Ankle Weights: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
Beginning of comp season - this is the time of year when I always have a handful of questions regarding the use of ankle weights in the studio. While I understand the intention behind using them, they often cause more harm than good and aren’t the most effective or safe way to build strength to support dance performance.
The good: Spoiler alert, there’s no good. Really the only time ankle weights might be appropriate is short, calculated bouts for the very advanced or professional level dancer with excellent technique and alignment.
The Bad: Placing weight at the end of your leg and then dancing with it causes abnormal and compensatory muscle activation patterns, reinforcing faulty technique and movements, which adversely affects technique and performance. Any perceived improvement immediately after removing the weights is only temporary.
The Ugly: Ankle weights can easily overload muscles and joints, and cause or contribute to overuse injury. This is especially true in young growing dancers. It is important to understand that even “just” a 1 or 2 lb. weight is actually quite a bit of load when placed way down at the ankle. Think about holding a full water bottle close to you and then extending your arm and holding it away from your body. It feels very different.
Alternative Solutions: If the goal is to get knees straighter, legs higher, and leaps more dynamic, you want to strengthen very intentionally the deep core and hip muscles, add plyometric type drills, and do these things separately to support your dancing. Oftentimes body weight conditioning exercises done properly are sufficient to build strength. Starting by simply teaching young dancers to correctly engage and use their core in good alignment can be an exciting “light bulb” moment and a game changer for their overall performance. There are many excellent resources available online (not social media trends!). If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Trusted resources for dancers, families, and teachers:
Dance/USA Taskforce on Dancer Health
IADMS
Safe In Dance
