High Impact vs. Low Impact Exercise: Which is Right for You?

If you have limited time to exercise, you want to get the most out of each and every workout. When there’s no time to waste, it’s important to pick out a fitness routine that maximizes benefits without wasting precious time. One factor to consider when selecting an exercise routine for a busy schedule is whether to do high impact or low impact exercise. Each form of exercise has its unique advantages and disadvantages. When it comes to high impact vs. low impact exercise, which is the better choice?

What’s the Difference?

High impact exercise involves movements where both of feet leave the ground at the same time. Some examples of high impact exercises are running, jumping rope, plyometrics, jumping jacks, and some forms of step aerobics that include jump moves. Low impact exercises involve movements where one foot remains on the ground at all times such as walking, low impact aerobics, and step aerobic routines that don’t involve jumping. There are even exercises with no impact such as cycling and rowing.

What are the Advantages of Each?

The advantage of high impact exercise is that it can burn significant calories in a short period of time. You generally work up a sweat very quickly with high impact fitness routines and because you’re getting your heart rate up rapidly, you’re able to get the same benefits doing a shorter routine that you would if you were doing low impact movements for a longer period of time. The advantage of low impact exercise is that it’s easy on the muscles and joints. You run less risk of muscle strain or joint injury when you’re doing low impact movements where your feet remain on the ground. Low impact exercise is not as effective at building bone mass and reducing the risk of osteoporosis as high impact exercise is.

Which Should You Choose?

If you’re a beginner, you’ll probably be more comfortable starting with low impact aerobics until your muscles adjust to the stress of exercising. Low impact exercise is also a better choice if you have joint problems such as arthritis, or are significantly overweight. Low impact exercise is much kinder to the muscles and joints, particularly for a beginner. Once you can do a low impact routine without difficulty, you can slowly add in some higher impact movements such as jumping jacks to increase the intensity.

Can You Still Get a Good Workout With Low Impact?

Although low impact workouts, in general, burn fewer calories than high impact exercise such as running, there are ways to make a low impact routine more intense. You can increase the calorie burn by exaggerating arms movements, by doing the movements faster, and by adding brief intervals of more intense exercise. For example, walk at a slow, steady pace for three minutes and then pick up the pace for one minute, alternating back and forth. This will significantly increase the calories burned as well as the benefits gained.

What’s the Bottom Line?

When it comes to high impact vs. low impact exercise, you’ll get benefits from either, depending upon the amount of effort you put into it. Choose based on your fitness level and the health of your muscles, bones, and joints. Check with your doctor first, particularly if you’ll be doing high impact exercises. Once you’re conditioned, you can always mix low impact and high impact workouts to get more variety.