[POD] 202. 6:10:25 - Should You Wear a Weighted Vest? What Every Woman Needs to Know FINAL AUDIO
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Woman of Wellness Podcast, a show dedicated to empowering you to make peace with food, embrace your body, and enjoy the journey to lasting health and wellness. I'm your host, Elizabeth Dahl, a certified exercise physiologist. And women's nutrition and behavior coach passionate about helping you build sustainable habits, achieve your goals, and create a lifetime of health without dieting or restriction.
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To help you discover what your body truly needs, it's time to reject the lie that health and weight loss have to be hard, painful, or miserable. I'm ready to link arms with you and experience the joy of wellness together. Let's talk about weighted vests. Have you seen them around lately? They are very popular right now.
Um, I feel like I'm seeing so many women wearing them and [00:02:00] talking about them, and. I wanted to talk about it today. I thought we need to have a conversation about weighted vests, what they're for, who they're for, when you might want one. Um, all of the above. So my goal is to help you just really have like one quick episode that's going to give you all the information you need to understand why these things are so popular right now and, and what's going on.
Um, and I have to tell you, I. Don't own one myself. But it was funny because the other day I was on a hike with my toddler and I had a, I had my hiking backpack on, and let me tell you, it's significantly heavier year than any weighted vest you're gonna buy. But I was just thinking to myself, Hey, I've caught my weighted vest on.
I just had that moment of like, some people have their weighted vest. Mine right now is a, is a weighted toddler vest. Um, a weighted backpack. But, um, I did have a friend who is training for, um, backpacking. She bought it [00:03:00] to kind of help her, you know, get used to that load on her back. So she got a little bit of a higher weight.
But, um, I tried it on the other day and it was very interesting. I mean, it was, it is just like what you might think, you know, just like a, a backpack, like a little bit heavier backpack. Although it's not like your backpack's hanging. It's not like. It, the weight is evenly distributed, so that's, that's good.
Um, but yeah, it just kind of is a little bit of that load or that pressure on your body. Um, so again, I don't own one, but I have tried one. I walked around with it for a little bit and just kind of like saw what it was like. I asked my friend some questions about what she thought about it and um, anyway, so I've just kind of been doing some research lately for you to.
Share a little bit more about, you know, why you might consider a weighted vest or when you might consider a weighted vest. Um, you know, I think the question that we have to ask ourselves, is this a fitness fad or [00:04:00] is it something that we might see long term? And, and I, and I'm hopefully gonna answer that question as we go along, um, and other questions I hopefully.
That will kind of clarify for you is do you need one if you're already working out or are you strength training? Or what about if you're sedentary or you don't strength train, maybe you just do like walks and things. Um, where does it, where might that fit in for you? How do you choose the best one?
What's the weight that you want? Um, all of the above. So actually before we jump in, I'm gonna do this, I'm doing this on the spot here, so I've gotta pull my, pull my brain together. Go join our, um, it's our free weekly, our Wellness Weekly newsletter. So it's a free email newsletter. And what I'm going to do is I'm gonna just gonna create like a one or two page recap.
Including, like, who should use it? Just like guidelines. And then I'll give you a [00:05:00] list of some good ones that have been recommended by experts in this area and people that have been doing even more research than me, um, if you're looking to get a weighted vest. So I will, I will link that in. Um, our, in our, what is it?
The weekly wellness newsletter that comes out. So go get yourself on the. List, it's a woman of wellness.com/newsletter or the links in the show notes, and then I'll just deliver that to you, um, right away so you can, so you can have it. Um, okay. Let's jump into the, the main part of this. What is a weighted vest?
Maybe you need some help understanding, it's basically a wearable vest that, um, adds external resistance to your movement. So it's basically meant to mimic the load on your body. Similar to when you're strength training, people are using it for walking, hiking, and even doing household chores, which my friend is like, I'm [00:06:00] just putting it on when I do household chores because I'm just getting used to it for.
Specifically for her backpacking experience. Um, why are women wearing them now? So why do we think, why do we see, why are we seeing this become so big right now? Well, here's probably the biggest thing, that awareness around women's health specifically and menopause and women's aging. Is a lot higher, probably in the last like couple of years.
