Love it or loathe it, there’s no denying that cardio is a vital component of any workout regime.
With a host of benefits, from improving your sleep quality to improving your heart health, cardio is the original all-rounder. In fact, a study conducted earlier this year found that there’s actually no limit to the cardiovascular benefits of exercise.
This is all well and good but do you (literally) need to jump for joy to feel the benefits? When we think of cardio, we usually think of high-impact exercises, such as burpees, jumping jacks and high knees, which usually require you to jump both feet off the ground, simultaneously.
While high-impact cardio exercises undoubtedly whack your heart rate up, they aren’t for everybody. And the good news is that you can still feel that burn, without worrying about your knees (or your downstairs neighbours).
This is where low-impact cardio exercises come in. While these exercises are often used as modifications or ‘beginner’ moves, we spoke to Rosie Stockley (Founder of MamaWell) to find out which low-impact cardio exercises deserve a place in your workout in their own right.
Having trained the likes of Vogue Williams, Binky Feltstead and Lauren Pope during their pregnancies, Rosie is well-versed in the benefits that low-impact cardio exercises can bring for strength and energy.
Why do low-impact cardio?
According to Rosie:
“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.”
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!
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.
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.