Low Impact Activity

Low impact activities are exercises that don’t put a lot of pressure on your body’s joints and don’t require much experience. They’re great for someone who’s just starting to form a healthy and active lifestyle or someone who has joint or muscle problems. During your medical weight loss program, getting your heart rate up for as little as twenty minutes a day can help improve your cardiovascular strength, burn calories and lose weight. Low impact activity is an easy and effective way to do just that.

What Activities Are Low Impact?

• Walking. Walking is one of the simplest types of low impact activities. If you’ve had a sedentary lifestyle for a while, walking is a great way to start exercising since it doesn’t require any equipment or cost, other than a pair of sneakers if you don’t already have one. Try walking for ten minutes every morning and ten minutes every evening.
• Swimming. Swimming is a great way to work out your entire body without a lot of strenuous activity. Swimming has been known to strengthen shoulder muscles and improve lung function. Plus, it’s fun and you can do it with your friends and family.
• Yoga. Yoga and other stretching exercises provide slow movements and stretches to boost flexibility and strength. Yoga also improves balance and blood circulation while promoting relaxation and mental peace.

Health Benefits of Low Impact Activity

• Low impact activity has a reduced risk of injury compared to other more strenuous forms of exercise.
• Even though low impact activities can be performed at varying levels of intensity, you can still get a healthy cardiovascular workout from lesser intensities.
• On the same note, because you can adjust the intensity level of low impact activity, you can make continuous improvements on your exercise routine by upping the intensity over time, if you feel comfortable.
• Low impact aerobic activities, like swimming and walking, release endorphins in the body that have been known to improve mood and symptoms of depression.