“Low impact cardio is great when you want to still raise your heart rate and get a sweat on but where pounding the ground, or jumping up and down might not be beneficial for your body.
“Some common reasons for opting for lower impact cardio include not wanting to put too much pressure on your joints – for example if you know they’re already weak, if you’re pregnant or early days postpartum, or have an existing injury.
“Women with a weaker pelvic floor will want to avoid high impact cardio until they have built up strength and endurance.
“Low impact doesn’t mean low intensity – you can still do a full body cardio workout, with your heart rate really high, feeling the muscles burn – but you’ll just avoid repeatedly impacting the ground, putting less stress on your bones & joints.”
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Low impact doesn’t mean low intensity – you can still do a full body cardio workout, with your heart rate really high, feeling the muscles burn – but you’ll just avoid repeatedly impacting the ground, putting less stress on your bones & joints.
Here are Rosie’s top six low-impact cardio exercises, which are guaranteed to make you sweat…
1. Mountain climbers
Good for: arms, legs, core and cardio burn.
Place hands on the floor in a plank position and start to bring one knee up to your chest, then alternate. Get this technique then speed up until you’re at a running pace. Try and keep your hips down to keep that plank position.
2. Squat kick
Good for: working the legs and glutes.
Stand with feet a little wider than hip width, take a squat making sure your hips go far back and your knees don’t stick out over your toes. As you come up, kick one leg out in front of you, then back down to a squat. Change legs the next time. Repeat!
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3. Modified burpee
Good for: cardiovascular fitness, plus it doesn’t put the pressure on the lower back and abdominal muscles like full burpees would.
Stand at the top of your mat, place your hands on the floor, bending your knees. Shoot your legs out to a plank behind you one at a time, then back in one at a time, then stretch to standing. Repeat for the length of your circuit.
4. Punches and uppercuts
Good for: a combination of punches is really great for the arms, but also so good for a cardiovascular burn.
Try 8 punches front, followed by 8 uppercuts across the body – repeat all. Have legs in a wide stance with the knees bent low.
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5. Run outs to plank
Good for: creating a real burn for the whole body, but once again, won’t stress the joints. Add a resistance band around the knees for an extra leg burn.
Start standing, feet hip width apart. Bend your knees and place your hands on the mat. Then, immediately walk them out until you reach a plank. Don’t let your hips dip down, keep your back straight. Walk back again until you’re standing. Repeat – do as fast as you can.
6. Push ups
Good for: In addition to being a brilliant all over strength move, push ups really give a cardio burn as well. You can make your body work really hard by doing them at speed or slower for a longer duration.
Start in a plank position (knees can be on the floor for beginners and those building up strength) Lower down in your plank until you’re a couple of inches from the floor and then push back up again. Watch that you stay in a plank position and don’t let your body bend through the back or hips. Do as many as you can with your knees off before putting them on again.
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