Rework Your Workout
If you seek to add challenge to your workout, the plethora of options on the market can get confusing. You'll find all sorts of devices you can sit on, stand on, push and pull to help shape and tone your body. However, by selecting one of my favourite LDM pieces of kit will help you rework your workout and deliver the benefits you want. Once you know how to use them, you can incorporate ankle weights or resistance bands into numerous exercises in your routine.
Ankle & Wrist Weights
By simply adding ankle or wrist weights during your leg, arm and core work you will add extra resistance with optimal toning, sculpting, increase in endurance and burn more calories. Ankle and wrist weights are available in range of weights and from various online retailers. I suggest starting with a lighter weight of 3Ib and build up.
A simple leg raise can improve your flexibility and range of motion but by adding weights on your ankles helps you to strengthen the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and tones your thighs. Adding ankle weights or wrist weights to your arm routine will strengthen and sculpt the biceps, triceps and shoulders.
Wearing ankle weights during your abdominal routine is beneficial for targeting the lower abdominals, which is a hard to reach area to train. Perform bicycle exercises and abdominal lifts and knee to chest exercises. Slow things down and execute with control, avoid swinging yourself through the motion. Less is more.
Avoid wearing ankle weights every time you walk or workout. Walking with ankle weights could actually cause injury especially to people who suffer with joint problems.
Extra resistance helps to fatigue your muscles quicker, resulting in less repetitions, shorter and effective workouts and you are on your way to building stronger, longer and leaner muscles.
Resistance Bands
Resistance bands are another one of my favourite pieces of the LDM kit. They are perfect for strength training, rehabilitation plus they are lightweight & affordable. Totally ideal to pop in your bag when travelling. Another thing to consider is that they are also kind on joints and create a new way to stimulate muscle growth as they provide you with constant tension. You are able to hit a full range of motion, working more places and muscle compared to free weights. This helps to increase flexibility, strength, control and achieve elongated muscles. I suggest investing in my rubber friends to switch up your training with the freedom to train practically anywhere.
They come in a variety of resistances, lengths, styles and sizes. Often you can buy the correct resistance individually or a invest in a pack of light, medium and heavy bands. All are readily available online, from Sweaty Betty stores or purchase at one of my next LDM Pop Up events.
Ankle, wrist weights and resistance band benefits:
1. Increases your endurance
Ankle, wrist weights and resistance bands increase your overall endurance. This is because adding additional weight forces you to exert extra force than usual thus increasing your endurance and helping you with other benefits such as cardiovascular and pulmonary health. Within few weeks of the use, you start building more and more stamina.
2. Helps to tone and sculpt
Training without any resistance can shape your body but to further enhance your workout you must add more resistance. Doing just more reps may not be as effective as you think they might be. To grow your muscles stronger, you must add weight. If you consistently workout with more weight you would eventually start seeing the arm and leg shape you desire and definition in your abdominals within a couple of weeks.
3. Burns more calories
As you apply more force, you apply more energy and that makes your body burn more calories. This is overall more effective than doing the workout without any weights. If your body is already accustomed to the usual workout you do. Adding more weight forces your body to adapt to the extra resistance. If you are looking to lose weight this is a great way to help yourself.
Learn how to use ankle weights or master the bands with me at one of my LDM Studio Sessions at The Detox Kitchen Studio or at my next LDM Studio Pop Ups.