So my boss is a reserve cop. The other day I noticed he was wearing ankle weights and asked him about it. Turns out, he wears ankle weights all day every day. When he goes on the beat, he takes them off and claims they make him run “hella fast”.
This got me thinking. Maybe i should try this and see if my sprint times increase. Could this potentially aid in lifting as well?
Any thoughts?
If anything I think they’d just throw off your walking/running mechanics.
It would do much more good if you actually ran or sprinted with ankle weights. Like boxers train with heavier gloves and then become faster with the regular ones.
Probably not much good for lifting, though.
[quote]Chickenmcnug wrote:
So my boss is a reserve cop. The other day I noticed he was wearing ankle weights and asked him about it. Turns out, he wears ankle weights all day every day. When he goes on the beat, he takes them off and claims they make him run “hella fast”.
This got me thinking. Maybe i should try this and see if my sprint times increase. Could this potentially aid in lifting as well?
Any thoughts?[/quote]
My bet is that it’s purely psychological. He feels slow all day because of the extra weight and then when he takes them off he feels faster relative to when he wears them.
Maybe it works though I doubt it.
Don’t run with ankle weights.
No it does not work like wearing heavier boxing gloves, it will throw off your running mechanics and can potentially cause injury, no sprint coach, even the worse one, would recommend wearing ankle weights.
I remember reading about ankle weights at charliefrancis.com and other sites alike, everybody was against them. Some say it’s a recipe for injury. Should be avoided at all costs. Seriously. However, there are other training methods similar to this idea that could work.
Try running with a weight vest, pulling a tire or running with a chute behind you. Some coaches do implement some of the above ideas, some do not, none of them use ankle weights.
I’m glad I asked. I also figured it would be the same thing as boxing.
Thanks
I read about this some time ago. If i recall correctly, if you wear added weight for long periods of time, all day, when you remove it your nervous system is still ‘tricked’ into thinking it must move the extra weight so power output is higher.
I dont think it has any long term benefits though as the body soon re-adapts when the added weight is not present.
It might work if you want to wear an x-vest to work all day every day. It could get uncomfortable when you sleep too. 
I believe I read an article from CT talking about why this is a flawed training idea. Perhaps someone will do the legwork to search it.
One good reason why this works is because it tricks your nervous system to be used to that weight. Once the weight is gone, it will really feel light.
However, it can lead to injury if the stress of the weight is put in unnatural positions. Be careful when you use them, and make sure the weight ain’t too heavy for your joints to take.
It would be much safer for your ankles if you wore a weight vest instead, although it will tire your shoulders and back a lot more.
a weighted vest would be a better move for general conditioning. if he has to run fast at work, then he should train with all the kit on that he normally carries when he’s working
If one MUST do ankle weights make them very LIGHT.
I imagine heavier ankle weights can lead to easier quad and ham tears.
Up to 1LB should be OK, as you do have affects in running in heavier shoes, etc.
Probably something to be explored further…
read up on ‘specificity’
Hello stress fractures!
best place to add weight on your body is around your waist because it just lowers your center of gravity and doesn’t stress any small joints. Try adding lead weights (from golf shop, or lead tape) under your belt. Problem with weighted vests is that it raises your C.O.G. and it will stress your lower back more.