Low Impact Exercise For Weight Loss

Last Updated on November 7, 2022 by

Have you been struggling to lose weight? I know, me too. It can be incredibly frustrating as you either starve yourself and end up feeling like a zombie, or eat less and feel deprived finding it difficult to enjoy meals and fall into the trap of emotional eating (whether you want to admit it or not). But low impact exercise for weight loss may be the answer we’re looking for.

With all the fad diets and extreme exercise routines available, it is easy to become overwhelmed by all of the options. One thing you can do for sure though for weight loss is to change your exercise routine to an activity that gets you moving without having to spend a lot of time or energy. Low impact exercises are exactly what this type of dieter needs. If you want to know more about Low Impact Exercise For Weight Loss, make sure you read this article.

Low Impact Exercise For Weight Loss

Low-impact exercise has a reputation for being, well, ​easy.​ Which means that it can’t possibly help you lose weight, right? Wrong.

Low-impact workouts keep pressure and pain off of your joints. But they still burn calories and build metabolism-supporting muscle, which is ultimately what’s needed for successful weight and fat loss. And they can still be plenty challenging if you make an effort to keep up the intensity.

Here’s a look at what counts as low-impact exercise, who can benefit from it the most and how it can help you reach your weight-loss goals faster. Plus, three low-impact workouts to help get you started.

What Are Low-Impact Workouts?

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.

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. Walking

Strolling at a brisk pace burns plenty of calories — between 200 and 300 per hour — while improving your overall fitness and heart health, Robinson says. Aim to keep up at least a moderate pace where you can talk comfortably but not sing.

Once you become fitter, you can gradually increase your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) to make the workout more challenging. For example, try power walking so that you can say only a few words at a time.

Picking up your pace not only translates to more calories burned during your workout but also afterward, especially if you’re using high-intensity intervals.

2. Swimming and Water Aerobics

Aerobic sports are a total-body workout that boosts your cardio fitness and strengthens your muscles but puts zero pressure on your joints.

“It’s the ultimate low-impact workout because the buoyancy of the water holds you up,” Richards says.

A 160-pound person can burn up to 423 calories per hour swimming laps at a light or moderate pace, or about 402 calories in a water aerobics class, according to the Mayo Clinic.

3. Bicycling and the Elliptical Machine

Both types of low-impact exercise allow you to easily increase the intensity — and the calorie burn —simply by simply ramping up the speed or resistance.

“Plus, they help build stronger leg muscles, providing more support for your joints, which lessens joint pain in the long term,” Robinson says.

4. Strength Training

Resistance exercises with dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands and strength machines tend to be low-impact by nature, as long as you steer clear of moves that involve jumping or catching heavy objects.

“Isometric exercises, like planks, engage muscles without too much movement. I often recommend them for clients looking to gain or maintain muscle strength while reducing joint stress,” Robinson says.

5 Fat-Burning Low Impact Exercises That Won’t Kill Your Knees

If you’re new to working out, you’re just getting back into the game, or you have concerns with joints or injuries, low impact cardio is a safe and effective method of exercise.

Low impact exercise gives you the opportunity to exercise while reducing the stress or pressure on your joints. But be warned — just because it’s low impact doesn’t mean you won’t be sweating!

Below, we’ve curated 5 low impact cardio workouts that will put your cardiovascular and muscular systems to the test. These workouts can also serve as great cross-training options for athletes who want to stay active on recovery days.

Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images

1. Join a gym and go swimming

The king of joint-friendly exercise, swimming is a great low impact option that still torches calories.

Buoyancy in the water reduces stress on your body by helping to support your weight, but that doesn’t mean it’s a thoughtless workout — swimming incorporates cardio, strength, and flexibility.

Even the basic freestyle stroke engages muscles throughout your upper and lower body — especially your shoulders, triceps, pecs, and quads — as well as your core.

It’s honestly one of the best exercises in the world.

Calories burned: For a 155-pound (70.3-kg) person, 30 minutes of swimming can burn about 216 calories. For a 185-pound (83.9-kg) person, it’s about 252 calories (1).

2. Keep one foot on the ground and take a walk

Walking is hard to beat for simplicity and effectiveness. It’s low impact, so it’s less jarring on your knees than running or jogging. And with a little hustle, you can burn a lot of calories.

