The low impact workout is one of the most popular types of exercise. It is often used by people who are new to fitness and are looking to start a new fitness routine. This type of workout uses very little impact, making it much easier on your joints while still providing many benefits.

Low impact workouts are great for those with joint problems or injuries, as they don’t put pressure on your joints and can help with pain relief. They can also be perfect for those who have limited mobility due to arthritis or other conditions that might make high-impact activities difficult or painful.

Right here on Buy and Slay, you are privy to a litany of relevant information on low impact exercises for seniors, low impact workout for beginners, and so much more. Take out time to visit our catalog for more information on similar topics.

Low Impact Exercise For Weight Loss At Home

Low-impact workouts are those that put little to no pressure on your joints — think walking, swimming, yoga, cycling and the elliptical. Unlike higher-impact activities, like running, plyometrics and gymnastics, there’s no hard pounding when your feet hit the ground, and you have at least one foot on the ground throughout the workout. So you’re less likely to feel sore or get injured during or after exercise.

Low-impact workouts can be a good fit for just about any workout plan or fitness goal. “Low-impact exercises are great for individuals who are new to working out or athletes recovering from an injury,” explains Kevin Robinson, PT, an orthopedic certified specialist , doctor of science at the Performance Therapy Institute in Franklin, Tennessee. “They’re also good for rest days to recover from a higher-impact workout”

Even though low-impact exercises are easy on your joints, they can still give you a challenging sweat session.

“While most high-impact exercises are also high intensity, it’s possible for low-impact exercises to be either high- or low-intensity,” explains Cathy Richards, an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)-certified exercise physiologist. You can make walking, cycling or swimming more challenging, for instance, just by picking up the pace.

How Low-Impact Exercise Helps With Weight Loss

Exercise, in general, can help you lose weight because it gets your body moving, helping you expend more calories, build muscle and burn fat. But low-impact exercises can be just as beneficial as high-impact ones, like burpees and box jumps, for weight loss.

“A low-impact workout can help with weight loss by contributing to total calories burned,” Richards says. “We burn fewer calories per minute with low-intensity exercise, but the tradeoff is we can sustain the exercise for longer.”

That can be particularly beneficial if you have a lot of weight to lose or you’re dealing with joint pain, according to the Obesity Medicine Association and the American Council on Exercise.

In fact, in one small September 2014 study published in the ​Journal of Exercise, Nutrition & Biochemistry,​ women living with obesity significantly reduced their abdominal fat and improved their insulin resistance after 12 weeks of walking 50 to 70 minutes three days per week.

Low-impact exercise allows you to “exercise pain-free or with less pain, and have less risk of furthering joint injury and inflammation,” Robinson says. And the more comfortable you feel, the more likely you’ll be able to keep up a regular workout regimen.

The key is paying attention to the length and intensity of your workout. To burn the same amount of calories through low-impact exercise, you’ll have to find ways to push yourself without increasing the impact, Robinson explains.

For example, you could walk at a brisk pace instead of taking a leisurely stroll, or add high-intensity intervals to your swimming workout.

Low-Impact Exercise for Weight Loss Is More Effective With a Healthy Diet

No matter what kind of workouts you do, a combination of exercise and dietary changes is far more effective for driving down the number on the scale compared to just exercise alone, according to the Mayo Clinic.

For that reason, it can be helpful to think of physical activity as a way to make your food changes even more effective.

For example, in an October 2017 study in ​The​ ​Journal of Nutrition​, adding moderate walking to their calorie-restrictive diet significantly improved adults’ weight-loss results.

But there’s no one type of eating plan that’s best for weight loss. It’s about getting into the habit of choosing wholesome foods like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains— and taking in fewer calories.

To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you take in, and by sticking to nutrient-dense foods instead of processed ones, which tend to pack on calories and fat, you can maintain a calorie deficit.

