Even though it may sound weird at first, ankle straps for dumbbells are a fresh and effective way to spice up your leg day.
By being able to attach a dumbbell securely to your ankle, you get to exercise your hip flexors in a new way. While it may not be impressive, we all know how important of a role healthy hips play in overall injury prevention.
So, is there more to these ankle straps for dumbbells? Of course, there is, so let’s talk about it.
Table of Contents
What Are Ankle Straps For Dumbbells?
Despite their self-explanatory name, it may not be entirely clear to newbies what this strap is.
As you can see, the Hybrid Athlete Ankle Strap for dumbbells is a single-piece, multi-belted strap that allows you to attach any type of dumbbell to your foot in a secure manner. The belts are made of heavy-duty nylon that you can adjust to your foot size. On top of that, this ankle strap for dumbbells can handle up to 45 kg of load.
Logically, hip flexor raises are the go-to choice. But with the firm grip this ankle strap offers, you can do a plethora of other lower-body exercises. Let’s see.
What Exercises Can I Do With Ankle Straps For Dumbbells?
Even though the instinctive target of the ankle strap for dumbbells is the hips, there’s a whole list of exercises you can do with it:
- Hip Flexor Raises
- Hip Abductions
- Leg Curls
- Leg Extensions
- Tibialis Raises
Hip Flexor Leg Raises
This is by far the bread-and-butter exercise of the ankle strap. Here’s how to do hip flexor raises with it:
- Use the strap system to firmly attach both your foot and the dumbbell
- Stand on a slightly elevated surface with your other leg (this can be done on a flat one as well)
- Square your hips and brace your core
- Leading with your knee, raise your leg up toward your chest
- Hold for a brief moment
- Repeat
Hip Abductions
The set-up for hip abductions with the ankle strap for dumbbells is similar. After you attach the dumbbell and secure your foot, all you have to do is:
- Brace your core and square your hips
- Push the weight away to the side with your working leg
- Hold for a brief moment at the range of motion limit
- Release and repeat
*Start with a small dumbbell. The center of gravity shifts since the dumbbell is at the point furthest away from you. By doing it steady you show real strength.
Leg Curls
The ankle strap can be used for pumping out ham curl reps as well. This is how you do ham curls with the ankle strap:
- Attach and secure the dumbbell to your foot
- Stand upright (you can use a small elevated surface) with your other leg
- Without raising it, bend your leg at the knee, contracting your hamstrings
- Hold for a moment
- Release and repeat
Leg Extensions
This one you do sitting down. To do leg extensions with the ankle strap for dumbbells, you need to:
- Sit on a bench with your legs over the edge. Attach and secure the ankle strap and the weight
- While sitting up, grab the bench on both sides (for balance) and brace your core
- Extend the loaded leg at the knee by squeezing your quads
- Hold for a moment in the extended position
- Release and repeat
Tibialis Raises
Lastly, we have the shin muscle champion, the tib raise. Admittedly, nothing targets the tibialis anterior like the Tib Bar, but the ankle strap is not lagging that far behind. Points for versatility, right?
The set-up is similar to leg extensions, only this time, you bend at the ankle, with the strap acting as a solo tib bar. Here’s how to do tibialis raises with an ankle strap for dumbbells:
- Attach the strap and the dumbbell to your foot
- Sit on a bench or a box with your knees behind the edge
- Dorsiflex your ankle to feel the contraction
- Hold for a moment
- Release and repeat
Muscles You Can Target With The Ankle Strap for Dumbbells
As you can see, the ankle strap tackles a lot of muscle groups, mainly in the lower body. You can tackle:
- Hip Flexors – targeting not only weak, but tight hip flexors
- Posterior Chain – hamstring leg curls with free weight
- Quads – leg extensions with a fresh twist on the center of mass
- Tibialis Anterior – tibialis raises for tibialis strength as a bulletproofing method
Of course, the ankle strap for dumbbells will be more or less effective in some cases (e.g. tibialis raises are more effective with a Tib Bar). But it is a great stand-in for several lower-leg exercises.
Mix In The Ankle Strap For Dumbbells Into Your Leg Day ASAP
The benefits of the ankle strap for dumbbells are plenty – a lot of different exercises and muscle groups you can tackle. But one thing stands out – convenience.
You can turn your dumbbells into leg machines in a few moments.
We would be crazy not to tell you about the Hybrid Athlete Ankle Straps, we use them ourselves. Check them out here:
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