1. Wrist Weights Boost the Workout Intensity

When you run or walk strenuously, the point is to get your heart pumping and your lungs working. You also burn off calories with all that effort. But you can achieve these aims more easily when you add wrist weights to your program.

These wrist weights don’t have to be all that heavy. You can start with just a pound of weight, and they go gradually up to 3 pounds. Don’t go higher especially right at the start, as you can do more harm than good.

But when you’re walking with wrist weights, it does a lot of good. According to the American Council on Exercise, using these weights can boost your heart rate by as much as 5 to 10 beats per minute. You also increase your consumption of energy by 5 to 15 percent. Even your calorie expenditure goes up by 5 to 15 percent.

2. You Can Tone Your Biceps While Running

Toned biceps help you get stronger, and admittedly you also look better. So you can go walking, jogging, or running with wrist weights and you can target your biceps while you’re at it.

To do this right, strap on the wrist weights and start with light ones first. Then when you’re jogging, you have to make sure that you’re pumping your arms intensely. On your breaks, stand while you stretch your arms wide to each side, and then bend the elbows to draw your hands toward your shoulders.

3. Your Triceps Can Be Targeted Too

The triceps are on the opposite side to your biceps. They’re what you see hanging when you raise your arms, and so you want them firm instead of saggy and loose. You’re working your triceps when you’re pumping your arms, which you do in gym workouts and when you run. This is when you’re extending your forearm and then bending it back again.

In muscle-strengthening exercises, you usually build up the resistance slowly. You can’t just lift the same amount of weight for too long, since this loses effectiveness. The same principle applies to when you’re working your triceps when you run. You boost the resistance, so you’re building the muscle more effectively.

But don’t add too much weight too quickly. To add a bit more burn and for greater variety, you can also reach both your arms high over your head. Bend them at the elbows until your hands are behind your back. After that, extend the arms until they’re straight.

You can do this while you’re on a break from your run, since you can’t really do this while running without breaking your rhythm.

4. Wrist Weights Can Strengthen Your Shoulders

Most men love having thick, wide shoulders. Stronger shoulders can also help with women, especially when they’re partial to wearing tank tops or dresses with thin straps.

Either way, targeting your shoulders can make you stronger and wrist weights while jogging can help with that. It works very well with the back and forth movements of your shoulders even when you’re not pumping your arms.

Now on your running break, you can add an extra workout to your routine. Start by letting your arms hang loose at your sides. Then concentrate on your shoulder muscles as you raise your arms so that they’re parallel to the ground. Do this while you’re on your break and running in place.