What’s more, walking on a surface such as a track or a trail can put even less stress on your joints than walking on concrete.

To increase your speed (and therefore your calorie burn), focus on getting your power from your legs and hips. Keep your abdominals engaged and push the ground behind you to accelerate.

Bending your arms to 90 degrees and keeping them close to your torso will allow you to put extra energy in your lower body, where the muscles are bigger, giving you a bigger metabolic boost.

To keep your calorie burn at its highest, incorporate high intensity interval training by alternating 1–3 minutes of walking at a faster speed with 30–60 seconds of walking at a slower recovery speed (2Trusted Source).

Calories burned: A 155-pound person walking fast (clocking a 15-minute mile, or a speed of 4 miles per hour or 6.43 km per hour) for 30 minutes will burn about 175 calories, versus about 189 for a 185-pound (83.9-kg) person at the same effort level (1).

3. Focus on the rowing at the gym

Another type of exercise that provides a total-body strength and cardio workout is rowing.

This non-weight-bearing exercise is an effective option for those with joint concerns.

You’ll need access to a rowing machine, so this will most likely be a gym-based workout. Alternatively, rowers are available to purchase at various price points — check out our most recent recommendations for the best rowing machines on the market today.

Keep proper form

  • Sit on the rower, bend your knees to strap your feet into the platform, and grab hold of the handlebar. Position your shins vertically, with your upper body slightly bent forward over your legs and your arms straight.
  • Pushing through your heels, press your feet against the platform, straightening your legs. Then, with your core engaged, lean your upper body back about 45 degrees and finish your pull by bending your elbows to bring the handle toward your chest.
  • To return, reverse the order of the previous steps: straighten your arms, allow your upper body to move forward toward the platform, and, once your hands pass your knees, begin to bend your legs and return to the starting position.

Calories burned: At a moderate pace, a 155-pound person can burn about 252 calories rowing for 30 minutes, while a 185-pound person can burn about 292 (1).

4. Go for a spin

Some people have a lifelong love of riding a bike, but cycling is often the wheelhouse (pun intended) of former runners whose knees can no longer tolerate pounding the pavement.

The reason is clear — cycling offers a similar intensity and adrenaline rush without the stress on the joints that can come with running.

Whether you opt for a stationary ride in a cycling class or on a Peloton or you head out on the road on a traditional bicycle, your muscles, heart, and lungs will sting with delight at the intensity of cycling.

You can start cycling with little investment, especially if you have access to a stationary bike, but if you want to get serious, you’ll need to invest in a little gear (such as a helmet and padded shorts). Most importantly, you’ll want to make sure you’re set up properly.

Finding a bike with the right fit is crucial for comfort and for protecting your joints. Riding with the seat too high, too low, too far forward, or too far back can wreak its own havoc on your joints.

Meet with a professional — you can visit a dedicated bicycle shop or ask your cycling class instructor or a personal trainer to set you up properly at the gym.

At their fullest extension during one single revolution, your knees should still be slightly bent. Your handlebars should be high enough to ensure good posture, allowing you to comfortably reach the handlebars without slouching.

If you’re on a stationary bike, being aerodynamic doesn’t really factor in, so keep the handlebars high. When you are well set up with ideal posture, your muscles and metabolism can reap the benefits.

Calories burned: On a stationary bicycle, a 155-pound person would burn about 252 calories at a moderate pace over 30 minutes, and an 185-pound person would burn around 294 (1).

Adding intensity or intervals can turn that way up.

On a road bike at a moderate intensity, a 155-pound person would burn around 288 calories, while the 185 pound person would burn about 336.

Adding hills or speed to this could bring the calorie-torching intensity way up.

5. Go for a skate

If you want a high calorie burn from an outdoor workout that will make you feel like a kid again, find a pair of roller skates or in-line skates!

Not only will you get a great workout, but skating’s side-to-side motion offers a great counter-stimulus to the muscles and joints of your lower body, which most often move in the front-to-back, or sagittal, plane.

To put it simply: Your legs will work in a totally different way when skating than they do when walking, running, or cycling.

Skating can be a great way to work your glutes, hip abductors, and inner thighs too. A roller skating workout checks many boxes when it comes to both effectiveness and fun.

Calories burned: Skating at a casual intensity — whether roller or in-line — burns about 386 calories for a 155-pound person and 461 calories for a 185-pound person in 30 minutes.

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