Does weighted vest work contribute to trap strength/growth?

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

I do weighted vest walks/hikes a couple of times each week. Right now I’m using a 40 lb vest and walking 4 miles. I aim for doing it in less than an hour (4 mph). (The other day I was able to do it in 57:58.)

By about halfway, my traps are very sore from the vest, and it just gets worse for the entire second half of the walk. Just out of curiosity, do you think my traps being sore is a result of them “doing work” supporting the vest, or are they just sore from the extra weight hanging on them? I do some trap-specific work on my GPP days because I think it helps with my chronic neck pain, and I was just wondering if the weighted vest work is contributing in any way to additional trap strength or growth.

Thanks.

-Kurt.

2

Kurt,

I’m not sure exactly, but I’d predict there’s unlikely to be much in the way of hypertrophy of maximal strength improvement from vest “work”. I don’t think it’s doing “nothing”, but likely more related to muscular endurance and resilience for that activity.

Just my 0.02.

-Jordan