No matter if it’s summer or winter, cardio is an important part of your healthy lifestyle and fitness regimen. Not only does it help with weight loss, but it gets your heart rate up, releases endorphins, as well as keeps you flexible and able-bodied. But not all cardio includes intense jumping that some of our bodies can’t withstand. That is when low impact cardio exercises come into play. So what are some of the best low impact cardio exercises? We are here to answer that for you.
Walking is one of the best low impact exercises! It is important to go for a long distance, be consistent, and walk briskly. When you walk, be sure to relax your shoulders, keep your chest up, abdominals tight, and look forward. Pump your arms from waist height to chest height and keep your hands loose, putting the pads of your pointer finger and thumb lightly together.
Another great low impact cardio exercise is climbing stairs. Stair climbing at a moderate intensity can burn about 5 calories per minute. Climbing stairs also helps you build your glutes, hamstrings, quads, hip flexors, and calf muscles, and when you build muscle, you burn even more calories. You can do this outside, inside, or on a Stairmaster machine.
For those who like to avoid pounding the pavement, cycling is a fabulous option for a low impact cardio workout. What is so great about this workout is that, similar to climbing stairs, you are burning calories and building muscle. A study from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston showed that women who biked just for five minutes a day gained less weight than those who didn’t ride at all.
There is one more low impact cardio workout we would like to highlight, and that is swimming. Not only do you give your legs a rest, but you also work your entire body when you swim. The strokes that work your entire body are the front crawl and breast stroke. Your heart works harder and faster as you swim harder and faster, and your lungs strengthen due to your quick and intense breathing.
Overall, it is best practice to get at least 30 to 45 minutes of cardio in per day. Some reasons to consider low impact workouts would be if you are pregnant, have injured a joint, bone or connective tissue, have chronic problems like arthritis, osteoporosis or a stress fracture, or you are just beginning your weight loss journey.
These are all cardio activities you can do on your own. However, if you need some guidance or motivation, you can talk to any of our personal training staff members at Zip Fitness. We have many Zip Fitness Chicago locations, so we are sure you can find a location that is close to you. Come see us soon!