Effect of Walking with Weighted Vest on Gait Mechanics and Energy Expenditure

Authors

Nicholas Becerra, Texas A&M University-San AntonioFollow
John D. Smith, Texas A&M University-San AntonioFollow

Abstract

Weighted vests are used in many different types of exercises to increase difficulty/intensity. The distribution of weight matters when it comes to performance (Gerhart et al. 2020), and if weight is not distributed properly, then balance may be affected, thereby changing gait and further increasing energy expenditure. Others have also suggested increasing the load of the weighted vest can decrease pH level within the body (Martínez-Noguera, et al. 2024), however it is unclear is changes in gait are contributing to this increased effort. PURPOSE: to investigate the effect of using a weighted vest while walking on a treadmill has on oxygen consumption (energy expenditure), heart rate, and walking gait. METHODS: Thirty participants (age=24.6±9.3 yrs, height=168.8±11.7 cm, weight=81.2±19.0 kg) walked at 3.5 mph for 10 min with no vest and gait captured at five min using OpenCap as well as VO₂ and heart rate (HR) recorded for the last three minutes using a Parvo TrueOne 2400 metabolic analyzer. A Borgs 6-20 scale was used to assess rating of perceived exertion (RPE). After a 5-min rest, participants were assigned either the lighter (LWV, 5% additional body weight) or heavier (HWV, 10% additional body weight) trials in a counter-balanced manner and performed the two remaining trials in the same manner as control. IBM SPSS v29 was used to determine any differences in VO₂, HR, and gait between the three trials using repeated measures ANOVA. In case of significance, the Bonferroni technique was applied to control for pairwise error. Alpha was set at .05 for all tests. RESULTS: VO₂ in Control (16.7±1.5 ml/kg/min) was lower than LWV (17.8±1.8 ml/kg/min), p=.001, as well as HWV (18.5±1.7 ml/kg/min), p=.001. VO₂ in HWV was also significantly higher than LWV, p=.004. HR in Control (126.4±22.6 bpm) was lower than LWV (132.4±26.5 bpm), p=.001, as well as HWV (134.3±24.7 bpm), p=.002, however, there was no significant difference in HR between LWV and HWV, p=1.00. Finally, RPE with Control (10.6±2.2) was lower than LWV (12.2±1.9), p=.001, as well as HWV (13.3±2.2), p=.001. RPE with HWV was also significantly higher than LWV, p=.001. No significant differences were found for any of the gait characteristics between any of the trials, p>0.05.No significant differences were found for any of the gait characteristics between any of the trials, p>0.05. CONCLUSION: This study determined that VO₂ and HR increase as the load of a weighted vest increases while walking, and that walking gait remains relatively unchanged. This suggests that since there are no changes in gait, the increased energy expenditure is solely due to the vest.

Recommended Citation

Becerra, Nicholas and Smith, John D. (2026) "Effect of Walking with Weighted Vest on Gait Mechanics and Energy Expenditure," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 2: Iss. 18, Article 178.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol2/iss18/178