Walkers who are looking for a way to get more out of their exercise often turn to wrist weights to add resistance to their task. Wrist weights are designed to be strapped to the wrist to add weight and make walking more difficult and more beneficial. These weights carry the potential to have both positive and negative impact on the walker.
Strengthen Muscles
Walking with wrist weights will help you strengthen your muscles especially in your upper body. Weights make muscles work harder to do the same action. Basically, the muscles are forced to support the extra weight and, like in weightlifting, they get used to the challenge and therefore grow bigger.
Cardiovascular Benefit
Walking with wrist weights will improve your cardiovascular conditioning. Weights force you to use more exertion. That causes you to burn more calories and your body to work harder to do the same action, which results in a harder, better cardio workout. In effect, you are carrying extra pounds. Your body must support that by having your cardiovascular system work harder to move you.
Joint Injuries
Walking with weights will put more force on your joints. These joints like the elbows, shoulders, knees and ankles are therefore more susceptible to injury when you walk with wrist weights than they are during standard walking. Walking with wrist weights can also put excess strain on your back from the weights causing you to swing your arms too far. People who are frail or overweight are at a greater risk of joint injury from adding weights to their cardio training.
Muscle and Ligament Injuries
Walking with wrist weights can lead to ligament and muscle strains, especially in those who are weak or not experienced in the activity. This results from muscles and ligaments being forced to support a heavier body than they are used to. Exercising with too heavy of wrist weights greatly increases this injury chance. Trainer Vicki Pearson recommends not carrying more than 10 percent of your body weight, and starting with light weights to get the body used to the activity.
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