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It's that time of year again when I am slimming down (reduce body fat %) to show off my hard work. I'm looking for an effective way to increase my calorie burning during a routine. I picked up a 40lbs weight vest for christmas and I wanted to know if adding the vest will help increase the rate at which calories are burned during walking/running, cardio, etc.

My question is, will adding the weight vest to my routine aid in reducing overall body fat % in a way that is worth while?

Edited to rephrase my question

DustinDavis
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    I'll bet the trainer told her to stop wearing the vest while running in order to minimize joint damage. That's not necessarily a bad idea, but it doesn't have anything to do with effectiveness for fat loss. – Dave Liepmann Apr 02 '13 at 21:56
  • @DaveLiepmann That's a good point on that note. – DustinDavis Apr 02 '13 at 22:09
  • I don't think just walking around with a weight vest is enough to cause some major fat loss (eg. see this question on ankle weights). Weight vests are usually used to make bodyweight movements harder (eg. pull-ups, dips, any exercise where it's hard to decrease leverage). – VPeric Apr 03 '13 at 10:40
  • Don't you just want to look at tweaking diet? – Megasaur Apr 13 '13 at 06:30
  • @Megasaur my question is specific to using a weight vest to increase calorie usage during activities/workouts. Nothing to do with diets. – DustinDavis Apr 13 '13 at 19:19
  • @DustinDavis I think Megasaur is suggesting that this is an instance of the XY problem: http://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/66377/what-is-the-xy-problem. But in your case, you have been given piece of equipment, and you're wondering if it's useful... so not quite the typical XY problem. –  Apr 13 '13 at 22:33
  • @Kate I'm already working on a diet and a routine. My question is specifically about a piece of equipment and if it will aid in my goal of body fat % reduction. – DustinDavis Apr 13 '13 at 22:54

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Yes using a weight vest will make you burn more calories while running. Much like a heavier person burns more calories than a lighter person doing the same movement at the same intensity so too using the weight vest will help you burn more calories. In essence the vest is making you a heavier person. this means you will have to work harder to do any activity that you normally do at your own body weight.

usedToBeFat
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  • Your calories per mile would certainly go up -- I know I burn more calories when hiking with a 40-pound overnight pack than with a two-pound belt pouch -- but do your calories per hour go up? With the aforementioned belt pouch, I cover about four miles per hour, but only around two per hour with the pack. – Mark Jun 27 '16 at 23:07
  • I think logic would dictate that if the calories burned increases overall, then it would also have an effect on the calories burned per hour. – usedToBeFat Jul 29 '16 at 17:50