- Wearing ankle weights while walking or exercising can have a huge impact on your fitness routine.
- Benefits include improved balance, more calories burned, and the ability to build muscle faster.
- They can also help refresh any existing workout routine, adding more versatility and complexity.
If you’re looking to improve your morning walk or weekly Pilates class, consider incorporating ankle weights into your routine.
Ankle weights offer an easy way Increase the intensity of your workout and can have an impact on muscle building, calorie burning, and improving overall balance.
A study from 2017 published through the National Library of Medicine, analyzed the gait behavior of 27 uninjured subjects (11 males and 16 females) wearing different sizes of ankle weights. The study found that “varying amounts of weight loading can be effective in improving the way” people walk, including distance, cadence and speed.
A similar study conducted in Japan in 2022 showed that wearing ankle weights allowed older people to strengthen their lower limb muscles, which could help reduce their risk of falling. Another study found Ankle weight training to positively impact body composition while reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease.
These are just some of the benefits of using ankle weights in your weekly fitness routine.
They’re also incredibly inexpensive and range from anywhere $20 to $50, depending on the brand. Compared to wearing something like a weight vestwhich can cost over $100 without included weights, they are a far cheaper investment.
To learn all about ankle weights, I spoke to three fitness professionals who shared all about the benefits you can expect and exactly how to use them in your workout.
1. You build muscle mass faster
Let’s start with the obvious: increasing body weight can help build muscle faster.
But don’t just take it from us, certified personal trainers and founders and owners of Expert FitnessNathan Lloyd says that “one of the biggest benefits of wearing ankle weights is that it can help you build muscle size and strength.
“The more you lift and carry, the stronger your muscles get, so carrying ankle weights while working out is a great way to do that [do this]”, he says. “When you wear ankle weights, it’s like doing extra reps of your normal workout. You’re using more muscle groups to perform the same movement, so your muscles have to work harder.”
Lloyd added that since you’re working harder, it increases the amount of energy your body uses to complete the action, so you’re “burning more calories and gaining more muscle mass in less time.”
2. You burn more calories
Calorie intake is an important part everyone’s fitness routine, whether they want to lose, maintain or gain weight.
“While you might think that ankle weights are just for building muscle or burning fat, the truth is they can help you burn calories, too,” says Lloyd. “When you wear ankle weights, you increase your center of gravity and increase your weight bearing on the floor, which increases your body’s metabolic rate.”
And extra weight also forces your body to work harder to keep up with the increased pressure, Lloyd adds.
“As a result, more calories are burned during exercise than without ankle weights.”
After DR Tom SeabourneProfessor of Exercise Science at Northeast Texas Community College, with 5-pound ankle weights can increase your calorie burn by up to 25%. For example, someone who weighs about 150 pounds and takes a brisk 45-minute walk would do this typically burns about 193 calories. With ankle weights, the same person could burn up to 48 more calories during the same walk.
3. You can improve your balance
Llyod says adding some weight to your legs can actually support those who play sports that require a lot of coordination. It can also be beneficial for those who practice yoga and need help maintaining difficult poses.
The more you wear them, the better your balance and coordination will become as your body adjusts to the extra weight.
“Ankle weights can help improve your balance and posture by forcing you to use more muscle groups to keep your posture upright and balanced,” says Lloyd. “This can lead to greater muscular endurance throughout the day and a reduction in injuries associated with poor posture.”
4. They will add versatility to your workouts
If you’re new to exercising or just starting to learn the basics, ankle weights can help add complexity and challenge to your budding routine.
“It might seem obvious, but like resistance gear dumbbells or kettle bells require you to physically hold the weight to complete the exercise,” says Ashley Iwanick, yoga teacher and owner of collective studios. “Because ankle weights adhere to your body, they expand the types of exercises and levels and range of motion that you can add resistance to and move through.”
Iwanick says this is particularly helpful with a Set of leg exercises like lateral leg raise, Rainbow Leg Raisesor just on foot.
“Because your legs straighten when you do these exercises, it can be difficult to add extra weight because there’s nowhere safe to hold the weight,” she says. “Ankle weights allow you to move freely [with nothing in your hands] and in many different directions.”
5. They target specific muscle groups in your legs.
We all have trouble spots that are difficult to reach with traditional weights. if you try Build up your glutes or tone your calvesIwanick says ankle weights make it easy to add resistance and work those stubborn muscles.
“The added resistance to leg exercises breaks down and targets smaller muscle fibers that aren’t as easily accessible during exercises performed with a heavier weight, like squats or deadlifts, or that can become inactive or weak through inactivity,” she says says.
She adds that by physically placing a weight on your ankle, you can also deepen your mind-body connection by “putting your mind on the muscle groups you’re actually working.”
“This can help you tone and strengthen not only your legs and glutes, but also secondary muscles like your core,” she says.
6. You improve your cardio training.
Increasing your heart rate is an essential part of everyone’s fitness regimen, regardless of your goals. To get your cardio up to par, personal trainers and owners of Cross trainer homeChristian Mitchell, suggests adding ankle weights.
Whether you’re walking, running, or working out on the elliptical trainer, the extra weight forces you to work harder and helps build cardiovascular endurance. Mitchell says that by training your body harder, you can also burn more calories and increase aerobic capacity.
He adds that strapping on ankle weights also has a secondary benefit. “You will increase your speed, agility and endurance.”
“The extra weight challenges your body by engaging more muscles and increasing your body’s stability,” he says. “This can help you become more efficient in your movements while preventing injury.”
Insider snack
Whether you’re trying to achieve a weight loss goal, gaining mass, or just wanting to add variety to your exercise routine, ankle weights can help transform the way you move and have a major impact on your fitness.
Not only do they allow for greater range of motion and are able to interact with specific muscles, but they can also increase your endurance, build muscle faster, and help burn more calories.
