Jeremy's Fitness News - Walking with hand weights

Walking With Hand Weights - 6 things to consider

I had just finished training one of my clients and was driving to the next appointment. I saw someone walking along the road (I'll leave out where I was in case it was you). As I drove past I saw a wonderful lady walking with hand weights. Walking with hand weights is a way to increase the intensity of your cardio workout, and it can be beneficial. I saw a problem right away in my hand weight walker. Her steps were slow and her arms barely moved. I told myself she might be resting from a hard interval, but that couldn't have been the case because there were no signs of effort (heavy breathing, flushed cheeks, etc.). She was on easy street. On top of this, her posture was way off because of the weights in her hands. I could just see her stopping this program because of sore shoulders and neck.

I decided some education was in order. I'll bet there are others out there that are making the same mistakes. Here are 6 points to consider about hand weight walking.

1.) Why use hand weights while walking?

The only real benefit hand weights have while you are walking is that they can help get your heart rate higher. This can be a huge benefit. If you can get your heart rate up a few more beats per minute you will be getting more calories burned. The hand weights force the upper body to move actively the same way as an elliptical cross trainer (the one with the moving arms). This movement in the upper body activates more muscle and allows calorie burn to take place in additional locations.

2.) Why not use hand weights while walking?

Don't use hand weights to build strength and muscle tone in the upper body. Unless you are significantly de-conditioned they are not going to be heavy enough to demand enough from the muscles to cause change. The slight amount of work the muscles do over the thousands of repetitions is only enough to create some imbalances in your arm (one muscle gets tight while the opposing muscles are relaxed, over time this could definitely lead to injury).

If you do see a change in your arms because of hand weight walking it is because of weight loss. If you burn more calories, you will lose weight. If you lose weight, some of that weight will be in the form of fat, some of which is stored in the arm, and losing this fat will expose the muscle underneath. You can expose the muscle underneath by eating lower calorie amounts and not even exercising.

3.) Ditch the hand weights until you are ready.

If you are walking slowly with hand weights you are missing the whole purpose. Work on picking the walk up to a brisk pace. Work to maintain this pace throughout the walk. Get your arms involved in the walk. I don't mean throw them around like a crazy person. I could never tell someone to make a spectacle of themselves by walking that way. Just try to drive the arms forward and back to help create a stronger more powerful stride. When you have this driving walk solid and you feel like it is getting too easy, then you are almost ready for hand weights, or even jogging (but not all of you will want to progress to a jog and that is where hand weights are beneficial).

4.) Posture is a make or break...literally.

Before you add in the hand weights you need to make sure your posture is great. If you add weights on top of bad posture you are asking for a sore neck, shoulder, or lower back. Make sure you are walking tall with your shoulders pulled back. Keep some tension in your stomach and butt to make sure you are as tall and solid as possible. Get this posture right then add the hand weights to boost the intensity.

5.) Balance your exercise program.

Make sure you are doing other forms of resistance training that give work to all muscles in the arms. This will hopefully give you the balance in your body to avoid injury and get the look you want.

6.) In the end it is your choice.

I have never recommended anyone use hand weights while walking. I find that adding an incline or quickening the pace for short intervals works much better and provides less strain on the neck, shoulders, and back. If you want to use them I will also not discourage it. If something is working for you I am the last person who would want to interrupt that. Just make sure you are doing things properly, with good posture, and ALWAYS stretch out after your workout.

(Thank you Christine for being a good sport and letting me take your picture)

The above are the opinions of Jeremy and should not be taken as medical advice. If you have any questions or comments please e-mail them back. You can reply right to this newsletter. I'm always looking for new questions. If you have a question a lot of times other people are wondering the same thing, so step up and ask.