I mean, it's just really, um, kind of surged and understanding the need for bone and muscle support for women as they age, as they go through menopause. Um, so maybe you've heard of her, maybe you haven't, but Dr. Mary Clay Ha, Claire Haver. Talks a lot about, um, menopause and supporting your body, and she's a huge advocate for weighted vests.
So if you are, you know, in that season of life, [00:07:00] I would definitely recommend, you know, she's, she's kind of the go-to right now for some of this. Um, but you know, the truth is like. The research just shows us, right, we, if we're adding a load, we're either maintaining or improving our bone density, it's supporting that muscle strength and balance.
And it can also boost metabolism, calorie burden because you know, as you're carrying a heavier, heavier weight, your body has to do more work to move. So, I mean, it's kind of all things that we logically know, um, but. It's good to know that. Okay, there's, there's some backing behind this. What if you already strength trained, so you're kind of going, okay, yeah, great.
I see the weighted vests all over the place. I understand that it's good for women, you know, in, in menopause and aging and preventing bone health. What if I already strength trait? Do I need to add the weighted vest? [00:08:00] Um, no. Okay, the truth is strength training is still the gold standard. Um, but, okay, so first of all, do your best to strength train.
If you are a beginner, remember we have a full 12 week beginner strength training program inside our women's wellness hub. So if you're like, oh, a man, I don't even know where to start. Phenomenal. It's great. I just had my cute neighbor. She's like, I've been going through it and I love it, and it's so good.
And so it's really been helping her progress. So. Um, strength training is the first thing. We don't wanna give that up. Um, and we also don't wanna say, because I have a vest, I don't have to do this. Um, we really do wanna have some form of strength training, but Okay. Vests offer. A functional way to add resistance outside the gym so you don't have to go to the gym, right?
You can throw your vest on while you're doing housework and still get a load. It can also be a stepping stone for women who maybe aren't currently lifting weights. So maybe you, [00:09:00] um, are not in that season, or it is just like you're having a hard time getting there for whatever reason. It could be a way to, um, start.
Easing you into a little bit more of that strength training mindset. Um, it can also be a tool to increase intensity on like your walking days or hikes or any kind of workout. If you wanna increase intensity, that's gonna do it really quick. Okay. Um, so it it not necessary if you are a strength trainer, strength trainer, that sounds funny.
If you strength train. Um, but there are some benefits on the side and there are also some benefits for those who are sedentary. Who, who might be a good candidate then? Who, who should, who might be, who should use one? Um, I. The, the current, um, what's the word, uh, climate, the current, I guess the current [00:10:00] recommendations is the best candidates are women who are 40 plus in perimenopause or menopause.
The rate of muscle, um, decline. Is very significant after menopause. And, and in men perimenopause as well, you're, you're seeing a lot of, um, age related, um, muscle and bone mass decline. So if you are in that category, this might be a really good thing to do to help you maintain that bone and muscle mass.
Also, those who are not regularly strength training, this could be a good way to add. Load. If you are anyone that wants to support bone density balance, strength, that's a great option. As, as well. If you are someone with low, um, bone density, you have been maybe diagnosed with low bone density or osteopenia or osteoporosis, um, this would be really, really good to add [00:11:00] because we can, again, we can build, we can maintain and build some of that, um, the bone and muscle mass.
This is another one you may have not considered postpartum and you're trying to ease back into movement. Although I, I have to admit, I think like when you're postpartum, you're kind of already carrying a load, right? But it could be a great way for someone that's like wanting to ease back into movement, and that could be like.
You're stepping stone, or if you're sedentary and you don't move very much, maybe you're adding that and then you're going on a walk. It could just add, right? So don't wait. We don't wanna wait for a diagnosis like, oh, I have low, low bone density, so then I should start this. But it might be worth saying, okay, is there someone in my family, is this something that my family may struggle with?
Like, do we have, um, tricky bone density or. Anything like that, maybe I need to work on it or, you know, do, do I struggle with my balance or do I struggle with day-to-day activities? [00:12:00] I'm not able to lift or do the things that I wanna do. This is a great prevention, um, method, a great support method for building your strength and your body.
