Many of you may be walking with weights. You do this in order to kill two birds with one stone, so that you do not have to take more time out of your busy life to lift weights. You probably feel a “burn,” and you feel like you are exercising your body correctly. In my opinion, you may only be hurting yourself.

That “burn” you sense may not be that “good workout” feel. In fact, you are probably just straining your ligaments and tendons. By doing this, you may eventually have joint problems. Another common side effect is high blood pressure. Many people attribute the multi-tasking while exercising to the 1980’s, when people used to flail their arms around in dance class. It turns out we really should not be copying them when it comes to weights and walking.

Most of the time, walking with weights is only going to hurt your joints. If you really want to add weight, try putting a vest on. This is a much safer approach. While you may think that the vest is too easy, it is a much safer option than carrying them around in your hands.

Another note about safety is that if you are holding dumbbells, you are making it harder on yourself than it needs to be if an emergency situation presented itself – even tripping over a sidewalk. You will be able to protect yourself better if you have your hands free.

The risks outweigh the benefits when it comes to exercising with weights while walking. It is important to engage in strength training, but you will get a lot more out of a weight lifting session separate from the walk. Also, by doing this, you can improve your own walk. Instead using weights, improve your walk in other ways. For example, you could increase the speed of your walk, or add some hills in your walk! Even better, add a “wog” (a combination between a walk and a jog), or even a normal jog.

Trust me, without those dumbbells, your walk is going to be much more effective.