Ok, welcome to The most pointless piece of exercise equipment I have ever used. This product is wrong on a number of levels. They are expensive, uncomfortable and also physiologically have more of a negative impact on training than a positive one. Let me explain.
Here are the claims of Golds Gym with regards to their product.
Unique soft insert system allows for weight adjustment
(Changes in increments of 0.5 kg for a total weight of 2.5 kg each
Durable, dirt and water resistant nylon construction
Metal loop/velcro closure is secure and adjustable
Adding weights to your cardiovascular workout increases its intensity.
COMFORT
Ok so where to begin. well firstly the weights are extremely uncomfortable. No matter how hard you tighten the weights around your wrist or ankle, the weights still move about, which in turn starts to rub your skin. Now for me I have used them for both jogging and boxing. Well I can tell you after my first session, I never used them again and thats purely down to how uncomfortable they are to use. When I was shadow boxing the weights began to rub
on my wrists and with my jog I had to stop 2 times to refasten them as they were slipping up and down my leg.
DURABILITY
I have to confess, they were so uncomfortable I never used them for long enough to really get an appreciation of how durable they are. I would say however that they are fastened using velcro and in my experience of velcro shoes as a kid, you'll probably only get 3/4 months use before they are useless. Remember these are going to be used in relatively high impact scenarios so I can't really see the velcro lasting too long!!!! They are apparently dirt and water resistant, which I fear is more of a relief for your washing machine than anything else!
FUNCTIONALITY
You can change the weights in 0.5kg increments all the way up to 2.5kg. to be honest for me anything under 2.5kg seemed to have very little/slight impact on my training anyway, so the increments I feel are geared more towards girls rather than lads. Thats fine, but I would have prefered if they were slightly heavier.
PHYSIOLOGY
Ok this is the big one. I started using these weights thinking (and as advertised) that they will make my training more efficient by increasing the intensity. Well this is true to a certain level, but if you delve a little deeper into the physiology, you will see that in most cases they are actually counter productive. Here is a short explanation.......
SPEED TRAINING If you are using the weights as part of your speed training for events like sprinting, it is not really advised. Quite simply, speed events and in particular training for speed events require the development of elasticity in the muscles as well as the promotion of fast twitch muscles fibres. Using these weights will provide you with neither. In a word, if you train slow, you will remain slow. putting weights on your legs would be deemed counter productive to a sprinters training because it would slow them down. Many people think well if you train with the weights on, when you take them off you will be even faster. Unfortunately it doesn't work like that as all you have done is trained the fast twitch responses in your muscle fibres at a slower level, thus becoming slower.
ENDURANCE TRAINING
Ironically, the weights would not have a particulary great effect for endurance runners either. Once again, if you are training at a speed slower than your competition speed, it will be counter productive. The weights would be pointless for anything upto 1500m as these require a balance between endurance and speed. Anything above this like 3000m and the body has to work aerobically at its optimum to achieve the best results. Training at a slower speed would be completely counterproductive because the aim is to work as hard and as fast as you can for the distance required (i.e its no good training with the weights optimally for 2000m when you've got to run without the weights optimally to 3000m).
I cannot think of any team sports who's training would be beneffited by using the wrist and ankle supports. Again many team sports e.g Football require a combination of speed and stamina, on the basis that the weights provide excellence in neither, they become redundant.
RECOVERY
Perhaps they're only use is in a recovery setting where a leg needs to benefit from an increase in weight (e.g recovery from a knee operation). Because the weights can be incremented gradually, this could have a low level effect in improving muscular tonality and strength). However, the effect would be very small and having had a serious knee injury, the physio tends to be extremely delicate and more centred around range of movement in its early phases rater than strength building, therefore even here the weights are not really that useful).
INDIVIDUAL SPORTS (BOXING)
Again I'll use boxing as my example because its the one I used the weights for. Now here there is one scenario where the weights could be deemed useful. In boxing you require muscular endurance to get through a fight as well as speed in your punches. However again, as a boxer, you should train maximally at the speed at which you will fight your opponent (not at the slower speed with thew weights on). However you could use the weights when you are trying to make weight for a fight. That is to say, you are not always training at a slower speed, but a day before the fight, you train with the weights on to increase the intensity in that session and therefore help decrease your weight.
GYM CLASSES
At last I have found why they have been invented! If you purely train to keep fit, then the weights would have some benefit in something like an aerobics class. They would certainly raise the intensity that you would have to work at to complete the class, and would help promote weight loss and an element of toning.
PRICE
Brand new these will cost you £17.99 from the golds gym website (goldsgymdirect.co.uk). However if you really want them, try amazon where you'll pick them up for a much more realistic £6 (amazon.com)
In conclusion, on the whole, if your an elite trainer or someone who likes to get the most out of your sport, I think these weights are quite frankly a complete waste of money. They are uncomfortable and will be more counter productive to your training than you may have realised. That said, if your a gym goer and in particular enjoy circuit or aerobic classes, then perhaps they will add some benefit to your training (but they are still uncomfortable)
I hope that helps anyone who is thinking of buying these?
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