Are you over 30? Then you’ve been losing muscle mass.
Right around our 30th birthday our bodies enter a natural aging process. Certain muscle-building hormones (like testosterone) decline. Our nerves that signal and activate our muscles begin to weaken. Our body can’t utilize the protein in our diets as well as it did in our 20s.
Losing muscle mass is bad news for those of us wanting to feel and look our best. Lean muscle tissue burns a lot of calories. When our muscle mass decreases, our metabolism tanks, making us more likely to store body fat, even if we’re eating a restricted diet.
The condition is called sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss), and it happens to all of us…
Unless we do something about it. Strength training, eating a balanced, high-protein diet, and adding load on our bodies can hault muscle loss.
Click the links to learn exactly how to workout and eat to lose fat and maintain lean muscle mass. Below, we’ll dive into the third step: adding load to your body. One key piece of equipment will make this step easy—the weighted vest.
Here’s why you’ll love this fitness gadget.
Turn Up The Burn
Research is in favor of weighted vests for weight loss! The studies show that wearing a weighted vest can significantly increase the calories you burn during exercise. Some studies found that you’ll burn 15% more calories compared to workouts without a vest.
Adding weight to your body increases the effort required to move, forcing your muscles and cardiovascular system to work harder. Over time, this will help to increase your calorie expenditure, support fat loss, and improve your endurance. Whether you’re walking, jogging, or even doing body weight exercises, a weighted vest makes each session more effective.
Defend Your Bone Density
As we age, we become more susceptible to bone density loss, which can increase the risk of fractures and osteoporosis. A weighted vest, though, can reverse bone loss. By incorporating extra weight into your movements, you’re putting more load on your bones, which in turn encourages the body to strengthen them.
Weight-bearing exercises like walking or hiking with a weighted vest stimulate bone growth and help to maintain or even improve bone density over time. This simple addition to your workouts could help to ward off bone-related issues as you age.
Increase Your Cardiovascular Health
Weighted vests aren’t just good for strengthening your muscles—they also benefit your heart. When you add weight to your body, your heart has to pump more blood to support your muscles and keep you moving. This increases your cardiovascular workout without having to run or do high-impact activities.
Studies show that walking with a weighted vest can help improve your cardiovascular fitness, helping to reduce the risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, and increase overall heart health. If you’re not a fan of high-intensity workouts, this could be a great way to boost your cardiovascular health while still enjoying a moderate level of exercise.
Strengthen Your Balance and Stability
One of the often-overlooked benefits of using a weighted vest is its ability to improve balance and stability. The added weight forces your body to work harder to maintain proper posture and control while moving. This makes your stabilizing muscles—those that keep you balanced—work harder, improving your coordination over time.
Better balance is crucial as we get older, as it reduces the risk of falls and improves our ability to carry out everyday tasks like lifting groceries or climbing stairs. By consistently wearing a weighted vest during your walks or exercises, you’re training your body to maintain better control and prevent unnecessary injuries.
Improve Your Posture
Posture can become an issue for those of us who spend long hours sitting at desks or looking at screens. Wearing a weighted vest helps counteract this by engaging the muscles of your core, shoulders, and back more actively.
When your core muscles are engaged, it promotes better posture and reduces the risk of slouching. This not only helps you look taller and more confident but also decreases the strain on your spine and joints. Regular use of a weighted vest during walking or other low-impact exercises is a simple way to improve your posture without dedicating extra time to posture-specific exercises.
Build Your Muscles, Boost Your Metabolism
Building lean muscle is hard. It takes a lot of time, a lot of workouts, and adequate protein daily. Studies are also showing that people who use a weighted vest improve their core strength and increase their muscle gain!
Adding a weighted vest to your weekly routine will give you bigger results in less time. By increasing the load on your body while you walk, you’re asking your body to work a little harder. Overtime, when using a weighted vest becomes one of your healthy habits, your body will grow leaner and stronger.
Make Every Minute Count
Most of us are crunched for time. For me, when I spend 45 minutes working out, I want every minute to be taking me one step closer to my goal. Otherwise, I’m just spending time in a gym instead of at home with my loved ones or enjoying a favorite hobby. And who wants that?
Adding a weighted vest to your weekly routine will give you bigger results in less time. By increasing the load on your body while you walk, you’re asking your body to work a little harder. Overtime, when using a weighted vest becomes one of your healthy habits, your body will grow leaner and stronger, faster. That’s a win in my busy book.
Wear Your Weighted Vest the Right Way
I love a weighted vest. This single piece of equipment has increased my daily calorie burn, boosted my bone density, and improved my posture! It’s a game-changer for body weight exercises, like squats, lunges, walking, or hiking.
Before you slip into your new vest, follow these three rules:
- Start Slow: Like any new physical challenge, it’s important to start slow. Ease yourself into using a weighted vest in your daily life. Rather than putting on your weighted vest for the first time before a 4-mile hike, wear it for a few minutes a day throughout your house. Get used to how it feels, how it fits, and the extra weight on your body.
- Stay Close: On your first full walk with your weighted vest, stay close to home. Start with a quarter mile loop around your house. Then, check how you feel. If you feel great, walk another quarter mile. Overtime, you’ll build strength to wear the vest for longer durations and enjoy walks farther from home.
- Wear It Often: Once you build your endurance, throw your weighted vest on regularly! Wear your weighted vest on every walk. It’s going to increase your caloric burn, improve your posture, and boost your bone density all at once.
Simple Steps, Big Success
Learning Simple steps like these make all the difference on your weight loss journey. For more practical, realistic strategies that make weight loss possible and sustainable, check out LEAN! We’ll help you drop body fat and set you on the straight path to health and fitness!
