Fitness

Fitness

What We Need to Know About Low-Impact Exercise

While exercising regularly is an essential part of our life, heavy exercise can be harmful to our joints and muscles. It can lower the quality of our lives. Besides, heavy training is not suitable for everyone. For instance, if I have joint pain and I’m lifting heavy objects, the problem can worsen, resulting in long-term complications. Thankfully, there is what is known as low impact exercise. I commit to sharing with you in detail about this type of activity in this piece. So, let’s start right away.

Low Impact Exercise Explained

Low impact exercise is the exact opposite of high impact exercise. To put it simply, it is a form of exercise which exerts minimal pressure or stress on our joints, including ankle, hip, and knee joints. In fact, some people consider low impact exercise as merely a warm-up to high-intensity training. Examples of low impact exercise include Pilates, Tai chi, yoga, swimming, cycling, walking, golfing, dancing, rowing, and hiking, among other activities.

Who Is Low Impact Exercise For?

I must mention that low impact exercise is not a preserve of any particular group of people. In fact, almost all of us get involved in some form of low impact exercise. Who does not walk, for instance? What we must understand, however, is that there are people who are not suited for heavy training, and this is for some good reasons. So, who is low impact exercise meant for?

Pregnant women: Yeah, I had to mention this, even if it is an obvious one. We must not forget that pregnant women experience an increase in body weight. This exerts more pressure on their joints and could result in joint pain. Thus, subjecting these people to high impact exercise is like adding the proverbial straw to the camel’s back. With low impact exercise, pregnant women can still keep fit and boost their flexibility, which comes in handy during child delivery.

The elderly: While exercise does not discriminate against any of us based on age, we must put this claim in context. Let’s imagine if an 80-year old grandmother was to lift some heavy weights, say 50kgs or so? That would be an injustice to their body. The crux of the matter is that our bodies grow weaker and weaker with age, including bones, joints, and muscles. As such, we are forced to do away with some forms of exercise, no matter how much we love exercising. That is where low impact exercise comes in. We can do yoga even in our 80s, not to mention swimming or walking, etc.

Obese patients: Most obese people experience joint pain due to too much stress on these parts of the body. If we indulge in high-intensity exercise when we are overweight, there are high chances that the pressure on our joints will even be more, leading to further pain and even inflammation. So, we should opt for low impact exercise if we know that we have this condition.

Benefits

Now that we know what low impact exercise is and who can benefit from it, it is now time to discuss the next level and look at the possible advantages.

Improved cardiovascular health: We don’t have to be great runners, such as Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge, to improve our cardiovascular health. If we can regularly undertake low impact exercise, we will experience improved blood circulation, alongside other benefits.

Muscle endurance and strength: A long-term low impact exercise routine can add endurance to our body muscles and make them even stronger.

Weight loss: While most of us still believe that weight loss can only occur when we take on heavy exercise, the fact is that even low impact exercise can get the job done. However, we must be patient since the change in body weight can be slow and subtle.

Fitness, Health

An Overview of Weight Loss

One New Year resolution for most of us is to shed a few pounds. Sometimes we succeed, and for the next few months, we are over the moon with joy enjoying our summer bodies until we gain all the fat right back. Finding the ideal method to lose weight for good is a mission that we all aspire to conquer. Unfortunately, there isn’t a single method that can help us shed the weight at once and remain petite forever. Losing weight is hard but maintaining that perfect figure is even more challenging. Physical fitness is one of the primary yet very efficient ways to ensure that weight loss stays gone.

One of the significant benefits of physical fitness is that it helps us lose weight by burning extra calories, reduces the risk of chronic illnesses, builds stronger bones, and keeps us in a good mood. There are various exercises that we can indulge in. However, for the process to work, we must go for a workout that we enjoy doing. The positive attitude towards the sport or activity will keep us going even after we shed a few pounds. Continuous exercise keeps the weight gone, and we keep getting lighter. Here are some of the fun exercises we could choose from.

Walking

Walking sounds basic, but it has been proven to be a very effective way to lose weight. By walking, I don’t mean taking a few steps within the house; think more of outdoor walking. Taking a stroll at a regulated speed, say 4km/hr for an average of 50 to 90 minutes, three to four days a week, will do wonders for your weight. A big advantage of walking is that we do not need any special gear to start doing it. Also, it is straightforward to incorporate walking into your regular schedule. For beginners, an average of 30 to 50 minutes is enough, and we can keep adding on the time as we get used to it.

Jogging/Running

Although jogging and running are in the same bracket, they are different. Jogging is done at a slower pace than running, but both are very effective. Recent studies show that running and jogging is an excellent way to get rid of belly fat, which is one of the spots that most of us struggle with. Jogging on soft surfaces such as grass or treadmills is easier on joints, making it even more fun. Adding a jog or run to our routine is relatively easy because it does not consume much time. Even better, we can choose to either jog in the mornings or evenings.

Cycling

Nowadays, I can rest assured because even if I don’t have the equipment or space to cycle outside, I can still do so indoors. Many gyms have stationary bikes which we can use for our routines. Various gyms have classes for the practice, and all we have to do is sign up. Of all the exercises we indulge in, cycling has proven to be the most beneficial. Not only does it help in weight loss and staying fit, but it also significantly upsurges insulin sensitivity and boosts immunity.

Lifting Weights

The first thought that comes to mind when we think about gyms is weight training. It is a popular choice for most people, mainly because lifting weights helps turn excess fat into muscle. Also, weight training boosts our strength and keeps burning calories, even when our bodies are at rest. Knowing this, it becomes a good choice for most of us who want to get rid of the weight real fast. Unlike walking or jogging, weight training should be done carefully to avoid overexerting ourselves.