It happened slowly, then all at once. On esplanades and trails, by the water or the mountains, and in the city or the country: everyone’s walking in a weighted vest.
I first noticed it early this year. Suddenly, it seemed like all the women I passed on my daily running path—whether walking in a group or solo—were strapped into a contraption that made her look like they were headed to a battlefield rather than getting their steps in.
I thought it was funny how much the trend was taking off, but this was Brooklyn, New York, ground zero for viral fitness trends.. It wasn’t until I traveled to Paris this summer and saw that even the fad-averse French women had succumbed to the vest’s allure that I truly understood how big the workout trend had become.
Mosey on over to social media, especially TikTok or Instagram, and it’s clear how much the trend had exploded. The more hardcore sister of TikTok’s “hot girl walk,” the “weighted vest walk” has been exalted as the new way to burn calories and gain strength easily and effectively, the way for girls to get fit and look good doing it.
It’s easy to see why. Walking is technically free and it’s not intimidating, like signing up for a technical Reformer Pilates class or a daunting Crossfit workout. It’s something many of us can do with very little prep or investment.
And for the past few years, walking as exercise has had a rebirth as a stylish way to exercise. You can look cute on a walk (you’re not sweating that much), you can bring accessories (Owala bottle, headphones), and you can do it with a friend. It’s getting fit while socializing, and putting in the effort to tone without seeming like you’re trying too hard.
Of course, walking for exercise is nothing new. But Rebecca Kennedy, a Peloton instructor and fitness trainer, tells me that she’s watched as the popularity of the humble walk has exploded in the past few years—and she’s all for it.
“I am a huge advocate for getting people moving, and I think walking is the easiest way,” she tells me. “We’re already doing it. I grew up with my mom going out for walks with her friends.”
Kennedy had tried weighted vest walking about three years ago, when she was recovering from an injury but wanted to up her low intensity workouts. About six months ago, she says, she saw a “huge burst into the mainstream” for the workout, and decided to added weighted vest walking to some of her class offerings on Peloton. She and the team quickly realized that there was a “huge appetite” for the content, and she thinks it makes sense.
“It is really approachable,” she says. “It doesn’t require you to learn a new skill. You can kind of do whatever you’re already doing and increase the efficacy of the workout. You have a higher metabolic output, you have more demands muscularly on your joints. So there’s just a ton of benefits when you start wearing the vest for the workouts that you’re already doing to meet people where they’re at.”
