Should You Use Weights While Walking?

The Jackson Clinics, Health and Wellness Tips

You may think that carrying weights when you walk increases your calorie burn. But doing so increases your risk for injury. Think twice about holding weights when you walk—in many cases, you will burn more by just walking farther or faster.

Even though it’s common to see people carrying weights as they walk, many experts advise against it. Mark Fenton, host of the PBS series “America’s Walking” and author of “The 90-Day Fitness Walking Program,” “Precision Walking,” “The New Walker’s Logbook” and “The Complete Guide to Walking for Health, Weight Loss and Fitness,” says that hand weights increase the risk to shoulders and upper chest muscles. Moreover, as you tire, the weights may cause you to move slower, lessening the benefits of walking. He suggests that moving your arms more vigorously as you walk is a better strategy to burn more energy.

What about weights on the ankles or in the shoes? Again, another no-no. Some exercise physiologists believe that these weights would inhibit leg movement resulting in a slow shuffle instead of a power stride. What’s more, carrying weights, whether in your hands or on your ankles, burns only a tiny percentage more calories than walking without them while dramatically increasing your risk of muscle and ligament injury.

But don’t stop walking. The activity still burns calories, gets people outside into the fresh air and is ideal for all ages. So what can you do to get the maximum calorie burn? Experts say you should increase your speed or learn to race walk, which involves having the best walking shoes and learning a new stride. The latest idea is “Nordic walking.” Popular in Finland, walkers carry poles that they plant angled backward at 45 degrees and then push the poles behind them to extend the elbow fully.

Walking remains an excellent exercise to improve overall health and lose weight, and several possibilities exist to increase calorie burn. But most authorities agree that carrying weights while you walk causes more harm than good.