Using an app to track your food intake can help you get started. “When you track what you eat and quickly see the calories really add up, you’re more likely to recognize where you can make changes,” Robinson says.

Download the MyPlate app to track your calories consumed and burned for a complete picture of your overall health.

The Best Low-Impact Exercises for Weight Loss

When looking for a low-impact exercise that can help you reach your weight-loss goals, opt for activities that allow you to ramp up the intensity and help build lean, metabolically active. That’ll help you burn more calories — and more body fat — faster.

Here are some of the best low-impact exercises for weight loss to try.

1. Barre Workouts

Barre Workouts

You may not think of them as cardio, but in addition to toning your muscles, many barre-inspired workouts can also torch plenty of calories and boost your metabolism! Ballet-inspired workouts that combine the use of light weights with sculpting moves done at a cardio pace can have you burning up to 650 calories per class, says Laurie Alfano, director of education for Xtend Barre, a barre program that incorporates cardio sequences before each sculpting circuit to increase calorie burn by as much as 20 percent.

Boost your burn: Using hand weights, resistance bands, or props like small balls while performing exercises can really amp up your calorie burn, Alfano says. Resistance of any sort “makes your heart work harder, exactly the way it would when you sprint during a typical jog,” she adds.

2. Cycling

Cycling

Cycling (indoors or out) is one of the best low-impact cardiovascular workouts that you can do, says Amy Dixon, a Schwinn master trainer and creator of the Breathless Body DVD series. “You will never put unnecessary pressure on your joints if you ride with the right amount of resistance,” she says. Find your sweet spot with the resistance when riding on an indoor bike (gear if outdoors), and pedal at the right revolutions per minute (RPM) to maximize your burn in the saddle, she says. Try 60 to 80 rpms for hilly terrain, 80 to 100 for flat roads, and 100 to 110 for sprints. Plan to pedal off, on average, about 600 to 750 calories an hour during your ride, she says.

Boost your burn: One of the best ways to increase your calorie burn on the bike is to use intervals that are constantly changing in both timing and type (hills, sprints, etc.) from ride to ride, Dixon says. For example, if you’ve been doing typical Tabata drills (20 seconds of work, followed by 10 seconds of rest), try 40 seconds of all-out, breathless effort followed by 20 seconds of recovery, for 6 rounds. In between intervals, work on climbing powerfully at a moderate to hard intensity. You’ll definitely get the most out of your workouts, Dixon says.

3. Aqua Zumba

Aqua Zumba

Dancing around in water may seem a little silly, but it’s one serious calorie-torching (and refreshing) workout that’s also super entertaining! The water creates a safe, low-impact environment that’s easier on your knees, feet, and hips than hard dance floors, while also providing extra resistance during your moves—meaning those dance numbers provide both cardio and strength benefits, says Kim Truman, a certified personal trainer and fitness instructor. Adding the sizzling energy of Zumba to water creates a low-impact, calorie-blasting combo (about 700 calories an hour) that offers plenty of freedom and fun, she says.

Boost your burn: Increase the speed of your steps, consciously engaging your core muscles and maintaining great posture, to maximize your burn. You can also add in more upper-body movement and continue to move in between songs (try marching or bouncing in place) instead of taking a break, Truman says. She also recommends wearing aqua shoes to help you move better, change direction faster, and protect your feet while you jam out in the pool.

4. Power Yoga

Power Yoga

Power yoga is an amazingly effective, low-impact way to stay strong and lean, says Ivy Larson, an ACSM-certified health and fitness specialist and creator of Clean Cuisine. “I credit power yoga with keeping me fit after I recovered from a major orthopedic surgery last year. Even though I couldn’t walk, I could still do yoga, and I stayed very strong, lean, and surprisingly fit,” she says.

Offering an average burn of about 400 calories an hour, power yoga is a total-body workout that strengthens, keeps your heart rate elevated, and increases oxygen uptake—all of which helps boost your burn, she says. “The reason power yoga is effective is because it uses a lot of oxygen (which burns calories), and instead of isolating small muscles, you use your entire body, which burns a lot calories and generates a lot of heat.”

