Enhance lower body power with ankle weights and your kitchen work surface for a quick fitness routine at home.
In the quest for a stronger, more agile lower body, ankle weights could be your new best friend. These versatile strength training tools, recommended by Coach Kel, can help build muscle, stability, and speed.
Coach Kel suggests incorporating three or four rounds of ankle weight exercises into your workout routine, and adding extra sets if needed to make it more challenging. If you don't currently own ankle weights, they can be easily purchased from Amazon for less than $20, with the Gaiam 5lb set available for just $17.98.
Each ankle weight usually weighs between 1-3 pounds, providing a range of options to suit different fitness levels. Strapping them onto your ankles during a workout can make your glutes, hip flexors, quads, and calves work harder.
But what can you expect from incorporating ankle weights into your workout routine? Typically, you can begin to see improvements in lower-body strength within about 4 weeks of consistent training. However, the timeline varies individually based on factors such as fitness level, genetics, nutrition, and training specifics.
Initial neuromuscular adaptations, such as improved coordination and muscle activation, tend to occur within the first 4 weeks. Muscle hypertrophy, or growth, generally takes longer, closer to 4-6 weeks or more to become noticeable. Consistency and progressive overload—for example through regular sessions of 10-20 minutes using ankle weights—are key to faster improvements.
It's important to note that improvements might not be linear week to week; some fluctuation is normal as the nervous system adapts. With continued adherence and progression, you can expect ongoing gains for several months.
In addition to strength improvements, you may also notice improvements in your mobility and flexibility. For beginners, consider starting with our guide to beginner bodyweight workouts before moving on to ankle weights. For those with access to dumbbells, our guide to full-body workouts with dumbbells may also be helpful.
Coach Kel offers a 10-minute barre workout that can be found online, as well as a kitchen workout that uses the kitchen countertop as a barre for certain exercises. The repetition numbers for each exercise in Coach Kel's kitchen workout can be found in the video.
Remember, if you're new to resistance training, you may see some definition in the legs within two to four weeks, especially if you have lower body fat. It usually takes around twelve weeks of consistent exercise to see physiological changes to muscle strength and size.
So, if you're ready to take your lower-body workouts to the next level, consider giving ankle weights a try. With consistent effort and progressive overload, you'll be well on your way to a stronger, more agile lower body.
- Incorporating ankle weights into your fitness-and-exercise routine, as Coach Kel suggests, can help enhance your strength training, targeting not only your lower body but also your glutes, hip flexors, quads, and calves.
- Science and health-and-wellness studies indicate that consistent use of ankle weights can lead to improvements in flexibility and mobility over time, making your workouts more effective and helping increase overall agility.
- In addition to building strength, the use of ankle weights can aid in muscle hypertrophy, with noticeable muscle growth typically taking place within 4-6 weeks, assuming consistent and progressive overload in your fitness-and-exercise routine.
