Hyperwear Hyper Vest PRO Strength Training Weight Vest for Men, M, 10 lb

Why it's worth it

The Hyper Vest PRO holds small steel weights in a stretchy compression shell, so it moves with your ribcage instead of slapping against it. It's slim enough to wear under a shirt on a walk and stable enough for burpees and sprints.

This is the only vest here we'd recommend for running. The weights are 2.25-ounce steel pieces spread across dozens of pockets in a four-way stretch shell, and Hyperwear's specs put vertical vest movement under an inch at a 7-minute-mile pace. Fill a pouch vest with iron sand and you get a bag of stuff sliding around on your chest. This one just doesn't do that, which is why owners keep using it for six-mile runs.

The adjustability is finer than anything else in the lineup. You add or pull single small weights, so you can go up in tiny steps instead of jumping 2.5 or 3 pounds at a time. If you're easing into loaded push-ups after a shoulder issue, that matters a lot. Max capacity depends on size — 20 pounds in a small, 40 in an extra-large — so a bigger frame gets more headroom.

From our review of 8 weighted vests for strength training, by Eleanor Vance, Health & Beauty Editor

What we like

• +This is the only vest here we'd recommend for running
• +The adjustability is finer than anything else in the lineup
• +It also disappears under clothes, which sounds like vanity until you realize it's the reason people actually wear it
• +The tradeoff is ceiling

What to know

• –Durability is the recurring complaint
• –Sizing is unforgiving because it's a compression garment