Boost your burn: Try to avoid letting your mind wander and really concentrate on what you’re doing, Larson says. “Focus, breathe, and stay in the moment to really feel your muscles working.” Not only will you burn more calories by properly performing the exercise and engaging all the right muscles, you may also reduce your risk of injury due to your increased attention on form and alignment.

5. Rowing

Rowing

Rowing at a vigorous intensity not only offers a burn of about 600 calories an hour (similar to running), it’s also a total-body workout that really targets the core, says Jessica Matthews, an exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise.

Boost your burn: Stay safe and keep your stroke effective by powering up from your lower body (not your arms), Matthews says. “Focus on pushing back with power from your legs and let the arms and back follow (meaning you should be hinging at your hips as you do so),” she explains. Maintaining proper posture (avoid rounding your back and neck forward) and powering up through the larger muscles in your legs can help translate to a bigger overall calorie burn and, more importantly, a safer rowing experience.

6. Power Walking

Power Walking

Walking is not only a fun, convenient, and cost-effective form of low-impact exercise, but research shows it can also help lower blood pressure and cholesterol (LDL) and improve bone mineral density. Walking is also a proven weight maintenance tool—according to the National Weight Control Registry, it’s the most popular activity cited by people who’ve lost weight and kept it off long-term, Matthews says.

Boost your burn: Moving at a brisk pace on a firm surface burns about 350 calories an hour, but according to Matthews, there are various ways to boost your burn while walking! She recommends picking up the pace (ramping up from 4.0 to 4.5mph burns an extra 93 calories an hour), or walking slower on an incline (walking uphill at 3.5mph for one hour burns about 72 calories more than walking on a flat surface). Adding resistance can also help you torch more calories with every step. Try wearing a weighted vest (a vest is preferable to holding dumbbells or wearing ankle or wrist weights which can stress the joints) or using Nordic walking poles, Matthews says.

7. Swimming

Swimming

Injured or not, the total-body benefits and calorie burn of swimming (about 716 calories an hour) make it well worth seeking out a pool! “The resistance that the water provides makes movements more challenging, enabling your muscles to work hard while simultaneously reducing the impact forces on your joints,” Matthews says. “Plus, because this type of activity uses your entire body, you get a great bang for your buck—swimming improves your cardiorespiratory fitness while also strengthening everything from your arms and back to your core and legs.”

Boost your burn: Improve your caloric output by alternating between different strokes such as breaststroke (which burns the same number of calories as swimming freestyle) and/or butterfly (which burns an extra 72 calories in 60 minutes, compared to freestyle or breaststroke). And ensure the safety and effectiveness of each stroke by focusing on your form—make sure all five fingers dive under the water together with your palm facing down, she says. “If your thumb is entering the water first, you’re likely over rotating your shoulder, which can put you at risk for a shoulder strain.”

8. Rollerblading

Rollerblading

Prefer doing your cardio outdoors? Rollerblading (or inline skating) is a fun, low-impact option that allows you to torch some serious calories (about 860 in one hour) while soaking up some sun, Matthews says.

Boost your burn: Focus on spending more time skating and less time “gliding,” Matthews says. Interval training is a great way to do this. Try alternating periods of high-intensity “sprinting” (or skating as fast as you safely can) with an active recovery (skating at a moderate pace) with either a 1:1 (1 minute on, 1 minute off) or 1:2 (1 minute of hard effort, 2 minutes of recovery) work to rest ratio.

*All calorie burn estimates based on a 150-pound person and may vary depending on size, fitness level, and exertion.