So hopefully you've identified, if you kind of fit any of those categories, um, how do you then pick. The right weighted best. Well, the recommendation is to start with five to 10%. Um, yeah. Sorry, I was having a moment. Um, the recommendation is five to 10% of your body weight, um, which for most women is about 10 to 15 pounds.
Um, so that would give you a really good. A snapshot of what you might wanna get, start smaller than you think and build up. And so you can find weighted vests. This is what I would suggest you look [00:13:00] for, is that they have adjustable weights, so weights that you can like put, pull in and or pull, um, pull out and put in.
So you can adjust the weight you want to make sure it's a comfortable fit. There are some out there made for men's frames, women's frames. So you wanna be specific to, Hey, I'm, I'm a woman. I'm looking for something comfortable. It might be worth, you know, trying it out before you buy it if you can, or asking a friend again.
I will include a link to a couple that, um. Are recommended. Also, you probably want it to be breathable fabric and shoulder padding, right? We don't wanna be sweating like crazy in these things. Um, and you want to not feel like you're, like, it's just like digging into your shoulders. So I would just consider what you might be using it for if you're like, Hey, I just wanna add it to, um, my.
Regular walking or hiking, like you're probably gonna want those lighter, um, the on the lighter end where it's a [00:14:00] little bit more flexible. Um, and then if you're trying to increase your intensity of training and, and your workouts, I. You might go a little bit heavier, you might get some adjustable ones that you can, um, add or remove weights.
Um, so five to 10% of your body weight and then just look for comfort, right? And, and look for like, okay, maybe I wanna get one that's 15 pounds. But I do wanna find one. I want, I want it to be able to like, remove weights too. So when I don't feel like I want to. Have that heavy weight, it can get heavy really fast.
That's what I've heard from a lot of women is like, it gets heavy really fast and sometimes you think 15 pounds is nothing. Um, but you realize like, especially if you're just doing day-to-day activities, it can get. It can get heavy, fast. Okay. Who should, what age groups are we looking at? So we already talked about, um, menopause, and this is probably the biggest population recommendation.
Okay. 40 to 70 is the ideal age group for [00:15:00] regular use. This is women who are in perimenopause, menopause, um, or post and, and trying to support their bodies. If you're more than 70. We just have to be careful because, um, you know, you need to be. You need to kind of balance out the pros and the cons, right?
The benefits versus the risks. Um, balance can change a lot as we, as we age, to that, to that range. And I know health exists at every age and some 70 year olds are fantastic, um, and can move and, and are fine. And some are having a hard time getting around, right? Um, and so. Just make sure that if you are that in that age range, it would be worth kind of getting some supervision, talking to your doctor, doing some lighter loads, um, because your goal really is to function in your life, and we wanna make sure that's gonna help you if you're in your thirties optional.
Okay. Um, it's not like the highest recommended [00:16:00] age group. The ideal age group is the forties to seventies. Um, but like I mentioned before, prevention is a great, is a great tool. You know, we, we don't, it's never too early or too late to think about your bone and muscle health. And so I would say, you know, if you're in your thirties and you are sedentary or postpartum, right?
Like you, if you're, if you don't move much, it could be really. Really helpful for you, um, to support your bone and muscle health. And then maybe we can help you transition to a little bit more strength training as well. In addition, um, teens, young adults, what do we do? This is kind of a, a tricky place. Um, it's usually we just want to, um, support them in their.
Strength training efforts, their activities. Right. A lot of younger adults tend to have a little bit more activity, I guess, depending on where they're at in this stage of life, um, with [00:17:00] sports or, you know, college and, and all of that. So, I. It's, it's probably best. I mean, you don't, we don't necessarily need to consider it too much for that younger population unless like there's an injury and we're trying to rehab where you'd work with your doctor or, um, they're really sedentary and you are wanting to support them, and you're just saying, Hey, the least you could do is put on a vest, right?
Like, it's kind of one of those, like when you're younger. It's, it's a, it's an easy, this is the least you can do. But then as you get into those, the 40 plus range, it might be worth saying, Hey, you know what? This should prob probably be part of my health, um, regimen. Um, because I know that I wanna support my body.
