Low-Impact Exercises Don’t Mean Low Quality
Many people believe that “low-impact exercises” aren’t beneficial. They hear the term low impact, and all they can think of is “low quality.” This simply isn’t true. In fact, many low-impact exercises are a wonderful way to get into shape, lose weight, and achieve your other fitness goals.
Personal trainers have been integrating low-impact exercises into high-impact workouts for decades.
Here are some of the exercises that they recommend:
HIIT Exercises
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a workout method where a person performs bursts of maximum effort with periods of rest in between. Many people have the false perception that only high-impact exercises are performed with HIIT. The truth is that you can also include low-impact exercises such as plank up-downs, speed squats, and lateral lunges.
Walking
If there’s a more popular low-impact exercise than walking, we have no idea what it is. Brisk walking is an excellent low-impact exercise that has several health benefits, including weight loss, weight management, improved mood, and better balance and coordination.
It can also help prevent or manage certain health conditions, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes. The best part is that you can easily integrate other activities into your walking, such as exploring your neighborhood, listening to audiobooks, or enjoying your favorite music. Walking might just be the perfect exercise!
Swimming
Swimming is an excellent low-impact exercise that will provide you with resistance training because of the water’s drag force. Many people swear by swimming as a way to lose weight, but it’s also great for the growth of multiple muscle groups. It can strengthen your core, back, shoulders, legs, and other parts of your body without being too intense. In fact, swimming is so beneficial that some homeowners will install a pool just so they can use it for exercising.
Cycling
Some people think of cycling as a high-impact exercise, but since your feet aren’t pounding on the pavement, it fits in the low-impact category. If you’re looking for a great low-impact exercise where you don’t have to deal with weights or worry about stressing out your joints, cycling is perfect.
This will get your heart rate up almost immediately and is especially helpful as part of a low-impact workout when you pedal as fast as you can for approximately 20 seconds and then rest for 10 seconds in multiple intervals. Just keep in mind that if you have problems with your knees, cycling might not be the best exercise for you.
Pilates
Pilates is a low-impact workout that has become extremely popular in the past decade or so. What you get out of Pilates will depend on the type of class you choose and your current fitness level. If you decide to add Pilates to your regular workout routine, you’ll discover that it improves muscle strength and balance.
More importantly, Pilates has been shown to improve a person’s basic quality of life. One of the best attributes of Pilates is that you can use it as part of a cross-training program with weightlifting, running, and other activities.
Barre
Inspired by ballet, barre is an incredible workout that focuses heavily on mobility and flexibility. This type of exercise can improve your stability and balance.
Barre classes can be vastly different from one another, so you may want to ask some questions before signing up. Many classes will give you a good amount of cardio exercise and muscular endurance work but will still be low-impact. It may not be as popular as Pilates, but practitioners swear by it.
Low-Impact Exercises with a Personal Trainer
When people think of going to a personal trainer, they often envision pumping iron for hours every day. But this simply isn’t true. A personal trainer will create a customized workout for you that integrates high-impact and low-impact exercises.
As your fitness level improves, the workout will be tweaked to give you the maximum benefit during every session. If you want to concentrate mostly on low-impact exercises, that’s perfectly fine, too. Just tell your trainer what you’d like, and they can devise a proper workout plan.
Contact Dunedin Fitness and Movement for Low-Impact Exercises
Dunedin Fitness and Movement can integrate low-impact exercises into any workout routine to deliver great results. If you’re looking for a personal trainer in Dunedin that will help take your fitness level up a notch, call our office at (727) 755-3485 today.