Low Impact Exercises For Seniors

Exercise and nutrition are essential parts of a healthy lifestyle throughout one’s life, and  as we age, our requirements are ever changing. A growing body of research illustrates how regular exercise is especially important for seniors, and how more seniors are opting for an active lifestyle instead of a sedentary one. This article will show you the benefits of exercise for older adults, the seven best forms of exercise for seniors, and a few exercises that may be hazardous to seniors’ health.

The Health Benefits of Exercise in Older Adults

Our biology changes as we get older, causing seniors to have different reasons for staying in shape than younger generations. Though physical fitness provides benefits at any age, the health perks physically fit seniors enjoy are more notable. Physicians and researchers say seniors should remain as active as possible, without overexerting one’s self. In older adults, exercise helps you live a longer, healthier, and more joyous life.

Some of the benefits of exercising later in life include:

More exercise means more independence for seniors:

Seniors that exercise regularly are less likely to depend on others. According to Harvard Medical School, regular exercise promotes an older adults ability to walk, bathe, cook, eat, dress, and use the restroom. If self-reliance is a priority, exercise is one of the best ways to maintain independence for older adults.

Exercise improves balance for older adults:

Falling down is a much bigger deal for older adults than younger ones. Every 11 seconds, an older adult is admitted to an emergency room for a fall-related injury, and every 19 minutes, a senior dies from a fall, according to the National Council of Aging. Though no two falls are alike, and preventing falls is very complex, regular exercise reduces the likelihood of falling by 23%.

Regular exercise means more energy:

Though it seems counter-intuitive, being inactive makes you tired and being active gives you more energy. Any amount of exercise promotes the release of endorphins, which are essential neurotransmitters linked to pain mitigation and a sense of well-being. Endorphins combat stress hormones, promote healthy sleep, and make you feel more lively and energetic, overall.

Exercise helps prevent and counteract disease:

Heart disease, osteoporosis, depression and diabetes are common diseases among older adults, and are often deadly. Fortunately, adopting a more active lifestyle can contribute to the prevention of these diseases, or reduce the unpleasant symptoms of these diseases if you already have them. If you are at-risk for disease, exercise may be the key to warding off an unpleasant condition.

Regular exercise improves brain function:

One of the most remarkable developments in health science is the revelation that the mind and the body are much more closely linked. A healthy body likely means a healthy mind, and seniors that exercise on a regular basis have improved cognitive health, according to research from NCBI. More recently, a study from the Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation, regular exercise has been shown to reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia by nearly 50%.

The Best Exercises for Seniors

Exercise is crucial for older adults, but it can be hard to know where to begin. If you haven’t worked out for a while, re-entry into the active world can be daunting. There’s also a good chance the exercises you were once accustomed to aren’t ideal for older adults.

Before you launch into an exercise regimen, it’s important to check with a physician to ensure you’re healthy enough for exercise, and to see which exercises are ideal for your current fitness level.

1. Water aerobics

7 best exercises for seniors (and a few to avoid!)

In the past years, water aerobics have become an extremely popular form of exercise among all ages, but in particular to seniors. Exercising in the water is ideal for those living with  arthritis and other forms of joint pain, as the buoyancy of the water puts less stress on your joints. Additionally, water brings natural resistance, which eliminates the need for weights in strength training. Water aerobics exercises improve your strength, flexibility, and balance with minimal stress on your body.

Great water aerobics exercises for seniors include:

  1. Aqua jogging
  2. Flutter kicking
  3. Leg lifts
  4. Standing water push-ups
  5. Arm curls

2. Chair yoga

7 best exercises for seniors (and a few to avoid!)

Like water aerobics, chair yoga is a low-impact form of exercise that improves muscle strength, mobility, balance and flexibility, all of which are crucial health aspects for seniors. Chair yoga is an accessible form of yoga that provides less stress on muscles, joints, and bones than more conventional forms of yoga.

As an added bonus, chair yoga has been shown to improve mental health in older adults. Regular chair yoga participants have better quality sleep, lower instances of depression, and report a general sense of well-being.

