[brianbauer]

training with leg weights is not something that appears in the Uphill Athlete, and no one talks about it, so I guess its been proven as not effective?

I am currently training for my first skimo race season. I come from Ultra trail racing. about 8 weeks ago I started incorporating leg strength and LT threshold intervals…because these 2 things are not a focus in my ultra distance training. My uphill running has definitely improved as I am now able to complete 60 mins of uphill running at 10% incline holding 90% of my max HR without breaking my LT.
yesterday as an experiment I did 4 laps( on foot) of my local resort( 4k vert) using 6lb leg weights on each leg. my lap times were within 30 seconds of my unweighted times, my HR and perceived effort were the same, and I did not notice any new muscle strain. I liked the experiment because it showed me that the added weight was not going to reduce me to a crawl. that said, training with leg weights seems to be a polarizing topic, and no one seems to do it. I am not clear on exactly why that is…

Topic

[Mariner_9]

Mariner_9 on November 28, 2021 at 10:41 am #59970

Hi Brian,

I used to use ankle weights (in addition to weight in a pack) for weighted stair climbs, either for ME workouts or for Z1/Z2 aerobic workouts. The idea was to replicate weight-on-foot for splitboarding. Unfortunately I don’t have data on how my times/TSS (etc.) compared with and without weights.

I think that if you hike during the summer, you will anyway get some of this effect as hiking boots are typically *much* heavier than trail running shoes, though still less than skis + bindings + boots + socks.

I’d also be interested in hearing from the experts on this topic.

[jakedev]

jakedev on November 28, 2021 at 10:54 am #59972

I too use ankle weights during my ME build up in the fall with the weighted Hill climbs. The idea was to mimic the ice boots and deep snow post holing effort. Not exact but I felt it helped and prepared me. You are correct that there isn’t much mention of it in UA books or plans that I’ve seen. Like anything I guess if it works for you and feel like you recover well then go for it. Will be following as well.

[Chet]

Chet on December 1, 2021 at 1:12 pm #60168

This was addressed/answered under my 2/23/21 question in the ski-mountaineering section….answer was essentially train with ankle weights Later not earlier in your training…..look there, Chet Roe