These 17 low-impact exercises deserve a place in your exercise routine because they burn calories and put less strain on your joints and muscles.
Are low-impact exercises effective in achieving your health and weight loss goals?
If you want to do a solid workout, don't be fooled by the term 'low-impact exercise.
This type of exercise helps you burn fat and reshape your body composition without the stress of high-impact movements.
And you can exercise your whole body without a personal trainer or gym equipment starting today.
What is a low-impact exercise?
Before you go through our list of the most popular low-impact exercises to try, you should first know the difference between them and high-impact workouts.Low-impact exercises minimize the strength and stress exerted on muscles and joints (such as hips, knees, and ankles) during workouts.
These exercises aim to keep one foot on the ground. Jumping movements are not allowed.
High-impact workouts put more strength and stress on your muscles and joints.
They require both feet to be lifted off the ground at the same time. Some examples of high-impact exercises are jumping jacks, CrossFit, and high-intensity interval training.
It's a myth that low-impact cardio or strength exercises require less work.
If you do them correctly, you will still reach 40-50% of your maximum heart rate and sweating.
Don't you use a heart rate monitor to measure it? So you should know that you must be able to speak but have trouble singing when you do the exercises.
This ideal low-impact exercise point (minimum strength, maximum heart rate) harnesses stored fat for energy and helps you lose weight.
And a low-impact exercise routine is beneficial for recovery, especially if you prefer a higher-impact exercise routine.
When should you consider a low-impact exercise?
There are three times when you should choose a low-impact exercise over a high-impact activity:1. You switch to a low-carb ketogenic diet.
Transitioning from a high-carb diet can cause you to experience flu-like symptoms called keto flu.Muscle pain, lack of energy, and headaches can affect you for the first few weeks as you approach ketosis.
Instead of relaxing and resting like you would with the real flu, it may be smarter to exercise to overcome the discomfort.
Exercising will speed up the transition to ketosis, and burn stored glycogen faster, so you'll free yourself from these side effects sooner.
Replace your high-intensity exercises during this time with low-impact exercises.
They will allow your heart to pump blood, hence the health benefits of exercise, without depleting your already low energy.
Don't worry; This detox period should only last until you are completely in ketosis (about two to three weeks).
Once in ketosis, if you decide to increase your intensity, remember that these low-impact workouts are a great option for recovery days.
Just make sure that you don't face any of the other conditions on this list, like the one below.
2. You have hormonal problems and imbalances
Many factors affect your hormonal balance.Your diet, stress levels, sleep quality, and environment all play a fundamental role. But the type of exercise and the duration of the exercise can also contribute to hormonal disruptions.
Watch the immune system overtraining tests and causes your body to release stress hormones.
This can happen if you start exercising again after a few months off or if you are an elite athlete striving to reach your next personal best.
Your body can also have this reaction if you don't give it enough rest and recovery between workouts.
Add that physical stress to the stress you're already dealing with and you'll put too much strain on your body.
This can upset your hormonal balance and leave you with unwanted symptoms like fatigue, constant hunger pang, and an inability to lose weight.
To avoid this, Ten is careful with the 12 warning signs of overtraining and consider switching to low-impact exercises.
You'll get all the health benefits of exercise without overloading your body.
Are you already struggling with hormonal imbalances or endocrine disorders?
Certain conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes, and adrenal, hypothalamic, or cerebral thyroid problems are extremely sensitive and are affected by high-impact exercises.
See how you feel after your workouts. If you are too tired to eat and prefer to sleep, your workout may be too intense.
You should feel energized and sometimes euphoric after a workout thanks to the flow of endorphins that exercise brings.
Fortunately, there are many amazing low-impact exercises out there to get your heart pumping without stressing your hormones.
3. You have a specific condition or existing pain
Since low-impact exercises put less force and strain on muscles and joints, it's ideal for those who:they are injured
They suffer from arthritis or joint pain.
are very overweight or obese
In addition, pregnant women may consider low-impact workouts, especially during pregnancy.
And if you've recently started exercising after taking time off, it's best to restart your exercise routine with low-impact movements.
As always, it's best to speak with your doctor first, as they know your specific conditions.
Once you get their green light, you can try all of our favorite low-impact exercises, listed below:
The 17 Best Low-Impact Exercises for Weight Loss
1: Walk or hike
Walking outside or on a treadmill is the simplest activity for weight loss.Even though you won't burn as many calories walking as if you were running, a one-hour walk can burn between 200 and 500 calories.
To increase your calorie expenditure, climb slopes and hills (to work your glutes) and speed up.
Walking in the sand and snow, or doing a few lunges, will also add to the challenge and calorie expenditure.
2: Swim
Swimming is the closest thing to the zero impact of low-impact exercise.
You may not even feel like you're doing much, but your whole body gets exactly what it needs.
Water resistance will help you burn between 300 and 500 calories, depending on your weight and the speed at which you swim.
3: Aquagym
Doing aerobics in the shallow part of the pool gives your body resistance to work against.Like swimming, it also makes your heart beat without straining your joints.
