WAG Ankle Weights for all workouts

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pinklemonadeliz

Proud Parent
My 11y/o dd's coach has recently started making the girls wear 5lb ankle weights during all of their workouts (3 practices per week, 3hrs each) - her back is starting to bother her & I'm wondering if it's because of the weights. I've heard it's not good to wear them that much but wanted opinions from those who know the scoop.

Thanks!!
 
Not good at all. No way would I allow that for anything but some basic conditioning. At 11 she is growing too. The coach is asking for stress fractures. Dunno posted about this a while back, I will try to find it.
 
My 11y/o dd's coach has recently started making the girls wear 5lb ankle weights during all of their workouts (3 practices per week, 3hrs each) - her back is starting to bother her & I'm wondering if it's because of the weights. I've heard it's not good to wear them that much but wanted opinions from those who know the scoop.

Thanks!!

9 hours per week wearing ankle weights? Not what I would recommend.
 
I also think it's a bad idea. Good for conditionning and jumps and leaps. But for every single skill, it certainly isn't. I learned in university that ankle weight aren't necessarily good, especially if you're in the learning phase of as skill. Your brain and muscles learn to do the move with the weights. Once you take them off, you're body isn't adapted. I could compare this to growth spurt.

I'm also shocked by the fact that the coach started that suddenly and for every practices. Progression principle isn't respected!
 
I also think it's a bad idea. Good for conditionning and jumps and leaps. But for every single skill, it certainly isn't. I learned in university that ankle weight aren't necessarily good, especially if you're in the learning phase of as skill. Your brain and muscles learn to do the move with the weights. Once you take them off, you're body isn't adapted. I could compare this to growth spurt.

I'm also shocked by the fact that the coach started that suddenly and for every practices. Progression principle isn't respected!

She did it out of the blue - our pre-team (Levels 1, 2, 3) wear them for all conditioning & our older teams (5+) wear them occasionally, but as of this Winter Break, our L 4's wear them all workout, every workout. I agree it's odd that it started so suddenly... the coach says she's trying to get them stronger.
 
DDs gym will use them for leap and bar training. Not all the time, but maybe once a week or so... My DD (not the best bar worker) is surprisingly really good at doing kips w/ ankle weights on...they are actually kinda better w/ the weights than w/o...go figure, huh?... I tease her and say she should wear them for meets!, but she tells me squat ons would be a big issue w/ them on...;)...
 
She'll get them hurt before they even have time to get stronger...

Does the head coach know about this? I'm a kinesiologist, and I think it's really concerning! Especially coming back from a break, when you don't want to get back to training as if you'd have kept training as usual!!
 
She'll get them hurt before they even have time to get stronger...

Does the head coach know about this? I'm a kinesiologist, and I think it's really concerning! Especially coming back from a break, when you don't want to get back to training as if you'd have kept training as usual!!

I agree! My first thought would be that "of course the HC knows, he's there every day during our workouts" - but then again, he's busy w/ the 5+'s so maybe he doesn't realize. I think I'll bring it up - just to feel out what he thinks... if he's not receptive, maybe I'll just ask that my dd not wear them because of her back - she also has osgood schlaters in her knee so that can't be good for that issue either.

Wish me luck :-0
 
We have one day a week where we use ankle weights for all conditioning and that is it. Other than that we occasionally use them for jumps and leaps but otherwise we don't use them.
 
DD's gym only uses 1 pound ankle weights, and only for leaps and rope climbs. 5 pounds is a lot and it sounds like the consensus is this is a bad idea...good luck.
 
For those who have mentioned jumps and leaps with ankle weights, that is also a stupid idea. Practice the jump/leap motion with weights from a hang or support, but nothing where they are taking off/landing on a weighted ankle. Better to use a trampoline and resistance bands for leaps and jumps. You also need to be cautious about the size of the weight, what may seem light to an adult coach may actually be adding 30% extra to a childs bodyweight.
 
God's honest truth...hernia popped up (literally) 3 weeks after the training with the weights began..

Wow!! That's pretty scary! I can't imagine how upset I would be if something like that happened because of a coach training my dd improperly.... I hope they don't do that at your gym any longer (& hopefully they won't do it at mine much longer either!).
 

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