Walking and weights

Question
I am a 55 yr old female.  I work full time but discipline myself to walk briskly 2 miles every evening.  Would it be beneficial to wear ankle and/or wrist weights while I walk?  I have absolutely no medical restrictions and am in excellent health.  Thank you.

Answer
Ankle weights are something I would advise against. The weight at the end of the long lever of your leg just increases your risk of injury.

However, the idea of carrying extra weight to increase the intensity of the workout is a good one. Weights on the wrist or strapped around the waist can accomplish this without undue strain on tendons and ligaments.

As with any change in exercise routines, you should incorporate the weights gradually, starting with light weights and slowly increasing the load. You will have to judge how much you can tolerate, but in general it doesn't take much extra weight to get the heart rate to a pretty high level.