You Can Still Burn Major Calories Doing Low-Impact Exercises

Running and jumping are surefire ways to get your heart rate going. But high-impact cardio workouts like these can also put a ton of stress on the body, which is why fitness pros suggest taking 48-hour breaks between these types of training sessions. So, what can you do on off days in order to get your cardio fix? “If you train using high impact regularly, adding some low-impact training one to two times per week is a great way to prevent overtraining and decrease your risk of injury,” says Trudie German, CPT, and founder of Body Envy. Don’t worry, you’ll still be burning calories and boosting your heart health.

You see, like a high-impact workout, low-impact cardio also strengthens and improves your respiratory and cardio fitness. That’s because low impact doesn’t mean low intensity, says German. What makes low-impact cardio different from high-impact cardio is that it applies less stress to your joints, she explains.

In addition to being an A+ option for active recovery, German says low-impact cardio is great for those who are new to working out, injured, or returning from injury, in particular. “If injured, low-impact work can be done two to four times weekly,” she suggests.

If you aren’t already incorporating low-impact cardio exercises into your fitness routine, there are a ton of ways you can do it and each kind of low-impact cardio training has its own perks. Here are a few ideas.

Types of Low Impact Cardio Workouts

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