9 Great Low-Impact Workouts

A recent study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that older people have to work out more than younger people to maintain muscle mass. However, workouts can be tough if you fall into that age group (ages 60-75, in the study) especially since your joints are often more susceptible to injury. Richard Cotton, an exercise physiologist and national director of certification for the American College of Sports Medicine, and Mary E. Sanders, Ph.D., a clinical exercise physiologist at the School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Reno and a spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise, both recommended great low-impact workouts that can help people ages 60-75 increase their exercise frequency without putting extra stress on their joints.

For each of these workouts, Cotton recommends starting out at a time that feels very easy to complete -- say, five minutes, three times a week -- if you're a true beginner. As you get more comfortable working at an easy pace, add time. When you're up to 20 minutes, increase the difficulty of each session. The CDC recommends 150 minutes of moderate activity each week, but if you're pushing on intensity, you can drop it down to 75 minutes. "The most important thing is to find something you're willing to do and something you like to do," says Sanders.

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Walking

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The king of all low-impact workouts? Walking. But watch out, as it can get stale, and fast. "Try to mix things up a bit with either your speed -- working in intervals -- or your route -- adding hills," says Cotton. If you're just starting out, hit the treadmill first. "It's actually lower impact than walking outside, plus you can control your speed and incline completely," says Sanders.

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The king of all low-impact workouts? Walking. But watch out, as it can get stale, and fast. "Try to mix things up a bit with either your speed -- working in intervals -- or your route -- adding hills," says Cotton.

If you're just starting out, hit the treadmill first. "It's actually lower impact than walking outside, plus you can control your speed and incline completely," says Sanders.

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Way Too Tough Easy As Pie

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Comments

[behavingbadly]

12:28 PM on 08/19/2011

Where's cycling?

[Nelson Montana]

10:30 PM on 08/17/2011

In other words, everything except running.

[RhiannonRings]

06:11 PM on 08/17/2011

Oh to be able to do any of these....

[HerrMonk]

06:02 PM on 08/17/2011

So readers: remember this article is targeting geriatrics and those approaching geriatric status... that's not MOST of you...

Most of you should be doing High Impact physical activity at least a couple times a week.

The rest of your life is low-impact time.

[909Chellie]

06:42 PM on 08/17/2011

Tell that to someone who blew her knees out doing high-impact physical activity five times a week. Physical activity does not have to be high impact to be effective.

[HerrMonk]

06:57 PM on 08/17/2011

No, it just needs to be to be highly effective.

If someone blew their knees out, they were doing something wrong. Training injuries are 99% preventable by doing it right exercises correctly.

[CalGalRoyale]

03:26 PM on 08/17/2011

The Body Weight method is by far the best workout there is out there. Completely customizable based on every individual's needs regardless of age, weight, gender, physical issue... you name it. www.weightlesstraining.com is one of the best workout programs out there and will continue to do so until I can't move or 6 feet under pushing daisies. I just turned 50 and have the body of someone half my age. It's changed my biological age considerably. I feels good to feel younger and healthy! Thanks for this article.

[HerrMonk]

06:26 PM on 08/17/2011

You're too young to be limiting yourself to geriatric-style workouts.

However successful your program has been for you, a "more than body weight" program would give you even better results.

[CalGalRoyale]

08:46 PM on 08/17/2011

The fitness industry won't promote body weight workouts because they don't require all the useless high tech equipment. The masses are misinformed and believe or choose buy into that hype that space-age type of equipment equals a high tech and complete workout where noting can be further from the truth. The total body-weight workout is in no way for the geriatric crowd I can assure you. The trainer I work out with trained the navy seals and they're not wussies. If you saw him, you'd never believe he's not lifted weights in over 25 years. The levels of challenge increase as you gain strength and muscle density. Trust me, it would only take one workout for anyone to realize how difficult and "un-geriatric" it is. You can even check out www.rodyrock.tv She's another fitness trainer that is unbelievably scuplted.

[pranalisa]

03:25 PM on 08/17/2011

truly shocked that yoga was not on the list...or at least mentioned in the "Body weight" training page. Try a vinyasa class with planks, side planks, push ups, warriors...it's low impact, cardio, AND weight bearing all at the same time. Namaste...

[shefra]

09:54 AM on 08/17/2011

Informative, versatile, and worthy of rereading!
Thank you S. Gaynes!!!
Keep them coming,
You are now my go-to read in the morning!