JJ Virgin4x NYTimes Best Selling Author, Certified Nutrition Specialist, Fitness Hall of Famer

#1 Health Benefits of Walking with Weighted Vests 💪

27 Jul 2024 · 1 min

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In this segment, JJ Virgin explains that a rucking vest is essentially a weighted vest used to add intensity to walking. He clarifies that military‑style vests can be 40 lb, but for fitness beginners he recommends starting with 5–10 lb. He describes adjustable vests that span 4–10 lb, 11–20 lb, and 20–30 lb, noting the ability to add 1‑lb plates for fine‑tuned progression. JJ emphasizes that using a weighted vest increases calorie expenditure, improves cardiovascular fitness, and enhances bone density, making it a valuable tool for conditioning based on an individual’s current fitness level.

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So a rucking vest is simply a weighted vest. And you might have heard some of them because they came from the military, military training where people are like, 40 pounds. That is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about starting with it being 5 to 10 pounds. And what's cool about these vests is that I got one that goes from 11 to 20 pounds and I can just add in weight. So I start at 11. If I want to up it, I have 1-pound weights that I can put in. You can get the one that starts at 4 pounds and goes to 10 pounds. It's probably a good place to start. Depends how conditioned you are. My husband got the one that goes from 20 pounds up to 30 pounds. But these things are fantastic because it's a great way to add intensity, right? And you're going to burn more calories, plus you're going to improve your cardiovascular fitness. And there's one other thing that does for you. It also improves your bone density.