Weighted vests are a staple among modern fitness enthusiasts, especially those who practice CrossFit. The idea is simple: By wearing a weighted vest, your body is forced to recruit extra muscle fibers to perform even simple movements. Functional fitness improves as your body gets used to supporting extra weight while performing exercises like running, squatting, and planking.
However, it seems there is another, sneakier health benefit to wearing a weighted vest: It can actually trick your body into losing weight.
Weighted vests trigger weight loss in clinical trial
In a small clinical trial, researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden divided 69 participants into two groups. The first group wore 2.5lb weight vests. The second wore vests that weighed 25lbs. All participants wore their vests for 8 hours a day.
After 3 weeks, the first group lost about a half pound. However, the group wearing the 25lb weight vest lost an average of 3.5lbs.
How significant is 3.5lbs in 3 weeks? As one researcher put it, “[That] exceeds what’s usually observed after various forms of physical training.”
Your ‘graviostat’, and how it affects your weight
This study highlights the importance of your body’s graviostat—the internal system that endeavors to keep your body weight constant. Although follow-up studies are needed, researchers believe there are at least two important implications to consider:
1. If you sit a lot, your gaviostat might think you are lighter than you really are. As a result, your body might release hormones, create hunger signals, and engage in other biological processes to make you gain weight.
2. If you trick your body into thinking you’re heavier than you are (e.g. by wearing a weighted vest), your graviostat might actually engage in processes that lower your bodyweight.
Of course, wearing weighted vests comes with the added benefit of strengthening your body’s musculature while performing everyday activities, like walking, climbing stairs, sitting up, and lying down.
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