Low Impact Cardio Exercises
If you’ve ever been injured (especially if it’s your knees or back) you realize just how hard it is to find cardio movements that still get your heart pumping, without having to jump around. High impact movements like burpees, running, box jumps, jumping rope are cardio movements many of us know and love. But if you can’t do any impact movements, now what?
Here are some cardio movements to work into your routine if you aren’t able to do high-impact workouts:
Walking: this might sound too easy, but there are so many studies being released outlining the benefits of walking.Taking at least a 30 minute walk each day can increase your endurance and strengthen your aerobic capacity, and can help with weight loss. While walking might not seem “intense” enough, if you are consistent this can make a significant change over time. Especially if you are recovering from an injury, knee replacement or getting back into exercise, walking is a great place to start!
Swimming: have you ever swam laps and been shocked at how breathless you are after? That’s because swimming is the ultimate low impact cardio exercise. Even if you aren’t a freestyle swimmer, do some backstroke, doggy paddle, or even grab a boogie board. Guaranteed you’ll be wondering if it’s water or sweat on your head the whole workout.
Rowing: if you’ve done row sprints, you know that you don’t have to be jumping to feel like your lungs are on fire. Rowing can be a great form of cardio. Use intervals, sprints and varied distances to ensure you aren’t staying stagnant in your rowing.
Biking: whether you have a Peloton, an assault bike, or even just a regular old bicycle, biking can be a great low impact form of cardio. You don’t have to get up into a standing position on a bike to get a great workout, you can be seated the entire time and still get the heart rate up.
SkiErg: this is a great way to utilize your upper body pulling power to get a great cardio workout. The SkiErg has been a recent phenomenon in the sport of CrossFit, and is making it’s way into all gyms across the globe. While you might feel mostly arms during a tough SkiErg workout, your core and hamstrings will for sure be taxed the next day! Not to mention, you’re definitely going to be winded.
