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The Best Weighted Vests, Tested and Reviewed by Veterans

Did someone turn up the gravity?

There are a lot of confusing fitness trends, products, and advice floating around these days. Suggestions range from the seemingly reasonable to the completely insane (like lifting weights… with your penis). It can be a challenge to discern what is real versus what is being marketed to you. For this reason, we love the humblest of workout apparel: the weighted vest.

You don’t need a PhD to understand how and why wearing a weighted vest during exercise works—the thing is heavy, so every workout you do wearing it is harder, and those workouts bear more fruit. It’s almost too simple, which might be why we don’t hear about weighted vests as often as we do, say, smart home gym systems that cost a paycheck and a half.

For a no-nonsense review, we put a handful of the most popular weighted vests in the hands of a group of military, veterans, and first responders who know a little about pushing themselves to the limit. Here are their thoughts on the best weighted vests you can buy.

Best Overall: 5.11 Tactec Trainer Vest, $135
Best Value: TITAN Adjustable Vest, $80
Best Budget: SPRI Weighted Vest, $40
Best for Running: Aduro Sport Weighted Workout Vest, $90
Also Great: RUNMax Pro Weighted Vest, $60

This review is a part of Hone Health’s celebration of Veteran’s Day, for which we’ve conscripted a team of military, former military, and first responders from our community to help us rigorously review popular products.

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The Best Weighted Vests on the Market

Best Overall: 5.11 Tactec Trainer Vest

After getting hands-on with several weighted vests, one thing became crystal clear: buying something on the premium end is absolutely worth it.

The 5.11 Tactical weighted vest can be ordered in a few different colors and weight levels. The fit is rather classic, and the material quality is noticeably higher than many other vests we had reviewed.

The weights, which are casted iron plates with handles, are easy to slot in and can be ordered separately should you want to pack on more weight after starting small.

We like that the vest fits around the middle and upper part of the torso, which makes for more intense pushups and means your stomach—should it stick out a little—doesn't mess with the fit of the vest. Nice-to-have features like built-in phone and key pockets are the icing on this very heavy cake.

Tactec Trainer Vest

5.11 Tactical

$135

at roguefitness.com

Best Value: TITAN Adjustable Vest

Available in 20-, 40-, 50-, and 60-pound setups (with more weight "ingots" available for purchase separately), TITAN's simple and sturdy weighted vest was reviewed very well by our testing team. It also seems to be the most budget-friendly weighted vest that wasn't critiqued for feeling like a cheap weight vest.

David C., our TITAN vest tester, reported that the fit was snug but not too tight, and there was minimal bounce or movement when putting it through his workouts (elliptical, rowing, and weight training in this case). He also said it's easy to unload the weight and wash, which is a huge plus. When asked if he'd recommend the vest to a friend or buy one himself, he answered bluntly and clearly: "Yes."

Adjustable Vest

TITAN Fitness

$80

at Titan Fitness

Best Affordable: SPRI Weighted Vest

Our general recommendation when shopping for a weighted vest is to go premium—the fit, maintenance, and comfort will be significantly improved. But not everyone is ready to drop $125+ on a heavy shirt, which is why we're recommending this SPRI vest, the budget-est of all budget picks.

Of the sub-$50 weighted vests we had tested, James E., our SPRI vest tester, rated his the best—though he did so with reservations.

He reported the fit was passable and cleaning didn't bring any unforeseen issues, which are the two most common problem areas for cheap weighted vests. But, he did say the materials were very obviously low-quality.

"The material is really rough around the edges, and can be coarse if contacting the skin," he told us. "The vest quality is about what I would expect from a product at Walmart. It was average at best, gets the job done, but it wouldn't be my first choice."

Weighted Vest

SPRI

$40

at Walmart

Best for Running: Aduro Sport Weighted Workout Vest

There isn't a huge difference between a weighted vest suited for running versus one suited for, say, weightlifting or bodyweight exercises. But if you want to carry a little more weight and push your body that extra mile, a cardio-focused vest is a huge boon.

For that, we like Aduro Sport's vest, which you throw on around your shoulders like an extremely heavy Camelpak. This design keeps the vest as out-of-the-way as possible, which means your natural running stride is more or less the same as it would be without the vest. Bulkier vests—even those on this list—tend to feel more cumbersome than they are when you're putting miles in, so it's best to strip away the extra features and doo-dads, which this design does.

Weighted Workout Vest

Aduro Sport

$90

at Amazon

Also Great: RUNmax Pro Weighted Vest

Chris L., our RUNMax Pro tester, liked the product so much that it changed his mind on weighted vests entirely: "I had not considered buying one for myself until I tried it. After wearing it I would buy one for myself."

Chris, who tested the vest in his usual HIIT and running cardio workouts, said it fit snug enough to keep from bouncing around during a workout, but not so tight as to inhibit deep breathing at the end of a workout. He also said the materials felt of a higher quality than he expected given the relatively low price. If you're looking for something not quite premium that doesn't feel cheap, this is a good option.

Pro Weighted Vest

RUNmax

$60

at Amazon