A “Saturday Night Live” sketch lampooning weighted vests means a new fitness method has traveled far enough to be instantly recognizable and ripe for parody. Two years ago, SNL jumped on the Pilates boom in a similar fashion
Comedy may not be a crystal ball, but it does tend to mark cultural checkpoints. And if “Saturday Night Live” is any indication, weighted vests and the relentless tendency to push workouts just a little further have now entered the cultural zeitgeist.
As January winds down and seemingly everyone invests in their health and wellness, Saturday Night Live captured the moment almost too perfectly.
In a “cut for time” sketch released online this week, the comedy show skewers a group of competitive suburban women — and one dad — gathering for a neighborhood walk, each wearing some version of a weighted vest.
The humor escalates as quickly as the weight itself: ten pounds becomes 30, and wrist bangles and ankle weights enter the mix. One character, played by Teyana Taylor of “One Battle After the Next,” arrives late, explaining that her pop-punk Pilates class ran long, while casually wearing a 200-pound Carbonite suit.
“It helps my core, it keeps my posture, it keeps my heart rate at a steady 320. Every step is hell and I’m having a blast,” she adds.
But not everyone comes prepared. One member of the group is vest-less and is promptly tossed one to borrow, immediately collapsing under the weight.
“You know, they call it rucking,” one woman says. “As in, get this rucking thing off me!”
Another woman arrives carrying what she calls a “hell rack” across her shoulders. “Four hundred pounds of pure hell,” she explains. “I got it off the TikTok shop. It crunches my spine, but the body is tea — as in the shape of a T.”
While played for laughs, “SNL” has a habit of landing on fitness trends at telling moments. In early 2024, the show roasted the cult-like obsession with Pilates well before its recent boom.
The new sketch is likely to resonate with fans of weighted vests and those curious — and interest is there. Strava’s 2025 Trend Report noted that community members requested that rucking be added as a standalone activity — and search demand is rising, too. Amazon search volume for “weighted vest” increased 285% over the past year, with six of the top 10 related search terms including the word “woman,” according to one analysis.
The trend has also caught the attention of major fitness operators. Boutique fitness franchise Orangetheory, upscale gym operator Equinox and Peloton have each incorporated weighted vests into their programming.
It’s also notable that the sketch centers largely on women using weighted vests, a detail that reflects how the category has evolved, as seen with The Carry, a weighted vest brand designed specifically with women in mind.
Co-founders Esther Sedgwick and Cortney Bigelow drew inspiration from hydration vests and the baby carriers their children had outgrown, rethinking fit, weight distribution and wearability.
Before launching, the pair validated the concept with a survey of more than 200 women, using the feedback to prioritize features often overlooked in existing designs.
“It would have been easiest to launch with just one size that fits ‘most’ but it was important to us to serve our growing community in all the health journeys they are on,” Sedgwick said. “We have women on significant weight loss journeys as well as petite women who have struggled to find something made for their frame, and we want them all to find a great fit.”
Meanwhile, Portland, Oregon-based Omorpho, known for its micro-weighted training gear, recently introduced the G-Vest Icon, a fully adjustable version of its award-winning weighted vest that allows users to change resistance in seconds.
