Physiological responses to walking with hand weights, wrist weights, and ankle weights

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Abstract
To compare the blood pressure (BP) responses to exercise with 1.36 kg (3.0 lb) hand-held weights (HW), wrist weights (WW), and ankle weights (AW), 12 sedentary males (20.8 .+-. 1.2 yr) completed three randomly assigned treadmill exercises at 75% maximum heart rate (HR) reserve. Systolic and diastolic BPs among HW (181.2 .+-. 21.9 and 73.2 .+-. 7.9 mm Hg), WW (180.1 .+-. 27.2 and 71.0 .+-. 10.1 mm Hg), and AW (183.8 .+-. 26.8 and 71.7 .+-. 7.8 mm Hg) were not significantly different (P > 0.05). When compared to exercise with no weights (NW), only the diastolic BP for HW was significantly different (+4.4 mm Hg, P < 0.05). To evaluate the energy cost of exercise with HW, WW, and AW, subjects completed a fourth exercise at constant treadmill speed (6.3 .+-. 0.3 km .cntdot. k-1) and grade (6.3 .+-. 1.4%). Oxygen uptake and HR responses were greater (P < 0.01) for HW (30.4 .+-. 0.8 ml .cntdot. min-1 .cntdot. kg-1; 160.06 .+-. 4.0 beats .cntdot. min-1), WW (30.4 .+-. 0.9 ml .cntdot. min-1 .cntdot. kg-1; 159.7 .+-. 4.6 beats .cntdot. min-1), and AW (29.0 .+-. 0.7 ml .cntdot. min-1 .cntdot. kg-1; 154.6 .+-. 4.4 beats .cntdot. min-1) than for exercise with NW (26.6 .+-. 0.7 ml .cntdot. min-1 .cntdot. kg-1; 147.0 .+-. 3.8 beats .cntdot. min-1). Oxygen uptake and HRs for HW and WW were greater than for AW (P < 0.05). Ratings of perceived exertion (Borg scale) for NW (11.7 .+-. 1.8), HW (12.1 .+-. 2.0), WW (12.2 .+-. 1.8), and AW (12.3 .+-. 1.8) were not significantly different (P > 0.05). These data suggest that hand-gripping associated with HW exercise may be responsible for a slight elevation is diastolic BP. The use of 1.36 kg HW or WW increase the energy cost of walking exercise to a greater extent than 1.36 kg AW. The increased energy cost associated with HW, WW, and AW can occur with little change in ratings of perceived exertion.

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