ankle and wrist weights

[Bryce556]

What are your guys opinions of useing them? are they a good additon to a arobic workout, or could they be worn like on a day to day basis to increase muscle streanth, as well as a weighted vest.

 

[Quagmire911]

If you don't have access to a barbell, buy either Never Gymless or Infinite Intensity by Ross Enamait on www.rosstraining.com.

Ankle and wrist weights won't do much I am afraid, but you can do a lot with a little...

 

[chinwaggler]

i think they're used for conditioning rather than strength. but they can be dangerous. i do a martial art and someone told me to increase the power of your kicks you should use ankle weights, but doing this means you could accidentally hyper-extend your knee and cause serious damage.

if you're doing any fast or sudden movements i don't recommend using them but if you're doing slow repetitive movements such as rotating your arms at the shoulder, then they could be useful.

i once tried using ankle weights for a whole day.. all they did was make me look like i had obese legs and hurt.

 

[eldafar]

Ankle weights have their uses. Dragon flags, for example, are easier to do weighted with ankle weights. Using ankle weights for kicking practice is a very bad idea, it doesn't work like it does in cartoons/movies. Your body moves differently when weighed on like that, so neither technique, speed or power will improve for regular motions, only for motions with the weights, which defeats the purpose of the weights. Same applies to running, punching, or whatever other regular body movement one might think ankle weights would help with.

Wrist weights are horrible in my opinion, while ankle weights can be used for some excellent exercises where weights on feet would be useful, I do not know of any good exercises that could benefit from wrist weights.

The money that good ankle/wrist weights cost, you could invest in better things like, the Ross training books that Quagmire recommended above. The books might actually be cheaper, as good ankle weights can be rather expensive (around $50 for 20lb pair).