Others add ankle weights to their walking or running program. The question of how ankle weights work to build muscle is actually a question of how any weight-bearing exercise works to build muscle. The body builds muscle through the process of muscle hypertrophy. Muscle hypertrophy occurs when the muscles are challenged with greater weight or resistance. As they handle these challenges, the muscle fibers incur minor damage.
Because this damage is minor and the body naturally repairs it, this damage is "good" damage. After a tough workout, your body sets to work repairing this good damage.
To repair the microdamage that occurred during exercise, the body fuses damaged muscle fibers together. The result is greater muscle mass and stronger muscles. Ankle weights work by inducing muscle hypertrophy.
They challenge the muscles to bear and move greater loads. If the challenge is appropriate, the muscles respond and experience minor damage. When the challenge is removed, the body recovers and repairs. If you use ankle weights, you'll experience the most significant benefits in your calves, quads, hamstrings, and glutes. However, adding ankle weights to abdominal exercises can also work the muscles of your trunk. Finally, the heart is arguably the most important muscle in the body, and ankle weights most definitely work the heart.
Exercises that increase endurance are considered aerobic exercises. Again, the question of how ankle weights increase endurance is the question of how any aerobic exercise increases endurance. Aerobic means "with oxygen. During intense exercise, the heart beats faster, and you take bigger breaths to meet this challenge.
Once again, if the challenge is appropriate, the body learns to handle periods of increased demand. The result is greater lung capacity and a more efficient heart. Over time, in fact, the heart becomes conditioned to pump more blood with each beat. This means that the heart can beat more slowly —during exercise and rest.
As a result, your resting heart rate and blood pressure decrease. Ankle weights increase the intensity of your workouts and other activities. In doing so, they increase the body's demand for oxygen and, thus, condition the heart and lungs. The science behind weight and endurance training is sound, but do ankle weights really work? The answer is yes. When used appropriately, ankle weights can build both muscle and endurance. Ankle weight benefits begin with increased muscle mass and increased endurance , but they don't end there.
Ankle weights can also increase calorie burning and weight loss. They can improve muscle tone. They can add variety to your workouts.
They can even help you lose that stubborn abdominal fat. We've already seen that increasing the intensity of a workout makes your muscles, heart, and lungs work harder. When your body works harder, it requires more energy. The calories you consume provide that energy. When you consume more calories than you expend in your activities, your body stores that energy as fat. The result is weight gain. In contrast, when you burn more calories than you consume, your body dips into these fat stores.
The result is weight loss. Increasing the intensity of your workouts increases the calories you burn. It also builds muscle, which can increase your metabolism. With a stronger metabolism, your body burns more calories even when you're resting. Adding ankle weights is an excellent way to increase the intensity of a workout, create a calorie deficit, improve your metabolism, and burn fat.
Bodybuilders and professional athletes use heavy weights and elaborate exercise machines. You might wonder, then, how a weight small enough to fit around your ankle can tone your muscles. In fact, studies show that lifting lighter weights several times is just as effective as lifting heavier weights fewer times. For many people, "leg day" involves jumping jacks, lunges, and leg raises.
By themselves, these exercises are highly effective at toning your leg muscles. Adding ankle weights increases this effectiveness by increasing the workout's intensity. Ankle weights can help you tone more than just your legs. When you exercise your legs, in fact, muscles throughout your body are activated. Besides strong calves , hamstrings, and quads, the next most obvious targets for ankle weights are the glutes.
When you walk, balance on one leg, or even stand, your glutes act as stabilizers. They keep your pelvis aligned. When you engage in targeted exercises, like lunges and side-lying leg lifts, the glutes play an even more central role.
Adding weight to these exercises makes your glutes work harder. As we've seen, making your muscles work harder strengthens them and burns fat. Whether you're walking or simply standing, your abs, like your glutes, play a subtle but important role.
Your abs are a key component of good posture. Strong abs help keep your body in proper alignment. Unfortunately, the abs can be difficult to train. Training the abs involves maintaining good posture throughout your workout and throughout your day. It also involves targeted exercises, like abdominal leg lifts. As with side-lying leg lifts for glutes, adding ankle weights to abdominal leg lifts increases the intensity, strengthens the muscles, and burns fat.
Of course not. This means that you can secure them around your ankle or your wrists. During exercises that target your legs, glutes, or abs, wrap the weights around your ankles. To target your biceps and triceps, wrap them around your wrists. So we've just seen that ankle weights themselves are versatile. At the same time, they add variety to your overall exercise regimen.
Adding variety can improve your workouts simply by making them more enjoyable. Few people enjoy doing the same exercises over and over again. However, the benefits of a varied workout actually run deeper. In fact, adding variety can make your workout more effective. Over time, your body becomes accustomed to the demands you regularly place on it. Eventually, it may not even respond to those demands.
This adaptive resistance is often behind the frustrating plateaus that athletes encounter. Adaptive resistance can also contribute to injuries.
When you repeatedly use the same muscles in the same ways, they are more vulnerable to fatigue and wear and tear. Adding variety prevents your body from adapting to any one routine. Periodically increasing the intensity of your regular exercises by adding ankle weights keeps the body on its toes.
Adding ankle weights also varies the muscles you use and the angles and patterns in which you use them. This variety can keep all of your muscles fresh and protect them from overuse injuries. Ankle weights are safe and effective with the proper precautions. In fact, when used properly, ankle weights can make your workouts safer by adding variety.
But brisk walking is a great way to fit in regular physical activity. To get more out of your walking routine, simply try picking up the pace. If you're in good shape, add short bursts of jogging into your regular brisk walks. If you're less fit, alternate leisurely walking with periods of faster walking. For example, if you're walking outdoors, you could walk faster between certain mailboxes, trees or other landmarks.
You can also make your walk more challenging by hiking or walking up hills and carrying heavy loads such as backpacks. It's a good idea to include strength training in your fitness routine, too. You can use hand-held weights, but there are plenty of options you can use besides weights. For example, consider resistance tubing — these elastic-like tubes offer weight-like resistance when you pull on them. Your own body weight counts, too. Try pushups, pullups, situps, squats and lunges. Edward R.
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Attaching them loosely will cause the weight to slide around. You can perform this standing or on all fours, depending on your ability level. Make sure your abdominals are contracted, and you lift your leg from the crease of your glutes. This will ensure proper form and help you build a solid foundation for exercises like deadlifts! Leg lifts: This is a great exercise for your abs as well as your quads! Perform any type of crunch with the weight attached, and always remember to generate the movement from your core to keep the strain out of your hip flexors!
Lateral leg lifts: This is a great exercise for runners! From a standing position, squeeze the side of your hips to lift your ankles off the ground.
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