What Is The Recommended Amount Of Low Impact Cardio?

Low-impact cardio exercise is one of the safest and most effective ways to increase aerobic endurance, burn fat and calories and improve bone density. The basic recommendations for low-impact cardio are dependent upon the intensity level of the activity and your training goals.

Low-Impact Exercise

Low-impact cardio exercise is any activity that involves at least one foot on the ground at all times. Low-impact activities include walking, low-impact aerobics or using elliptical trainers or stair-step machines. Low-impact cardio is considered a weight-bearing activity that forces your body to work or move against gravity. Weight-bearing exercise is beneficial for improving bone density and preventing osteoporosis. Low-impact cardio exercise is a safe option for improving cardiovascular health and bone density with minimal risks for injury.

High-Impact and Non-Impact Exercise

High-impact exercises are activities you perform when both feet leave the ground at the same time, such as in jumping exercises, high-impact aerobics or running. These activities are more effective at improving bone density than low-impact exercise, and are usually performed at a higher-intensity, which can help you burn more calories and further stress the cardiovascular system. However, there is an increased risk of falling or developing an overuse injury during high-impact exercise than in low-impact exercise. High-impact exercise is not recommended for beginners, individuals recovering from an injury or who have osteoporosis.

Non-impact exercises are activities that do not place any stress on your bones such as cycling, swimming, water aerobics and stretching and flexibility exercises. These exercises can help improve your muscular strength, aerobic endurance and balance and posture, but will not improve bone density.

Exercise Intensity

Exercise intensity describes how hard your heart is working to perform an activity, no matter the impact of the activity. Low-intensity activity usually occurs between 50 and 60 percent of your maximum heart rate (MHR) such as easy walking. Moderate-intensity exercise is between 60 and 75 percent of MHR and might be brisk walking for low-impact exercise or jogging for high-impact exercise. High-intensity exercise is exercising at 75 percent or higher of your MHR, which might be brisk walking at an elevated incline for low-impact exercise or sprinting for high-impact exercise. High-intensity exercise is more effective at burning calories and improving aerobic endurance than low- or moderate-intensity exercise.

Low-Impact Recommendations

The amount of cardio you perform a week should depend upon the type of activity, the intensity of the activity and your fitness level. The minimum recommendation for low-impact cardio is 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise most days of the week, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. The 30 minutes can be broken up into two or three smaller sessions a day and still achieve the same results. If your goal is to lose fat, 60 to 90 minutes of low-impact, moderate-intensity exercise sessions may be necessary.

However, higher-intensity cardio sessions can replace longer moderate-intensity sessions. For example, every two minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, you can replace with one minute of high-intensity exercise. These recommendations do not include warm-ups or cool downs. Always check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise program.