List of Pros and Cons of Ankle Weights

It should come as no surprise to know that most people nowadays in the Western world are overweight and that this is having a lot of negative impacts on their health and on society itself due to a lot of health problems that are starting to come up – all thanks to weight indicators rising top historic levels.

At least 1 out of 3 adults in the United States can now be considered obese and this is certainly a wake up call for the future: if we keep our ways as they are, we are going to end up in a very dark place in a few years. We need to do something about our sedentary lifestyle and we need to fix this problem as soon as possible. It is, however, incredibly hard to do so because we are constantly busy and, on top of that, we always have a lot of responsibilities and things to take care of right before we have a chance to hit the gym and to start exercising as we should.

It is a really challenge trying to keep fit while living in this incredibly busy world and, as such, people keep on looking at things that are going to help them cheat their way into being fit. This is what happened with diet pills and this is what is now happening with weighted clothing. One of the types of weighted clothing that is gaining a lot of popularity recently are ankle weights. They come with the promise of improved cardiovascular activity and that they will help tone the body.

But this seems too good to be true and, as such, we are going to look at the pros and cons of ankle weights so that we can determine whether or not they are worth it. Some people defend the, others attack them – let’s look at it ourselves.

List of Pros of Ankle Weights

1. They Improve Any Workout
The truth is, if you don’t have any type of leg or ankle problems and have a healthy body, using ankle weights is going to help you workout regardless of what the type of workout is going to be. The weight that the ankle weights is going to give your body is going to make you use extra energy while doing the workout, which will improve your muscles and, on top of that, it is going to improve your cardiovascular activity as well. Essentially, ankle weights are going to help you push for yourself that extra mile.

2. Adds Variety to Your Workout
If you are stuck in the same type of workout and you do the same thing over and over again, adding a little weight to one part of your body is going to make you vary because at some point, you will be exhausted due to the change you just made in your body.

3. They Are Inexpensive
If you are looking at purchasing ankle weights, you can count on them being pretty cheap for the advantages that they give you. They come in different sizes and different sets of weight, but they are all going to be pretty light on the damage they do to your wallet.

4. A Proper Community
There is a huge community of weight ankle lovers out there on the internet and it isn’t very hard to find them. If you look for them, you can get tips on what type of workout to do with the weights, what will work best to improve what and so on. They might also help you with possible injuries, concerns and doubts that you might have throughout your fitness journey.

List of Cons of Ankle Weights

1. Your Ankles Can Only Handle So Much Weight
Your ankles aren’t too big or too muscular and, as such, they are only going to be able to handle a certain amount of weight. If you place too much weight on them, you risk injury and complete workout inefficiency because you won’t be able to handle the weight on your ankles. As such, a lot of people don’t even waste their tie with ankle weights and go for other alternatives, such as weight bests.

2. They Aren’t Good for Continuous Activity
Throughout the day, your muscles handle your own body weight and they are used to handling your own body weight. If you change it drastically on a continuous workout routine, this is going to have a negative effect on some parts of your body that are not going to be ready to handle the extra weight. Even though the weight is going to be amazing at helping you improve your strength, it is going to be terrible when it comes to keeping your body safe and help you avoid injury. Experts advise people to only use ankle weights occasionally.

3. They Can Improve the Pain in Your Joints
If ankle weights aren’t used correctly, they can actually cause injury and irritate your joints, causing pain that will takes its sweet, sweet time to go away. If you don’t use ankle weights correctly, this is something that is just going to slow you down in the long run and, eventually, they are going to be a burden rather than a support system.

If you are overweight, you are going to need to be especially careful with the weight that you put in your legs, since you are more prone to injury.