I’ve been asked by a few about low-impact exercises for anyone who has injuries or even for seniors who have a harder time starting an exercise routine at this time in their lives. Well, its never too late to start and I’d like to offer up a list of wonderful low-impact exercises for beginners. Remember: with any exercise routines you do, start off slow and only do the exercises you can do based on your body and if you have any injuries avoid doing anything that might harm you. Seek help from professionals when you can and get a trainer if you can afford it. And remember the most important thing is to have fun!

1. Walking: The number one used low-impact exercise. It requires basically no equipment except shoes, of course. You can walk in your neighborhood, at a park, walk laps at a school stadium, walk on the beach, or just walk on a treadmill. Take a friend or your dog and make it a fun workout.

2. Swimming: Great workout for anyone who has had an injury or anyone looking for a new way to work out. Swimming laps is an excellent cardio workout. You might want to take a class or find an instructor to teach you a few strokes just til you get the hang of it. There is free-style, breast stroke, back stroke and butterfly stroke. They are all great choices and keep swimming fun with the variety of strokes.

3. Water Aerobics: This is essentially aerobics in water. Usually you would take a class for this sort of thing. But once you get used to it you could do it on your own. Great for anyone who has injuries and needs to workout but can’t jump and dance around a gym. The resistance in the water helps with strengthening your muscles.

4. Yoga: Improves muscle strength, muscle tone, flexibility and balance. It consists of postures and breathing exercise that are held for about 30 seconds to a minute and even up to 20 minutes by advanced students. Taking a yoga class is a great idea to help you learn to do the postures correctly. There are also many videos online with yoga postures. There are many brands of yoga mats out there, I recommend this one you can check out at amazon. It’s double sided, free of many of the phthalates found in yoga mats and thick for your comfort.

5. Pilates: It combines strength, balance, flexibility and control training with resistance exercises. Movements look like stretches on a mat and a lot of it is done on specific Pilates equipment. Pilates is good for people have had an injury and have a hard time jumping around or doing hard impact exercises. Taking a class is a great idea to learn the basics or you could even have private sessions with an instructor.

6. Cycling: The cool thing about cycling is you can do it indoors on a stationary bicycle or outdoors on your bike! Either way its a great workout and its not so hard on the joints.

7. Weight Training: Lifting weights is one of the best workouts you can do for yourself. You are not only building muscle but your body also will burn fat from weight lifting. See our previous post on the benefits of lifting weights. You can start off by using weight machines at your gym, then move on to free weights. Take a class at your gym or hire a personal trainer to train you in proper form and how to use machines or free weights for best results. You could also use the internet for vast amounts of information on the topic. If you don’t have a gym membership I recommend purchasing your own set of weights. One of the best types are the adjustable weights you can buy that don’t really take up too much space in your home. Try these weights – they’re pretty cool.
Adjust the weight to how much you can handle and you’ll be able to progress because there is more weight you can add up to 45 lbs per dumbbell.

8. Elliptical: The elliptical machine is an excellent cardio option and its very low impact. You can even get an upper body workout on one of these that have the arm components. If you don’t have a gym membership you can purchase one of these for your home. They take up less space than a treadmill and they work the full body. I recommend this one. It’s compact in size, and has multiple workout programs.

9. Rowing machine: This workout is a full-body workout! You push with your legs and pull with your arms working everything. You could use the rowing machine at a gym or at home, or you could be adventurous and go on a boat and row. Kayaking is a similar workout and very good for you as well.

10. Zumba/Dancing: Take a class or dance in your living room! I do it all the time! I even follow you-tube videos for inspiration sometimes. It’s a great workout that allows for movements at your own pace. It’s probably one of the most fun workouts you can do (if you like this kind of thing) because you can just have fun with it.

11. Tai-Chi: Ancient Chinese movement exercises that improves balance, concentration, flexibility and strength. Simple moving exercises that pretty much anyone can do. Take a class to learn the basics or check out the internet for videos.

12. Bodyweight exercises: These exercises can be done at home or at a gym on your own. Push-ups, sit ups, squats, lunges, tricep dips off a chair, burpees, planks are all examples. We have posted many bodyweight exercises you can do at home on this blog. Or you can make your own circuits. You’re building strength, toning your body and burning fat at the same time with these.