Why we DON’T train with ankle weights.

It’s nearly impossible to scroll through Instagram lately and not see a video of a young dancer with ankle weights performing an arabesque, scorpion, needle, leg lift, jete, insert any dance skill you can think of , etc. And while at first glance you might think “yes, adding weight to a dance move/strengthening exercise will make my dancers stronger and therefore I’m going to order 100 ankle weights for the studio”...read this first.

One of the main arguments we hear in favour of ankle weights is that movement will feel effortless/weightless as soon as you remove them, so that must mean you’re getting stronger with them on. Of course, if you’re doing a jete with weights on your legs and then you remove them, you will 100% feel lighter. However, does this mean that you’ve actually gotten stronger? Or are you just lighter without them on? (Hint: it’s the latter). 

Our main reason for not using ankle weights is that the further weight is placed from the midline of the body (a long lever), the more stress it can place on the knees, hips and lower back, and if a dancer isn’t strong enough already to meet that demand, they’re going to compensate for their lack of strength in other areas, potentially increasing their risk of injury. This is especially important when considering young, growing dancers. There are growth plates at the joints that may not yet be fused, and these are vulnerable to injury - for example, placing an weight on the ankle and then having your dancer perform leg lifts, extensions, kicks, etc., is going to place a considerable amount of strain on the knee joint, where their growth plate may not yet be fused. If you’re looking to improve the strength of the specific muscles responsible for lifting their legs, there’s better, more specific ways to go about it that won’t place so much torque on their joints. 

So when are ankle weights ok? 

Ankle weights should only be considered when a dancer can demonstrate proper technique, alignment and control of a movement without the weights. And even then, we caution against using ankle weights to perform dance skills. There are certain strengthening exercises that for advanced dancers, ankle weights might contribute to improving muscle activation and strengthening, but we would never have a dancer strap a pair of weights on and perform their entire barre routine or do kicks/jumps across the floor. The science just doesn’t back it - adding weight at the furthest point on a limb and then performing extremely complex movements that require global muscular activation and coordination does not equal stronger muscles, it equals imbalances and compensations that will hurt your technique in the long run.