Ankle Weights

I found some old ankle weights in my closet and decided to try them out. The box said they were 10 pounds each but I think they were closer to 5 or 6. Anyways, I put them on and me and my friends were joking around with them. We raced my 8 year old brother and tried to do leglifts and pullups. I thought they were kind of dumb... until I took them off and felt GREAT. I felt like the fastest kid in the world. I felt like I had Henry-like quickness.

The next day I planned to go out and just do some running and other warm-up stuff like kariokes, highknees and other kinds of stuff. I got bored of that quickly and ended up trying to chip a basketball across the yard or do triple scisors. When I took them off I again felt great. I felt like I could shoot harder, run faster, kcik a ball like it was a baloon, do moves quicker, and do it without using any effort at all.

I decided to warm up for a game with them on. I know that baseball players use bats with weights on them to warm with so I thought that it would be okay. My coach called me a dork but I definitly noticed a huge difference during the game. I had thought that warming up with them on might tire me out too fast but I had more energy left at the end of the game than I ussually do. My teammates noticed and were all asking to use them after the game.

I've been using them for a couple months now and I love them. I have become a very fast player and everyone else just seems to get a little "heavier" every week.

Anyone else ever use ankle weights before? Any injuries they are know to cause? I'm only 17, but I have back problems sometimes. If they are safe to use I would recomend them to everyone.

I haven't tried any weights that you attach to your legs and run with because i've heard there's a high injury risk with 'em. They add stress to the joints in your knees and i'd prefer to stay away from knee injuries (and well, every other one too ).

If you need to get faster do some plyos (IF you're in shape) and try out some hill sprints. I'm lucky to have a 100m long hill in front of my house that I can just do sprints up... works wonders! If not a hill, you could just try running up the stairs at a stadium.

Anyone else ever use ankle weights before? Any injuries they are know to cause? I'm only 17, but I have back problems sometimes. If they are safe to use I would recomend them to everyone.[/QUOTE]


I like to use a weighted vest. The ankle weight get in the way of the ball.

Start with a couple pounds. Do your ball skills & foot work. After a half hour drop the vest and then blow thru the drills.

Increase the weight over time. I would never go over 10% of my body weight.

Train Hard Play Hard

I'm not interested in other ways to get fast, as the weights are unbelievable, but I am a little worried about getting hurt. What cc05 said about adding strain to knees/joints is what i'm worried about. If anyone has any experience with injuries pertaining to ankle weights or other related equiptment I would really like to know. I've been wearing them for about two months now, ussually less than fifteen minutes a day if even that much, so I'm not exactly overdoing it. I have had some minor joint pains recently but I've had joint pains constantly for a few years already. I assumed it was growing pains and I've grown a couple inches in the last couple months so the pains make sense.

They are not safe to use throw them out.

Yeah, over the long run they can be dangerous. Remember that as you swing your leg, these things are accelerating at a couple G's, so they are putting way more than 10 punds of pressure on your extremities. Your joints and connective tissue are not designed for that.

tehy do some really bad stuff to ur knees including fluid build up