Great chair yoga exercises for seniors include:

  • Overhead stretch
  • Seated cow stretch
  • Seated cat stretch
  • Seated mountain pose
  • Seated twist

3. Resistance band workouts

7 best exercises for seniors (and a few to avoid!)

Resistance bands are stretchy strips of rubber that add resistance to workouts with reduced stress on your body. Resistance band workouts are user-friendly, and accessible for beginners. This form of exercise is growing more popular among seniors because of the relatively cheap up-front costs of materials, which makes resistance band workouts ideal for at-home exercise. Additionally, these exercises are ideal for strengthening your core, which improves posture, mobility, and balance.

Resistance band workouts for seniors include:

  • Leg press
  • Triceps press
  • Lateral raise
  • Bicep curl
  • Band pull apart

4. Pilates

7 best exercises for seniors (and a few to avoid!)

Pilates is a popular low-impact form of exercise that was developed a century ago. In pilates exercises, breathing, alignment, concentration and core strength are emphasized, and typically involves mats, pilates balls, and other inflated accessories to help build strength without the stress of higher-impact exercises. Pilates has been shown to improve balance, develop core strength and increase flexibility in older adults.

Some great pilates exercises for older adults include:

  • Mermaid movement
  • Side circles
  • Food slides
  • Step ups
  • Leg circle

5. Walking

7 best exercises for seniors (and a few to avoid!)

One of the least stressful and accessible forms of exercise is walking. For some seniors, walking is a bigger challenge than others, so distance and step goals differ from person to person. For the general population, 10,000 steps per day is advised for a healthy lifestyle, but those with difficulty walking or joint pain may settle for a smaller number as a goal. A PLOS One study found that walking 10,000 steps lowered the ten-year outlook for mortality by 46%. Walking promotes a healthy lifestyle, while strengthening muscles, lowering your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and colon cancer.

Ideas for walking exercises for seniors:

  • Find a moderate trail through a park
  • Find a walk-friendly race to train for
  • Walk the perimeter of a familiar building
  • Find an audiobook or a playlist for stimulation during your walk

6. Body weight workouts

7 best exercises for seniors (and a few to avoid!)

Muscle loss can be devastating and debilitating for older adults. Around a third of seniors live with severe muscle loss, which can lead to hormone problems, a decrease in the ability to metabolize protein, and other problems. Body weight workouts are one of the best ways to counteract the effects of muscle atrophy in older adults. One of the key benefits of body weight workouts is the affordability. The materials required for body weight workouts are minimal; most body weight workouts require workout clothes and a mat to soften impact with the floor.

Some great body weight workouts for seniors include:

  • Squats to chair
  • Stepup
  • Bird dog
  • Lying hip bridges
  • Side lying circles

7. Dumbbell strength training

7 best exercises for seniors (and a few to avoid!)

Strength training has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of diabetes, osteoporosis, back pain, and depression, while helping you manage your weight. Strength training also contributes to a higher metabolism and enhanced glucose control. Dumbbell exercises are some of the best ways for seniors to strength train, if they are performed with the proper precautions. Dumbbells allow seniors to isolate muscle groups to strengthen, while improving balance and flexibility.

Some ideal dumbbell workouts for seniors include:

  • Bent-over row
  • Tricep extension
  • Bicep curl
  • Overhead press
  • Front raise

Exercises Seniors Should Avoid

A good percentage of popular mainstream workouts are not ideal for older adults. These popular workouts are well-suited for younger adults looking to bulk up or shed weight in a hurry, but they may put an unhealthy strain on older adults with joint pain, atrophied muscles, posture problems or issues with balance.

The following exercises should probably be avoided if you’re over the age of 65:

  • Squats with dumbbells or weights
  • Bench press
  • Leg press
  • Long-distance running
  • Abdominal crunches
  • Upright row
  • Deadlift
  • High-intensity interval training
  • Rock climbing
  • Power clean

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

4 × 4 =

Scroll to Top