4 Benefits Of Using Ankle Weights In Badminton

Badminton is a great sport with a lot of sudden movement changes, jumping, ferocious striking, and strategic thinking. You will improve on all badminton skills just by playing, but sometimes you just need a little boost, and that’s when ankle weights come in.

In this article, I will teach whether ankle weights are good for badminton, what are the potential benefits, cons, and more information about them. But first, are ankle weights good for badminton?

Ankle weights are very beneficial for badminton. Ankle weights add more weight to your body, especially legs, which will increase burned calories, muscle mass and helps improving endurance. After using ankle weights and then removing them will make everything feel easier.

That being said, ankle weights are perfect for badminton, and I have noticed a lot of benefits from them. Before diving deeper into the benefits of ankle weights in badminton, you need to learn what is the purpose of them in the first place.

What Is The Purpose of Ankle Weights?

Ankle weights have one single purpose, which is to add more weight to your legs. Most ankle weights remind sandbags that weigh between 1-5lbs (0.5-2.5kg) each. There are also 10lbs (5kg) ankle weights, but you need really powerful legs for that.

In essence, ankle weights are used to create more toned and lean legs that have power in a shorter amount of time. The great thing about ankle weights is that when you add them to your legs, your muscles won’t so easily break, so you can naturally use them in badminton, running, walking, or where ever.

However, the added resistance and weight are enough to make your muscles work harder than usual, which is beneficial for gaining strength, muscles, and endurance.

Ankle weights certainly have more benefits than cons, but there are cons as well, which I will talk about later. But now, let’s learn about the benefits of using ankle weights in badminton.

What Are The Benefits of Using Ankle Weights In Badminton?

There are four main benefits to badminton that ankle weights can add. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Ankle Weights Increase Muscle Mass

When talking about gaining muscle mass, many people immediately think about world-class bodybuilders, but there are more ways to gain muscle than powerlifting.

Badminton has a lot of running, dashes, and jumping, so when you add extra weight to your legs, you need to work harder on the court, increasing muscle growth in your muscles.

You can train every muscle with ankle weight by placing them on your hands and doing various drills, but when used in badminton, the following muscles are worked out the most:

• Calves
• Quads
• Hamstrings
• Glutes

Using the progressive overload method, which essentially means that you increase the weights, repetitions, or frequency of your training, can skyrocket your strength and muscle gain that will benefit you in badminton. Progressive overload is often connected to strength training, but it can be used in badminton by adding bigger weights to your ankles or increasing your training time.

2. You Burn More Calories With Ankle Weights

Burning calories is an occurrence that happens all the time. The more you work and strain yourself, the more calories you burn. Sports obviously are at the top of the list that burns the most calories, but so does walking, sitting, and even sleeping.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, a person weighing 155lbs (70kg) burns 493 calories in an hour when playing competitive badminton. Now, another study proves that wearing an ankle weighs between 1-3lbs (0.5-1.5kg) while running increased the burned calories by more than 10%.

Given that badminton has a lot of jumping and sudden dashes, I suspect that the burned calories would be more than 10% when used ankle weights. Anyways, if the regularly burned calories are 493kcal/h, then you would burn at least 542kcal/h if you were to use 1-3lbs (0.5-1.5kg) ankle weights.

The same principle holds if you were to play casual badminton that burns 317kcal/h on average when you weigh 155lbs (70kg). Thus, with ankle weights, you would burn 349kcal/h)

3. Ankle Weights Improve Endurance

The third great benefit of ankle weights is improved endurance. As you add extra weight to your legs and run, dash, and jump on the court, the extra force you need to give helps to increase your stamina more efficiently.

This builds your overall endurance that is beneficial in many other ways than just badminton. Also, it also helps your cardiovascular system and pulmonary health.

4. Many Badminton Skills Will Become Easier

All things considered, when you have more muscles, increased endurance capacity, and your body is chiseled from burning extra calories, it’s safe to say that you will be more powerful, faster, and you can uphold a serious competition longer.

Also, your movement will feel easier when you have less fat from the burned calories and when your feet are used to extra weight. Now that suddenly you don’t have the extra weight, it feels like you can almost float.

There are various badminton skills, and these are improved by using ankle weights:

• Serving
• Strokes
• Footwork
• Speed
• Stance

What Is a Good Weight for Ankle Weights?

As a general rule, ankle weights between 1 to 3lbs (0.5-1.4kg) are the best choice for most people because they are safe to use, yet don’t lack any benefits. Ankle weights weighing 1-3lbs can increase burned calories by 5-15%, and your muscle growth is faster, and endurance capacity is more extensive.

If you start to feel that 1-3lbs ankle weights are too light, then, by all means, increase the weight. But remember that the more additional weight you have in your feet, the more force there is to sprain your ankle and strain your joints if you would misplace your step or use them too much.

Are There Any Disadvantages In Ankle Weights?

As great as ankle weights can be, there are risks and cons as well. Most of the cons are related to injury, especially towards joints. However, ankle weights make you burn more calories, so you need to replenish your energy by keeping yourself well hydrated and fed. Don’t let your calorie deficit get too low.

Also, when extra weight is added, it can lead to exhaustion and extra sore muscles, so remember that there is a limit to everything, including ankle weights. Excessive use of ankle weights can lead to:

• Serious Joint Stress
• Joint Overload Which Can Cause Injuries
• Excessive Calorie Deficit
• Long Exhaustion and Muscle Soreness

You need to keep in mind the following rules of thumb to have a positive experience with ankle weights when playing badminton.

• Try different ankle weights: Not all ankle weights are the same. If you are a beginner with them, start with the lightest ones and work your way up if you feel that more weight is necessary. Also, there are differences in models, so having a proper kind of ankle weights such as these ones is important.
• Don’t play a serious match with them: Ankle weights are more for training, not for a serious badminton match. This is because when getting serious, you give all your energy, and when you misstep in the middle of a heated game, it is more dangerous with extra weight on your ankles.
• Practice the right footwork technique with care: People are known to sprain ankles when using ankle weights, and it is no wonder because more force will go to the sprain, so lesser ankle twists can be more serious. Be sure that you are careful and your footwork is in order to minimize the risk of injury.
• Don’t use them for long periods of time: Last but probably the most important thing is don’t use them for too long. Often when a person gets an injury from using ankle weights, one has used them for too long and placed too much pressure on joints which can cause long recovery times.

Can You Use Ankle Weights In Other Sports Than Badminton?

You definitely can use ankle weights in other sports than badminton. Sports such as tennis, running, walking, boxing, squash, and strength training are all great sports that can use ankle weights. However, ice hockey, skateboarding, karate, and swimming won’t work well with ankle weights.

Can you spot the pattern? Sports that doesen’t use legs in the wrong way for ankle weights can use them, but when you need to kick something like a football or another person in karate, it can cause severe injuries because of the extra weight targeted to muscles or joints in the wrong way. Also, imagine skateboarding with ankle weights.