Thirty-Minute Low-Impact Workout Routine

Thirty-Minute Low-Impact Workout Routine

by Dave Samuels

Keeping active everyday will make fat loss much easier. It is useful to incorporate low impact routines to help recover from high impact training such as jumping and running, yet still helps you keep fitness an circulation high.

Just because a workout is low impact, doesn’t mean it has to be low intensity. If you need to avoid jarring exercise moves that irritate your ankles, knees, hips and back, you have plenty of options for creating a variety of beneficial 30-minute low-impact workouts, with or without equipment.

Impact and Stress

Leaving the ground with both feet at once and landing on them over and over creates a high-impact exercise. Examples include jogging, jumping rope, some aerobics routines and sports such as tennis, basketball and volleyball. Low-impact exercise keeps one foot on the ground or a platform at all times, such as walking, skating or step aerobics. Riding an exercise bike, swimming, pushups and using an elliptical machine are examples of nonimpact exercise. Just because an exercise is non- or low-impact doesn’t mean it’s not stressful. The repetitive motions of some exercise options can cause stress in your joints, muscles and tendons if you perform the movements for many minutes. Performing these types of workouts week after week can eventually cause an injury.

Low-Impact Cardio

To keep your heart rate high without requiring frequent breaks, create low-resistance, low-impact workouts. Use a cardio machine, a step aerobic routine, swimming, power walking, rollerblading or walking up and down stairs. Add simple calisthenics such as squats, pushups, lunges, chinups, heel raises and floor exercises that target your core. You can include some resistance, such as 3- to 5-pound dumbbells or resistance bands wrapped only once or twice, as long as the resistance doesn’t fatigue your muscles to failure. Exercise at a heart rate intensity that pushes your limit to continue, but doesn’t require you to stop to catch your breath. If you're too out of breath to talk during your workout, slow down until you can to make sure you don’t overdo it.

Low-Impact Resistance

If your primary goal is to build muscle or muscular endurance, use more weight and perform dumbbell or resistance-band exercises. Use a weight machine or try a kettlebell swinging routine. Perform 10 to 15 repetitions of each exercise, using a weight or resistance that makes it challenging to finish the last rep. You’ll need to take breaks to recover from your exercises, but this won’t be a problem if your goal isn’t a cardio workout. Consider split workouts consisting of 10 minutes of weight training followed by 15 minutes of low-impact cardio. Performing your strength routine first will use more of your stored glycogen, allowing you to burn fat more efficiently when you do your cardio exercises, according to certified strength coach Stew Smith.

Workout Format

Start any workout with dynamic stretching to warm up for two to three minutes. Do quick lunges, arm circles, squats, situps and other movements that elevate your heart rate and get you breathing hard. Perform your workout for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, saving the last few minutes of your time for a cool-down and stretch. Cool down by walking slowly in place, then stretch by moving your muscles to just beyond their point of comfortable motion and hold for 30 seconds. Save this type of stretching for after workouts, since it will temporarily desensitize your muscles.