What Are the Benefits of Walking With Weights?

Walking is a common fitness and cardiovascular exercise. To achieve a more effective or versatile workout from walking, you might want to add weights to your routine. Either hand weights or ankle weights will increase the effectiveness of a walking routine. Always consult with your physician before beginning any new exercise program.

  1. Increased Calorie Burn

    • According to Mark Fenton, author of "The Complete Guide to Walking, New and Revised," walking with weights increases the amount of calories burned per mile. While the increase in calories burned varies, additional weight makes your body work harder, in turn burning more calories. To achieve maximum increased calories burned, maintain proper posture while walking with weights so that your body must work harder to keep pace.

    Versatility

    • When walking with hand weights, you can do a quick arm exercise with each stride. This allows you to exercise your biceps and the muscles in your forearms as you walk. This added movement will increase the rate at which your body must work, raising your heart rate for a more effective cardiovascular exercise.

    Better Form

    • According to Casey Meyers, author of "Walking: A Complete Guide to Exercise," walking with weights increases your attentiveness to proper walking form. Walking with your back straight, arms tensed, lifting the feet high off the ground makes for the most effective walking form. Added weight brings attention to the rest of your body and increases the attention paid to proper form.

      While it might be tempting to allow arms to hang when holding weights or feet to drag with ankle weights, the added weight should keep you aware of your body. According to Mark Fenton, increased awareness makes the workout more effective.