Please recommend ankle & wrist weights.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Been going to the gym & mainly doing cardio exercises. Am looking for some wrist and ankle weights, but don't have a clue what to buy. So if anyone can recommend some it would be much appreciated

the_devil_made_me_do_it

just bumping this up

Jei70

Why aren't you using free weights/weight machines in the gym? I wouldn't recommend any wrist or ankle weights, as they put a lot of stress on the joints.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I don't do any weights at the moment. I'm doing purely cardio as I need to lose weight.

I read that ankle weights are good whilst doing cardio or even walking about as they add extra resistance to the training regime & help tone up.

LondonDreamer

I agree that you should add proper resistance training rather than doing weighted cardio. This will not cause you to gain weight. It's actually the opposite, as increasing your muscle mass raises your BMR which means you will burn more calories even while resting. But even if you gain, muscle is denser than fat so you should still be losing inches which is more important for health than the scale number anyway.

My exercise program is about 60-70% resistance training as I want to build up strength and just prefer it to cardio. I'm still losing a good amount of weight, not to mention inches. About 40lbs (just under 3 stone) and 4 jeans sizes in 4 months.

belfastgirl23

Agree with the others, ankle and wrist weights aren't helpful, even if you don't want to work out with weights there are other ways to make your cardio exercise more intense - eg put your treadmill on an incline, increase the resistance of your crosstrainer or bike.

But I'm also a major fan of using weights, I really see a difference in my body shape when I'm using them and it feels very empowering.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I currently do High Intensity Interval training at the gym which I find is effective. Regarding weight loss, I take medication which causes weight gain, so I am battling against those, so my weight loss doesn't match yours LondonDreamer.

I have been doing this routine along with dieting since the back end of July. I also walk the dog twice a day for approx 45 mins - an hour each walk.

To be honest, I don't know what resistance training is.

LondonDreamer

Resistance training is weight based training. Using either your body weight (e.g. pushups) or free/machine weights. Since you have a gym membership, I'd recommend talking to a trainer there for some advice or try some resistance classes (e.g. kettle bell) if they offer them. But IMO, HIIT cardio (I'm assuming this is plyometic based, i.e. lots of jumping around) is already enough stress on your joints without extra weights added. And again IMO, just adding weights to a cardio workout will not give you the same toning benefits as doing proper resistance exercises with good form.

I've been lucky with my weight loss speed so far, especially considering I also have a medical condition which causes weight gain. But everyone loses at their own rate, I only listed my own numbers as an example that you don't have to do only cardio to lose weight. Other than walking which I do enjoy, I actually hate cardio so do as little as possible!

the_devil_made_me_do_it

The HIIT I do features mainly the treadmill & elliptical machine. I do 15 mins on each machine.

So, 1 min maximum intensity & 2 minutes of low intensity & so on. There is no jumping about involved. It's just cardio workout.

As for gym, I use the local council gym & there isn't a trainer there.

I personally hate any form of exercise, however I need to lose weight. I was always quite thin but since I was put in this medication, the pounds have piled on. Unfortunately my weight loss has been really slow not helped by the fact I was took down by the flu for a fortnight.

LondonDreamer

I would do what was suggested above then, the machines should have settings for incline and/or resistance. Increase those instead of adding weight. But definitely consider adding some strength training at least once a week, even if it's just basic body weight exercises like squats, push-ups, etc.

Fire_Fox

Are you getting your blood pressure and heart rate checked regularly? And do your meds affect this at all, or your ability to exercise?

I am qualified to degree level in physical activity - don't agree that ankle and wrist weights necessarily put strain on the joints, but also think they will be either completely useless or stress the wrong muscles. Add intensity to your cardio workouts by changing your routine regularly, doing programmes on the machines such as 'hills' or ''random' as well as faster-slower-faster-slower intervals. Don't hold onto the treadmill and switch between emphasising upper and lower body on the cross trainer.

If you are working at a true high intensity you won't be able to do cardio workouts of more than about half an hour total, you won't be able to do fifteen minutes on one machine, and not more than every other day. If you have been working out since July why are you still on a 2:1 work recovery ratio, is that because you had flu? How long is your warm up?

Cardio alone will burn both fat and muscle which reduces your metabolism, as others have said you should be doing intense strength training if you are safe to do so. Tiny weights won't do anything: you need to be working intensely (heavy weights, great technique, slow reps, many muscles, to failure) to boost your production of growth hormone (cuts fat, builds or maintains muscle) and increase your metabolism for up to two days. Are there any group exercise classes at any of your council gyms? Learn how to do weight/ strength/ bodyweight stuff in a supervised environment. BodyPump, circuit training, Boxercise can all be good.