If the latest fitness fashion launched by Tiktok seems yet another bisexual gimmick to face the summer with two less sizes, you are not off the road. On social networks, thousands of users – especially women – are wearing with enthusiasm a 69 dollar ballast sold on Amazonconvinced that walking with weights on the back is the fastest way to sculpt the silhouette before the costume test.
The most popular model? A brand’s rubber vest Zelusapparently left directly from the gym of a 90s bodybuilder.
Viral on Tiktok
The platform is teeming with hashtags such as #Weightedved, where Tiktoker in leggings and sports top films their physical “transformation”, step by step, between treadmills, floors to wash and shelves to be tidy out. There are those who say they have lost up to 18 kilos in nine months simply by walking around the house with their ballast vest, those who praise the tailoring quality as if it were high gym fashion. And who, finally, makes it a minimalist religion: “No more expensive pilates or detox with celery. Just walk with the vest”.
@coachedby_casey Benefits of Walking with in Weighed Vest: 1⃣ Incereased Caloric Burn – The Authority Weight Interesses The Intensity of Your Walk, Leading to More Calores Burned Compared to Walking Without Extra Weight. 2⃣ IMPROVED CARDIOVASCULAR FITNESS – The Extra Resistance Forces Your Heart and Lungs to Work Harder, Enhancing Overall Endurance and Cardiovascular Health. 3⃣⃣enhanced Strengh & Endurance – Carrying Extra Weight ENGAGES Your Legs, Core, and Upper Body, Helping to Improve Muscular Endurance and Strengh. 4⃣bone density Improvement – The Aided Load Incases The Stress On Bones, Which Can Help Improve Bone density and Reduce the risk of osteoporosis over time. 5⃣⃣ Better Posture & Core Engagement – Wearing a Weighted Vest Encourages Better Posture by Engaging The Core Muscles More Actively During Movement. 6⃣ Incereased Functional Fitness – Training with Extra Weight Can Make Everyday Activities Like Carrying Kids, Groceries, Or Lifting Objects Feel Easier. #WEIGHTedved #walking #cardio #10ksteps #cardioWorout #fatloss
♬ Original sound –
Dad & Son: Global Gems
Do you really need?
In the midst of this generalized euphoria, is it legitimate to ask a question: are we really faced with a fitness revolution or only to yet another illusion packaged in the form of viral trend?
The ballast vessel is not new. Sportsmen have been using it for years, just as doctors recommend it to menopause women to stimulate bone density. And yes, a 2006 study published in the National Library of Medicine has confirmed that adding body weight can increase calorie expenditure. But the problem, here, is another.
Sold as an economic alternative to the personal trainer or to the gym subscription, this “trick” of Tiktok is not just a questionable shortcut, it is a potential conceptual theft. Because he does not limit himself to selling an object, but steals the trust of the youngest, transforming an athletic strategy into one Commercial slogan disguised by self -determination. The illusion that is enough to wear a 13 kilos jacket to obtain the desired body is dangerous and simplistic.
In the meantime, Amazon smiles and collects, while the Tiktoker Marciano convinced towards version 2.0 of the myth of the flash aesthetic. With a ballast on the shoulders, yes, but also – perhaps unconsciously – with a much bigger weight to carry: that of the unrealistic expectations that the algorithm asks us to chase.
