medical question for a doc

[superso]

Hi all,

I was wondering if ankle weights (2.5 lb each leg) increase chances of injury if all i'm doing is walking around in them. i keep reading on the internet that it will cause me problems later on so i'm thinking of not starting. i figured i would just walk around, not run, like any typical day, only i would be wearing these. this way i wouldnt really have to do anything extra and maybe i could increase my calf strength. anyone have any idea?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[fytnowl05]

Hi all,

I was wondering if ankle weights (2.5 lb each leg) increase chances of injury if all i'm doing is walking around in them. i keep reading on the internet that it will cause me problems later on so i'm thinking of not starting. i figured i would just walk around, not run, like any typical day, only i would be wearing these. this way i wouldnt really have to do anything extra and maybe i could increase my calf strength. anyone have any idea?

Okay well I might be able to help because I am an athlete with pretty extensive experience and knowledge of weight lifting. In the case of ankle weights....because the calf muscles (gastroc and sole) are such tough muscles to develop and because they are naturally pretty strong muscles...you won't notice much difference from wearing 2.5 lbs on each leg every day...unless you are an older adult (50+) the mot prevelant physiological difference that you will notice is more leg sweating.... you'll be doing more work but really not enough to create muscle definition/tone of the calves. If you are enjoying the workout though, as long as you are wearing supportive tennis shoes the muscles of your calves will become stronger before any type of injury would occur. Meaning, at most your calf muscles will reach a point where the weight has no effect because they will have grown stronger to accomodate the weight as if it were simply your feet that were heavier....if that makes sense.....Hope this helps

 

[Babooshka]

fytlnow,

What about stress on the knee joint?