Okay. How are we feeling? Um, I hope that gives you some, some good guidelines to. Help you understand what weight, what weighted, weighted vests are, understand [00:18:00] maybe why they're, um, getting so much airtime right now, specifically. I really think more than anything it's just the awareness of women's health.
Um, we have louder voices, um, more advocate advocating, all of that. And so we're starting to see like women need this. And I, and I think. Uh, this is just a personal opinion, but I, I do wonder if the reason that we're seeing this is that if, you know, the, the generation before these women that are in this stage right now, they're seeing higher, um, rates of, um, osteoporosis and, and all of that.
And so, um, it might be one of those like call to action moments of, you know, I don't want to get here and not have. My body not have the strength to be able to do what I want. I actually used to work. Um. With the senior population a lot in teaching them exercise. And it's so interesting because I love their approach.
Their approach isn't necessarily to be bikini ready for summer, [00:19:00] but they're like, I wanna be able to lift my groceries into my cupboard and I wanna be able to sit in a chair and bend over and tie my shoes. And we don't think about those things when we're younger. But those things, when they're taken away, they can feel.
It can feel really defeating. Um, and so don't wait, um, to, to start, but I think, I think the awareness is just such. Such a great thing that we have. Um, okay. We talked about w strength training is the gold standard, but it could be a supplement, right? It could be an an additional supplement. It's just like supplements in general.
You're trying to get most of your nutrition from food and good quality food, but you may need to add some supplementation here and there. That's a good analogy for a weighted vest. Um, our ideal range is 40 to 70. These are the ones that are saying like, Hey. [00:20:00] We should probably be doing this, we should probably be wearing them.
Um, and then. Just make sure that you're getting a good one. Do a little bit of research. Um, have some flexibility there with the weights if possible. Make sure it's comfortable, um, for you. Try it out. Always talk to your doctor before, make sure it's, um, specifically okay for you. Start with the lighter, go to the heavier.
I know sometimes we like, wanna just jump into, I got this, but start with the lighter and go heavier and. The biggest thing that I want you to know is, the whole point of this is that it helps you incorporate some form of load bearing into your lifestyle. It's not hard to vacuum the living room and wear a vest, right?
Like it doesn't take extra time, hard, I guess. Um, it might make you sweat a little bit more, although I think you'll be okay. But, um. It's not, it's not something that you have to [00:21:00] like block out your schedule for. You can throw it on and know that you're getting the support that you need. Hey, I hope that's helpful.
I hope that helps you navigate weighted vests. It's definitely making me kind of think. I do, I do a good amount of strength training. Um, and so I feel pretty good. And I also have a toddler that I'm taking hiking a lot. So right now, I guess I would say I am using a weighted vest. Um, but it's definitely something that I'm gonna have on my radar as, as my body ages and approaches that age range, um, which we're getting very close.
Um, and. Just to support our body even more. That's the biggest thing. Right? And, and I'll end it with this, that you know, your body is worthy of being nurtured and nourished. And as a woman of wellness, what can you do to, to support your body in the best way that it can be supported? And this might be one little step for you that's simple, that you don't have to change a lot of things.
You don't have to make a lot of adjustments. You don't have to take time. [00:22:00] It's not another to do. It could just be like, Hey. I go on a walk in the mornings, I'm gonna wear my weight weighted vest when I go, or when I clean my house, I'm going to wear my w weighted vest. Or maybe I just do it like after dinner and I just throw it on after dinner.
Um, so that, that is just some really good, helpful tips. Obviously don't overdo it. Um. I, I wouldn't say there's a recommended timeframe to wear it, but, you know, it's just like strength training. Our body's not meant to have the load all the time. It can wear it down. And so make sure that you're, you're having those moments where you're like, okay, I, I'm taking it off.
I'm, you know, you're not wearing it all the time. Um. It can, it can kind of wear things down as well. So, okay. We'll have that, um, little cheat sheet, I guess in our weekly, well, wellness Weekly, I always do it backwards. Wellness Weekly newsletter, so that'll be for you. Um, get yourself on that and I'll send [00:23:00] it.
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