Ankle weights are tools athletes use in training to help themselves get faster, quicker and stronger. They are regularly worn in a sleeve that attaches around your ankle and is strapped into place with Velcro. Though the idea is that wearing ankle weights adds a beneficial element of resistance to your training, wearing them can also lead to joint, bone and tendon problems.
Function
Some may think that if you wear ankle weights, you will get stronger legs, ankles and feet, which will allow you to run faster, jump higher and be more productive on the athletic field. However, while wearing ankle weights can make you somewhat stronger, it cannot help you run faster. When you wear ankle weights, you strengthen your legs for lifting weight off the ground --- not for running faster and jumping higher.
Stress Load
By increasing the stress load on your ankles and feet, you are putting those joints and the tendons that support them at risk. By attaching the weights, you are suddenly asking the joint to carry more of the workload. This can lead to snapped tendons.
Lack of Coordination
You need coordination to gain speed while running and height while jumping. Wearing ankle weights will throw off the coordination you have and prevent you from moving at top speed and jumping high. According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a sports-medicine expert who has written 10 books and hosts a long-running radio show, ankle weights will not help your reach your athletic goals. "To run faster in competition, you have to run fast in practice," Mirkin writes on his website. "Ankle weights slow you down because they interfere with your coordination and make you work much harder to raise your knees. To train your muscles so you will be able to run longer, you have to run faster or for a longer time. The heavy weights will tire you earlier so you will not be able to run as fast or as far."
Hip Injuries
By doing the extra work and making the effort needed when wearing ankle weights, you are putting added stress on your body. One of the most vulnerable areas is your hips. Wearing ankle weights can cause hip pain and injury and keep you from reaching your goals.
Considerations
Ankle weights rarely help an athlete function better on the field of play and they can cause injuries to the ankles, knees and hips. You may be able to run faster and jump higher by varying your training speeds and patterns, Kent Adams, director of the exercise physiology lab at California State University-Monterey Bay, tells the "Los Angeles Times." This is far less stressful for the body than wearing added weights around the ankles.
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