Does walking count as a form of exercise or not? If you are like most people, walking is not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of exercise. However, the NHS agrees that walking is one of the easiest ways to get more active, lose weight, and become healthier. Well, if you think: “That sounds good, but I’d like something more intense,” try walking with a weighted vest on. You never realize how intense walking can be as a form of exercise until you try walking while wearing a weighted vest. This is a combination that works and offers several additional advantages. Let’s explore.
WHAT DOES THE WEIGHTED VEST DO?
Put simply, a weighted vest allows you to transform your walks from a low impact, moderate intensity activity to a much more intense form of exercise. Even if you go for a moderate weighted vest like the 20 lb Zelus Vest, you will be able to feel an additional impact on your muscles, and your walks become more efficient and effective. You get all the benefits of walking, but also the results of a much more intense workout.
INCREASED CALORIE BURN
If your objective in exercising is to lose weight or maintain your form, then you are probably looking for an efficient way to burn more calories. Well, this is in fact one of the most straightforward benefits of using a weighted vest.
When you add weight to your body, your muscles have to work harder to move, which in turn requires more energy. This means you’ll burn more calories per minute compared to walking without a vest.
So, by engaging in a simple activity like going on a run, you can significantly increase the number of calories you burn and get all the fitness gains without having to increase your workout time. This is why a weighted vest matters.
IMPROVED CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH
Walking with a weighted vest does a lot more than helping you burn more calories—it also challenges your cardiovascular system. Say you put on a Zelus Stripe Vest, the additional 16 lb of the vest will require your heart and lungs to work harder to supply oxygen to your muscles.
Over time, you will unfailingly notice improvements in your cardiovascular fitness: better heart health, lower blood pressure, and a significant increase in your level of stamina. As your cardiovascular system grows more efficient, it will be easier for you to take on more strenuous physical activities.
If you plan to go bigger and better in your fitness journey, a weighted vest can help you build up as you transition from simple walking into much more complicated and strenuous exercises in the future.
STRENGTHENS MUSCLES AND BONES
Walking is good because it primarily targets the muscles in your lower body. However, when you add a weighted vest, you spread out the benefits and turn your walks into a more comprehensive strength-building exercise. In other words, you are essentially working out every part of your body.
When you put on a weighted vest, it covers your whole upper body. The additional resistance engages your legs, glutes, core, and back muscles more intensely than if you were just walking without it. Over time, you begin to feel overall increased muscle strength and endurance.
Then there is the fact that the extra load helps promote bone density, which is crucial for preventing osteoporosis and maintaining your overall skeletal health.
ENHANCED ENDURANCE AND STAMINA
With a weighted vest, you elevate your walks from moderate intensity exercise to full on resistance training. One of the key benefits of progressive resistance training—which is what you do when you walk in a vest—is improvement in endurance and stamina.
As your body adapts to the increased load, you’ll find that you can walk longer distances or at a faster pace without tiring as quickly. Enhanced endurance is a great mark of overall fitness and an immense advantage, especially if you are interested in participating in other physically demanding activities and sports.
IMPROVED POSTURE AND BALANCE
Good posture is not just about being physically attractive. Yes, that counts, but that is not all there is to having a good posture. With good posture, you have a lower chance of getting injured, and your body becomes more vibrant and efficient in movement. Think of Tom Cruise and his iconic runs.
The added weight from a vest encourages you to engage your core muscles to maintain an upright posture, and over time, any imbalances in your body posture gradually get corrected. Also, walking with a weighted vest improves your balance because your body must now work harder to stabilize itself under the added load.
If you are an older adult looking to enhance your fitness and get your body to move quicker and further, walking with a weighted vest is where to begin.
EFFICIENT WORKOUT
Time is a precious commodity, not many people can find enough time to exercise regularly. What this implies is that, when you do have the time, your workout needs to be as efficient as possible. With a weighted vest, you make your workout more efficient by increasing the intensity without significantly extending the duration.
Also, walking is a relatively simple form of exercise. It has almost no learning curve, and you can do it almost anywhere there is a path. In combination with these other advantages, walking with a weighted vest might just be the simplest but most effective form of exercise out there.
ITS TIME TO GET A VEST!
You may have overlooked walking as a form of exercise before, but now, after learning about a simple way to transform your walks into full workouts, there is no excuse. It is time to get a vest.
Fortunately, ZelusFitness has been providing weighted vests for walkers, runners, and enthusiasts for years, and we have the perfect recommended weighted vests in our collection. Our vests are made of durable neoprene rubber fabric, enforced with double-stitching, and often come with iron sandbags to give you flexibility as you advance in your fitness journey. If you have never put on a weighted vest before, you might be interested in safety tips for beginners, and if you want to get the most out of your vest, you can check out more exercises to do with a weighted vest. Let Zelus be your companion as you walk to better fitness and a better life.