One hour of water aerobics can burn 200–350 calories.
4: Dance and Aerobic Step
Dance classes like Zumba and other similar aerobics options have a bad reputation.But a low-impact aerobic dance class will burn 300–500 calories per hour. And an hour of staggered aerobics class burns just over 400–600+ calories.
In one small study that was conducted, women in an aerobic dance class lost as much body mass as those who jogged and biked. They also improved their body composition in the same way.
Therefore, you will get all the benefits without constantly straining the same joints and muscles.
5: Rowing
Rowing on a stationary rowing machine or in the water burns an incredible amount of calories and strengthens the upper body.Depending on your speed and weight, you can consume 400–600+ calories per hour.
Rowing is excellent too if you are short on time. A 30-minute session consumes about 200 calories.
And those calories are burned with moderate effort, proving that you don't have to work very hard to get a decent calorie burn.
6: Kayak
One hour of kayaking burns 300–400 calories while improving your cardiovascular health and muscle strength.The best thing about kayaking is that it forces you to get outside. Thus, you also get all the mental health benefits related to nature.
You will have a good workout and can reduce your stress levels and improve your mental health just by being outdoors.
7: The bike (the right kind)
A normal spin class may be too intense, but that doesn't mean you can't ride a bike moderately from time to time.As long as you maintain a comfortable pace, a stationary bike or slow cycle session can be considered low-impact.
At a moderate pace, a stationary bike session burns between 400–600+ calories per hour.
If you experience joint pain while riding, try a bike lying lower to relieve your knees.
8: TRX
Have you ever wondered what those long yellow stripes are for in your gym or on TV?These suspension strips are called TRX strips. They were developed by a former Navy SEAL commander, Randy Hetrick.
One end of the tape is attached to a fixed object, such as a shaft or metal frame. Then you grab the handles at the other end to perform your exercises.
TRX workouts provide total body toning and engage your heart.
Simply slide your hands and feet into the curls for upper and lower-body workouts.
Since you use your body weight and resistance bands, you will have a tough workout without running out of steam.
Use the following exercise to prepare for TRX, as it may be too advanced if you're just starting out.
9: Easy Resistance Training
Another great low-impact workout option is simply to use your body weight or workout bands to add easy resistance.You can perform several different movements to create a circuit, which can then be repeated two or three times.
A circuit workout like this can burn 500–700+ calories per hour.
10: Yoga
Yoga is a total body exercise.
Power yoga and Vinyasa streams combine proper fitness with increased physical exertion. Some classes even add a little heat to burn calories and make your heart beat faster.
A slower, Hatha-style yoga class can help you relax and rejuvenate, both benefits for hormonal balance and weight loss.
Slower classes burn 240–350 calories per hour, while an electrical flow or Vinyasa burns much more.
11: Pilates
Pilates, a low-impact exercise developed by Joseph Pilates, focuses on strengthening your core to improve your flexibility and posture.While most gyms have reformers and other unique pieces of equipment, which resemble torture devices, you'll find plenty of mat exercises to do at home.
When you do, a typical one-hour session can burn an average of 360 calories.
12: Bar
The bar, another class of low-impact exercises that are gaining popularity, focuses on improving strength, flexibility, and agility.This is done through a variety of movements inspired by ballet and Pilates. The exercises can be done in a gym or by streaming online classes.
13: Elliptical
The elliptical machine mimics the act of cross-country skiing, which is a monstrous cardio workout. Get on a machine and you'll burn more calories than walking on a treadmill.Sliding your arms and feet back and forth offers a solid upper and lower body workout to burn 500–800 calories per hour.
14: climber
The climber can have a low impact if done correctly. Ideally, you shouldn't go too fast or too long to reduce the impact.Stop using a stairlift if you experience knee pain. And talk to your doctor before using it again.
You'll burn 140 to over 400 calories in 30 minutes on a stairlift, depending on your weight.
This is a great pair to pair with upper body strength training. You will have a full-body workout that burns calories without burning you.
15: Climbing
Climbing requires you to use the upper and lower body at the same time.Now that climbing gyms are popping up everywhere, you don't need to go outside to enjoy this low-impact workout.
16: Skating
Skating, like cycling, can have a low impact as long as you take it easy and enjoy the ride.A one-hour session can burn between 200–600 calories and also allows you to get out in nature, which can improve your mental health and reduce your stress levels.
The same can be said for the next low-impact workout.
17: Golf
A round of golf usually lasts about four hours. So you can burn 400 to 600 calories per game if you use a golf cart.Bring your sticks and you will burn 600 to nearly 1000 calories per turn.
Do it and you'll get a great workout without overdoing it.
Try these low-impact exercises today
Low-impact exercises will help you eliminate fat, burn carbs, and reshape your body composition. And you'll do it with less joint and muscle pain.Get the green light from your doctor before you start exercising. Then start with the exercise you most want to try (climbing for example?).
Change your low-impact options from time to time for a new challenge and something interesting to look forward to.
Now, you will have no problem staying motivated to exercise.