Box jumps, burpees, and treadmill sprints probably predominated the fitness section of your social page not so long ago. Nowadays? It probably leans more toward activities like Pilates and hot female walks.

Unquestionably, the fitness industry has changed recently, moving away from intense, all-out workouts and toward ones that are slightly more relaxed. a sentence that frequently follows the latter? "Low impact."

Although it may seem like a specialized form of exercise, there are really a lot of activities that fall under the category of low-impact exercises. They are frequently promoted as being good for your joints and beginner-friendly. It's hard to say how many people genuinely grasp what "low-impact" means, which is the case with many trendy fitness phrases that are co-opted for use even when they're not accurate (see: people using "HIIT" to describe any literally workout).

In this article, fitness experts debunk common misconceptions regarding low-impact exercises, clarify the definition of the term, and explain why everyone should include low-impact exercises in their daily routines.

What Exactly Does "Low-Impact" Mean?

According to Oxford Dictionaries, the broad definition of "low-impact" is "including motions that do not exert a lot of stress on the body." That is accurate, but it is also fairly ambiguous. After all, according to Annie Mulgrew, founder of CITYROW and a fitness instructor, "all exercise involves stress on the body, whether it's high-impact or low-impact." "We exercise because one of the reasons is that we want the body to be able to respond to stress efficiently."

The key to a low-impact workout, according to Justin Norris, co-founder of the LIT Method, is "always having one foot on the floor at any given moment in your exercise." As a result, there is no jumping. Consider it this way: Mulgrew argues that a low-impact workout is one in which your body is not required to brace itself for impact.

Since they "produce less stress on your joints as your feet or body hit the ground," low-impact exercises can also be referred to as being more "fluid in movement," according to Xiao Colon, personal training leader at Life Time Sky in Manhattan.

Intensity vs. Impact

You can still be perspiring even when you're working out with low impact. In truth, low-impact exercises can still be extremely challenging since the impact differs from the intensity. But people frequently mix the two up.

Syndey Miller, certified Pilates instructor and creator of the HOUSEWORK workout program, which combines low-impact Pilates-style moves with high-intensity cardio and strength training, explains the difference between impact and intensity: "Impact is the stress that a workout can have on your joints, whereas intensity is how much you're challenging yourself."

Which Exercises Have a Low Impact?

It may be simpler than you think to incorporate low-impact exercises into your regular fitness regimen, according to Colon. That's because many exercises, like Pilates, yoga, walking, cycling, swimming, and even strength training, are by nature low-impact. A workout can also be readily made low-impact by eliminating or changing any jumping movements.

Running, however, cannot be made a low-impact workout. Running is high impact by definition because you briefly become airborne as you shift your weight from one leg to the other. Sports like tennis, pickleball, soccer, and basketball, for instance, that require running or agility would all be regarded as high-impact because of this.