Any science-fiction buff is aware of rising up on a high-gravity planet will make you one heck of an athlete right here on Earth. Sadly, we are able to’t but go to oppressively weighty worlds to coach, however that doesn’t cease runners from in search of out difficult environments—like high-altitude trails—to forge fitter our bodies and increase efficiency by way of adaptation.
As a fledgling runner and diehard sci-fi fan, certainly one of my earliest coaching errors was to attempt simulating life on a high-gravity planet by operating with ankle weights. Extra shameful than that admission is the truth that I believed I used to be an absolute genius for making an attempt it. Our numbers are few, however there’s a very skinny department of the operating neighborhood that has both tried operating with ankle weights or is considering it. If you happen to’re one of many uncommon runners pondering of giving it a attempt, listed below are some causes to rethink.
The fantasy doesn’t stack as much as the truth
The attract of ankle weights isn’t simply concerning the promise of exponential development in leg energy and operating pace, however the fantasy wrapped round it. Earlier than setting out on my ill-fated ankle-weight take a look at run a few years in the past, I imagined it being the beginning of two strong years of secretly carrying ankle weights on all my runs (I’d be doing all my coaching in billowy harem pants, I suppose). I’d slowly however certainly develop quicker and stronger, to the purpose the place I’d be one of many quickest runners on the town, even whereas carrying the weights.
I additionally imagined the day I might reveal my secret to a shocked world. I’d race a 100m warmth (in entrance of tens of 1000’s of spectators—it’s a fantasy, in spite of everything), tying the quickest man on the town (who was additionally about to foreclose on the native orphanage—once more, fantasy). For the ultimate, I’d raise the legs of my harem pants to disclose my leg weights to a sea of dropped jaws, forged off my weights as in the event that they have been shackles, embarrass the competitors with my unbelievable pace, win the race and save the orphans.
In actuality, I solely lasted one run with the leg weights—a 5K I bailed on midway by way of—and I haven’t run a 100m since Grade 6.
It messes together with your operating type
Operating with lifeless weight round your ankles is a certain solution to throw a few heavy wrenches into your operating mechanics. By concentrating on the decrease leg muscle groups and neglecting different muscle teams, operating with ankle weights creates muscle imbalance. It additionally reduces operating effectivity and makes it almost not possible to keep up respectable type. Once I tried it, I wasn’t operating a lot as I used to be speed-stumbling, like an over-caffeinated Frankenstein’s monster.
You’ll damage your self and look dumb doing it
I’d like to say my ankle-weight operating experiment ended after I skilled a sudden bout of dignity, nevertheless it was a rolled ankle that did me in. In hindsight, I’m grateful to have been stopped by an acute harm, relatively than endure extra critical and continual strains, sprains, tears or pulls I certainly would have inflicted on myself had I attempted sticking with my ankle-weight coaching plan.
