition of that is you've already had a fracture, you are more prone to another. So I would not suggest it for you if you were just coming in. For instance, just to give you relativity, I weigh 130 pounds, 127 The weighted vest that I have is probably a little bit heavy for me, but I picked that weighted vest back up actually most recently in multiple moves that I've had. I have gifted weighted vests to people along the way, and you know, the one I have right now is 20 pounds. But please, you all, I have been lifting weights consistently outside of injuries or being thrown off a horse for almost 40 years. So that's not true for you. If you are small framed, the rule of thumb is 10 or 20% of your body weight, and you may want to start smaller than that. There are weighted vests that come with kind of a retractable, if you will, weight. So you could put some in your pocket and you can take them out lay them in a place where you won't lose them and the dog won't get them, right? And so you could ideally start with 8 pounds, you know, and get used to that, but still go through that whole progression. Just because you start light doesn't mean, well, I'm gonna put this on and go the whole way. I would still start conservatively. You can always speed up, but start small, 10 minutes at a time. See how your upper back and your traps do, especially if you're somebody prone to tension in your upper back and neck. And/or get headaches frequently, because that simply could trigger them. And you want to get used to it before you wear it for an extended period of time and then go heavier. We, rule of thumb, change one variable at a time. You're wearing an 8-pound weighted vest, you're gonna wear that around your kitchen for 10 minutes, couple of times this week. Next week is 15 minutes, same weight. You're changing just one variable. The next week you're making that weighted vest 10 pounds, just staying at 15 minutes. Okay, so you get the idea. You can toggle back and forth between, you know, if you're wondering, do I increase time or do I increase the weight? Yes, you just do one at a time. So you can increase the weight slowly over several weeks, or you can increase the time, then the weight, then the time, then the weight, and keep going until you've built up to you're wearing it maybe for 30 minutes, going on a walk at full weight and still feeling good. But then you can also, if you're used to doing squats at home and you're used to— I hold a kettlebell, for instance. Now I've got that kettlebell plus the weighted vest, so now I'm really loading my lower body a little bit more at which can be harder to do once you gain strength. Women have about 70% of the strength that men do, and so it gets harder with upper body. Generally, we can reach fatigue fairly well, but with lower body, gets a little hard because we're strong, right? So it's going to take a little bit more. So that can be helpful. By the way, you can always slow down. More time under tension is another good way to fatigue with lighter weight if you feel safer doing that. Okay, in the show notes today, where you will find them is flipping50.com/weighted-vest-with-osteoporosis, and you will find the studies. You'll find links to related shows and to the weighted vest that I use, which is in my Amazon Flipping 50 store in case you're looking for a spot.

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