Exercise can put tremendous stresses on the body. To help decrease these stresses and the pain and soreness that come with them, you may want to consider low-impact exercises that keep at least one foot on the ground during work. While many resistance exercises are low- or non-impact, the term "low-impact" is generally used when describing aerobic exercises, and there are a number from which to choose to create a workout.
Exercise Machine Workouts
While a treadmill may be one of the more popular machines in the gym, it also creates the most impact, increasing in severity as you pick up the pace. Ellipticals, rowing machines and exercise bikes let you get a cardio workout without the impact.
To create an aerobic workout on one of these machines, exercise at 70 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. You can calculate your MHR using a variety of formulas, with a popular calculation done by subtracting your age from 220. Begin your workout slowly for three to four minutes as you raise your heart rate and warm your muscles. Vary your workout using different resistance settings and stride lengths to work different muscles. If you are new to aerobic exercise, take a break or slow down every five minutes or so, using the talk test to make sure you are not working too hard. If you can't talk during your workout, you are beyond your aerobic heart rate.
Step Aerobic Workouts
Step aerobics was designed specifically to offer a low-impact cardio workout, and uses platforms of different heights for muscle movements. Standing behind or to the side of the step, you raise and lower yourself onto it using one leg at a time. Step classes, TV programs, videos and DVDs offer a variety of footwork patterns to help you add variety to this workout method. You can hold barbells or other hand weights during a step workout to add muscle toning to the routine.
Activities
You can use pastimes such as riding a bike, roller skating, ice skating, swimming, power walking, dancing and walking up and down stairs to create low-impact aerobic exercises. The key is to perform them at your aerobic target heart rate for 15 minutes or longer. The American Heart Association recommends moderate to vigorously intense exercise for 20 to 30 minutes, three to five times per week--depending on the intensity--for adults to achieve and maintain good heart health.
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