LOW IMPACT WORKOUTS vs. HIGH IMPACT WORKOUTS FOR YOUR HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

Today we see so many high impact exercise moves on social media, I feel the need to write about how awesome low impact workouts are as well. Am I impressed when I see others do high impact moves? Absolutely! It takes a lot of strength to be able to do this safely and effectively. BUT I also feel the majority of us are not able to do those moves very safely, especially as we age. Sooooo….. I wanted to talk about low impact exercising and it’s awesome benefits.

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Don’t get me wrong. I am all for high intensity exercising if it’s not going to put you at risk of injuring yourself, but if it is, I think it’s worth thinking about before we embark on these types of moves in our lives. Many times we feel fine while we are doing the high impact exercise, but perhaps the next day or maybe next few days, our bodies are hurting from stress it endured during these high impact moves. When we were young our body was able to recover from this stress quickly, but as we age it gets harder and harder to recover quickly!!

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WHAT IS A LOW IMPACT VERSES A HIGH IMPACT EXERCISE?

Low impact exercise is a work out where at least one of your feet remains in contact with the ground at all times, such as walking, hiking, biking, swimming, treadmill, elliptical, rowing, pilates, and yoga. High impact exercises are when both feet leave the ground at the same time, as is the case during running, hopping, jumping rope, skipping, jumping jacks, plyometrics, some step aerobics (if you jump on or off the step or run around the room), and some cardio dancing that involves leaping.

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high impact exercise / jumping & running

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF LOW IMPACT EXERCISE?

Strength and endurance – low impact workouts are great for slowly building up strength and muscle endurance over time without putting stress on the joints.
Fat loss – participating in low impact exercise is a great way to lose weight. For those suffering from joint discomfort or injuries, low impact exercise is a great way to still be able to enjoy a healthy lifestyle, without making existing conditions worse.
Increased cardiovascular health – one of the most important reasons to exercise is to see an improvement in your cardiovascular system and prevent the development of cardiovascular disease. This doesn’t mean you have to be running marathons but doing regular low-impact exercises can help with your cardiovascular health.

WHO WOULD BENEFIT FROM LOW IMPACT EXERCISE?

Well, just about anyone would benefit from this type of exercise, but it is actually recommended for the following types of people:

Low impact exercise is fantastic for those who have joint or back problems. When we have pain it’s tempting to stop any physical activity at the risk of making your joints worse. However, keeping active is very beneficial for those suffering from joint discomfort. The same goes for back pain. If your back pain is so bad that you need physical therapy rehab, you might need to wait until your doctor is ok for you to exercise, but once you are given the ok to exercise, movement helps to keep the back pain at bay.
People who are obese would greatly benefit from low impact moves. Weight can really stress out your joints, so doing low impact exercise will have less stress on the joints.
Elderly people benefit very much from low impact exercise. As we age, our joints are becoming stiffer, and sometimes people may experience a decrease in lean body mass as we age. Research shows that long-term exercise can slow down the process of losing our muscle mass, and therefore a 30-minute exercise routine once a day is highly recommended.
Low impact exercise is recommended for pregnant women as it can help relieve discomfort and prepare your body for labor and delivery. In general, it is recommended to not do high impact exercises while you are pregnant.

CAN YOU HAVE AN INTENSE LOW IMPACT EXERCISE?

Absolutely!!! Come to a spin class. This is a high intensity low impact class. You are in complete control of your tension, speed and wattage, and if you use those things to help you work your hardest, you will have an amazing high intensity low impact work out. You just need to use what you are in control of, and make it challenging for yourself.

With many low impact exercises, some people think they are not as challenging, but if you give yourself your own interval high intensity work out, you will be wiped out when you are done. Take any low impact exercise, and ramp it up for 3 minutes, and then give yourself a 90 second to 2 minute active recovery. Then, do it again until you are done with your cardio work out. I promise, if you gave it your all for those 3 minutes and truly recovered and kept doing this again and again, you will have a great low impact high intensity work out.

If you are swimming, you can swim some very quick laps followed by a few recovery laps, and do this your entire workout. If you are on the elliptical, you can move more quickly with higher resistance until you are gasping for air, and then recover (and repeat). If you are on a treadmill, you can increase your hill and speed until you can’t any more, and then back it off for an active recovery (and repeat).

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All in all, we all have to listen to our own bodies every day and do what is right for us. Low impact or high impact, any type of exercise is fantastic for the heart and soul.

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Just Keep Moving! Movement is Medicine!