By David Freeze
Vests and Training with Adults
Walking with a weight vest is a new fitness trend in 2025. If walking is too easy for you, add weight. Or consider the weight vest as alternative training. You will burn more calories than walking and build overall strength by walking with weights. However, is it the same as rucking with a backpack? To some it seems the same, but here is an explanation of the difference.
The good news is that weight vest rucking will help you develop strength in your upper back, core and legs for when you start training with a backpack. Even weight distribution across the torso with the weight vest enables you to walk more normally (with a natural gait), and if you decide to add exercises such as pushups, pull-ups, squats and lunges, the weight vest is the better option. Most experts suggest not running while wearing the vest. Here are some more advantages to wearing a weight vest:
- Increased calorie burn over walking (up to 12-40% more, depending on weight and time spent walking).
- Increased strength and endurance compared to walking without a weight vest.
- Improves bone health, which is excellent for preventing osteoporosis later in life. This is one reason why you see more older men and women walking with weight vests now.
- Improves the posture muscles of the lower back, upper back and shoulders.
- Convenient for when you do not have time for both strength training and cardio, as it blends the two elements of fitness nicely.
Rucking with a backpack is different because it distributes the weight across the shoulders, back and hips and requires a forward lean when walking or rucking, especially when it reaches 25% of your bodyweight or more. In my opinion, use a backpack if your future requires carrying them for military training or hiking long distances with survival/camping gear. Backpacking is just different, but it requires similar strength and endurance to wearing a weight vest.
You may want to get a loaded backpack and feel the difference. The logical step is to gain strength with the vest; then familiarity with backpacking could come next.
As we get closer to Christmas, a weight vest would be considered a great gift for an exercise enthusiast. For that really special person, consider matching a vest and gift certificate for a pair of running shoes and accessories.
I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in the article about Carson standout Kara Crotts and about how younger runners seldom go racing with the adults. Currently Kara is the fastest 5K female in the county regardless of her age. Most of the time, the fastest male and female runners in the county aren’t still in high school. Kara isn’t afraid to race adults, but that goes against the longtime trend.
So, what can high school runners like Kara gain from racing against adults? The adults in many cases have years of racing experience and are the best at long-time training. We had a good male high school runner several years ago, Braden Self, who made friends with some of the adults and improved his training and racing so much that he began to win local races. The better he got, the more he wanted to know.
Though better than it used to be, the accuracy of high school cross-country courses for total distance is still suspect. Adult courses in our area are spot on accurate, something that I feel is a must have. Measuring by wheel is critical as no other method is recognized, while tangents have to be measured accurately. Measuring by tangents means following the way the runners do the course, crossing back and forth to catch the shortest accurate route.
Many high school cross country runners lose interest in racing after graduation, and connecting with the adults will hopefully inspire them to keep racing and continue a lifetime of running.
Just ahead is the Resolution 5K at The Forum on January 1st. All proceeds go to Rowan Helping Ministries. Look for this and more upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org
