You don’t have to strain your knees by running miles to get your cardio in. In fact, if you’re looking to ease into fitness in a way that puts less pressure on your joints, then low-impact cardio workouts offer a sustainable path to results. The point of low-impact cardio routines is to slowly increase the heart rate and build muscle, while lowering the possibility of acute muscle injuries and imbalances.
The right movements, as we’ve gathered below, will keep workouts engaging and challenge your body, so that you can stay on track without burnout. This list of 24 low-impact cardio exercises ranges from steady routines (like at-home mat workouts and incorporating machines into your gym circuit, such as the cross trainer) to more creative workout classes like barre and Pilates. These options are designed to help you sweat and burn calories, without strenuous intensity.
It’s worth noting that burning calories is only one small part of what exercise actually does for your body. Focusing purely on calorie burn can miss the bigger picture: regular movement supports heart health, builds and preserves muscle, improves bone density, boosts mood and energy levels, and helps regulate sleep, hormones and blood sugar. A workout that doesn’t “torch calories” can still be hugely beneficial, but aiming for calorie burn can help if weight loss or fat burn is your goal.
Stationary Bike
Riding a stationary bike allows you to pedal at your pace (calmly or vigorously). The machine can burn anywhere between 498 and 738 calories per hour – when you’re pedaling on the more vigorous end of the spectrum, that is.
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Cycling Intervals
Include high-intensity intervals to a low-intensity bike workout, and it’ll become an anareobic exercise (which means short, high-intensity bursts of activity). You’ll even continue burning calories after you stop pedaling.
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Rowing
Rowing is a fairly steady motion, making it a great low-impact way to get your heart rate up. You can use a rowing machine at the gym or actually go out onto the water to get your heart pumping.
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Strength Training
Lifting weights, battle ropes, and mountain climbers are all considered to be low-impact cardio exercises. These forms of resistance training can happen right at home or at your local gym.
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Hiking
You don’t need a gym membership to take on hiking. Getting some fresh air at your nearest nature trail is the perfect way to burn calories, especially when you’re walking up a mixture of hills and leveled ground.
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Climbing Stairs
The StairMaster is usually taken at your local gym for a reason. That’s because it’s an effective cardio exercise that increases your heart rate at a steady pace, while targeting your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. Plus, you can pick the resistance and speed to control the intensity of your workout.
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Aqua Aerobics
Don’t underestimate water activities. According to Harvard Health, aqua aerobics builds strength, eases joint pain, and reduces risk of heart disease and diabetes.
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Swimming
Trudie German, CPT, told Women’s Health that swimming will “definitely have your heart rate going.” Even swimming at a low to moderate pace will have the desired effect.
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Chair Exercises
”Chair exercises allow you to build strength in your upper body, lower body, and core – without having to invest in any additional equipment,” Ariel Belgrave, CPT, told Women’s Health. Some moves include seated oblique crunches, incline mountain climbers, and alternating toe touches. Adding dumbbells will level up the intensity.
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Indoor Walking
Walking on the treadmill for just 30 minutes will get your heart pumping, as you can adjust the speed and incline according to your fitness level. ”It’s a great form of training for somebody who’s maybe a runner and wants to move the body in a similar way, but without the impact,” Corky Corkum, CPT, told Women’s Health.
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Low-Impact HIIT Workouts
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Yoga
Participating in more challenging flows like Vinyasa and Ashtanga results in a higher calorie burn, or you can opt for slower-paced classes like Yin and Restorative. Yoga, as Women’s Health previously reported, improves strength and mental health by prioritising a calmer mental state.
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Pilates
This exercise trend is popular for a reason. “Pilates is an excellent, low-impact way to tone and strengthen the body,” physical therapist Aimee Victoria Long told Women’s Health. Performing the exercise every day or weekly will aid in fat burning by increasing your heart rate.
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Elliptical
Exercise physiologist Grace Horan, ACSM-EP, told Women’s Health that the elliptical machine works the quads, glutes, biceps, triceps, pecs, traps, and core. Essentially, it allows for repetitive movements in the arms and legs, which enables you to use your muscles and cardiovascular system.
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Squat Thrust
If you don’t classify as a person who enjoys burpees, then you may want to consider squat thrusts. To challenge yourself, add a jump at the top of the exercise.
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Trampolining
If you haven’t hopped on the trampoline since you were a kid, then you may want to reintroduce the activity into your cardio routine. As Women’s Health reported previously, this low-impact workout improves bone density, balance, spatial awareness, and increases your heart rate.
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Plank Knee Tuck
Planks are a great way to work out your core. Plank knee tucks, more specifically, are essentially a slower form of mountain climbers. Introduce the movement into your circuit for 30 to 60 seconds.
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Crab Toe Reach
Get your core, arms, glutes, and hamstrings going with crab toe reaches. They’re a bit of a fun way to get moving, as you start in a reverse table-top position and move back and forth.
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Incline Pushup
Instead of doing pushups on level ground, you can preform them on a chair to build upper-body strength and improve posture. If the chair has too intense of an incline, you can start by pushing off of a wall, stairs, or a lower bench. Cara D’Orazio, a certified personal trainer, told Women’s Health that incline pushups “work your chest, shoulders, and arms without putting a ton of strain on your wrists or shoulders.”
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Lunge
Similar to squats, lunges primarily hit the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings. As Women’s Health previously reported, it’s also a fairly versatile exercise, because you can do forward, reverse, side, and walking lunges. Add dumbbells to tone and strengthen.
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Olivia is a writer, content creator, and podcast host passionate about food, lifestyle, and shopping with a B.A. in Communications and Political Science. When Olivia isn’t typing away or reading Barnes & Noble’s latest psychological thriller, she can be found lying on the beach, working up a sweat at a kickboxing class, or sitting on a flight headed to her next travel destination. Her work has been seen in Glamour, Refinery29, Biography, Stylecaster and more.