With over four decades of experience as a fitness instructor/personal trainer, I now understand why the weighted vest is so essential as you age.

Strength training is a crucial component of maintaining good health as you age. The challenges of weight training as you age are that most people have injuries. I witness shoulder injuries the most, followed by elbow and knee injuries. Over time, we tend to avoid specific movements that cause us pain, or we work to prevent them. This is how people will tend to give up weight training in one way or another, which means you will become weaker as you age. This is the exact opposite of what we need to be doing.  The posture deteriorates, your back, abs, legs, & arms become weaker. These are all the reasons for inviting the weighted vest into your daily life. 

Walking your dog is excellent; however, adding a weighted vest makes it a great walk for you, too! I am using a weighted vest. I chose a vest I thought would work best and not break the bank. I am not an expert on this equipment. Over time, I am sure I will have a good understanding of what to purchase. For now, my goal was a vest that I could add weights to increase the load. I chose a vest that begins with 10lbs. I added the extra weights after one week of walking. I have now added all the weights, which brings me to a 20-pound vest. The arms are wide open to avoid chaffing.