Adding ankle weights to your exercise makes a lot of sense. You do the workout as you normally would, but now you have added resistance added to your legs. Ankle weights give a fabulous approach to providing resistance during an exercise. You can reinforce your crunches, run, walk, jump rope, box jumps, and many different exercises.
You can choose to increase the weight you use on each stage of your walking exercise. For example, after one week or two weeks of your consistent walking routine, you may opt to add more ankle weights to improve the results you get from your exercise.
Let’s discuss the benefits of ankle weights:
1. Helps You to Burn More Calories
The first benefits of walking with weights around your ankles are that it makes your walking a much tougher exercise to do and one that will burn more calories and fat. You’ll be able to burn more calories for the same number of minutes that you used to walk before. You don’t even have to increase the distance that you normally walk! Just by strapping them on, you can burn excess fat that you never could before.
2. Faster Toning of Leg Muscles
Wearing them while walking can increase the muscle toning in your legs. Normal walking will only get you so far, so to tone the muscles in your legs, you must add weight. Wearing ankle weights also increases the muscular stimulation on your legs, so you are getting a better strength exercise in addition to the cardiovascular element of walking. A double benefit.
3. Reduces Ankle Pain
For those who have injured knees ligaments, ankle weights are helpful during rehabilitation. Uncle weights offer more resistance without overworking muscles. Sitting on a chair with the feet gently resting on the floor, the weights are strapped around the ankles. As the leg is extended outward and upward from the knee one at a time, the weights improve the strength of muscles above and below the kneecap thus helping in reducing ankle pain. You should also consider to use an ankle support to reduce ankle pain if you are struggling with it.
4. Helps to Strengthen Hamstring
Like other workouts, popular exercises for the hamstring can be done without the use of ankle weight devices. The addition of these devices strapped to the ankles increases the quality of a hamstring workout. When lying on the stomach, the feet are lifted up heel first toward the back. This strengthens the hamstring and buttock area. The lifts should be done slowly for fuller effect and to prevent injury.
5. Can Help You Improve Your Walking Workouts
Walking with ankle weights is good when you feel that you have reached a level of fitness that makes your current walking exercises seem easy and unchallenging. Instead of increasing your walking time, just use the weights for extra difficulty.
6. Adds a Difference to Your Workouts
They can add variety to almost any workout. Whether you are doing step-ups, jogging, kicks, crunches, box jumps or almost any other workout you can add a whole different level to your exercises. The great part is, you won’t have to sacrifice bad form, as the functional fitting ankle weights will stay out of your way.
7. Improves Leg lifts
Leg lifts can improve the tone of muscles, especially quadriceps and calf muscles during an indoor regimen. The element of resistance from the weighted straps will build up bulk and help to trim fat, depending on the amount of weight used and type of exercises done. Straight leg raises practiced while lying on the back, for example, will improve the tone of the muscles on the upper thighs.
Flexing the foot while doing so will also give the lower leg a better workout. Scissor lifts, which are done while the person is lying on their side and extending the leg upward toward the ceiling, will stretch the muscles on the inside and outside areas of the leg
Conclusion
One thing to remember before using ankle weights is that anytime you add resistance to your legs with them, you are also putting more of a load on your back and joints. When exercising with these weights, you are not supposed to have pain in your back. If you do, then remove the extra weight. Additionally, if you have had any previous problems in your joints, the weights could cause some aching. Again, only use the weights if you are comfortable. Feeling the burn in your muscles is natural and is a good sign you are working the muscles well.
Try using adjustable ankle weights the next time you work out and feel the difference. Use them for six weeks, and see the results!