Moderate-impact aerobics rely your oxygen consumption to raise your heart rate to between 60 percent and 80 percent of its maximal rate for over 15 minutes. If you're in good health, they're a better workout than low-impact exercise, like walking or climbing stairs, but have less risk than high-intensity activities where both feet leave the ground at once or your heart rate soars. Most activities can be high impact if you work strenuously, but moderate-impact aerobics provide a middle ground for maintaining health and improving performance. Talk to your doctor before beginning any new workouts.
Step Aerobics
Step aerobics can be a moderate or high impact activity, depending on your speed, but when performed, so that one foot stays on the floor or step for stability, you get the cardiovascular benefits without the risk of strain. In 30 minutes, a 150-lb person burns 218 calories. A 180-lb. person burns 261 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 290 calories.
Bicycling
Bicycling can be any level of aerobic activity, too, but most people bike comfortably at about 13 miles an hour, which is considered moderate. Even though your feet aren't technically on the ground, pedaling counts. On level terrain, in 30 minutes, a 150-lb. person burns 300 calories. A 180-lb. person burns 360 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 400 calories.
Dancing
Noncontact dancing, where you move at a faster rhythm than ballroom or other partnered dancing, is a moderate aerobic activity. If you dance with a partner, it's usually low impact, and if you perform advanced dance stunts, like cheerleading or breakdancing, it's high impact. A 150-lb. person burns about 150 calories in 30 minutes of most forms of dancing. A 180-lb. person burns 180 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 200 calories.
Hiking
Hiking is similar to walking, a low-impact activity, but when you include steep terrain and a light pack, its impact increases. This exercise usually involves longer distances than a walk, too, so you get major fat-burning benefits. In 30 minutes, a 150-lb. person burns 270 calories. A 180-lb. person burns 324 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 360 calories.
Jogging
Jogging is usually considered a high-impact aerobic exercise because of the small jumps between steps. If you avoid sprinting and stick to a moderate pace of about 5 miles an hour, it remains a moderate-impact activity. A 150-lb. person burns 278 calories in a half-hour. A 180-lb. person burns 333 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 370 calories.
Rowing
Rowing machines are full-body workouts that can raise your heart very high quickly. Pace yourself with the machine's ergometer to keep your heart rate in the target range of 60 percent to 80 percent its maximal rate. Rowing for 30 minutes burns 270 calories off a 150-lb. person. A 180-lb. person burns 324 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 360 calories.
Stair Machine
Stair machines are different than stair climbing. Most people don't climb the stairs as quickly as they use a stair machine nor do they maintain an elevated heart rate long enough for it to qualify as moderate-impact aerobics. In 30 minutes, a 150-lb. person burns 240 calories. A 180-lb. person burns 288 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 320 calories.
Swimming
Swimming might seem hard to classify aerobically because there's no traditional contact surface, but water resistance helps you raise your heart rate. Swim at comfortably brisk crawl pace that you can sustain for over 15 minutes. Thirty minutes of swimming burns 180 calories for a person who weighs 150 lbs. A 180-lb. person burns 216 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 240 calories.
Tennis
One of the benefits of moderate impact aerobics is that they intensify your workout without intensifying the risk of injury. If you have joint problems, talk to your doctor before starting tennis. In 30 minutes of singles tennis, a 150-lb. person burns 240 calories. A 180-lb. person burns 288 calories. A 200-lb. person burns 320 calories.
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