24 Low-Impact Cardio Workouts That Torch Calories Without the Strain

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 elliptical) to more creative workout classes like barre and pilates. These options are designed to help you sweat and burn calories, without strenuous intensity.

1) 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.

2) 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.

3) 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.

4) 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.

5) 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.

6) 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.

7) 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.

8) 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.

9) 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.

10) 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.

11) Low-Impact HIIT Workouts

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) doesn’t have to be hard on the joints, if you focus on the right moves. This 15-minute low-impact blast workout trainer Amanda Ngonyama includes deep squats, planks, lunges, and more.

12) 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 prioritizing a calmer mental state.

13) 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 everyday or weekly will aid in fat burning by increasing your heart rate.

14) 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.

15) Squat Thrust

If you don’t classify as a person who enjoys burpees, then you may want to consider squat thrusts (here’s how to include them in your circuit). To challenge yourself, add a jump at the top of the exercise.

16) 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.

17) 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. Learn how to properly execute the exercise in this Women’s Health guide.

18) 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. Check out handy instructions for how to do the movement here.

19) 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.”

20) 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.

21) Shadowboxing

Instead of going to high-intensity boxing classes, you may want to consider shadowboxing, Women’s Health previously reported. This workout usually consists of throwing jabs and crosses, working on slips and ducks, and improving combination methods.

22) Core Workouts

Dust off your yoga mat with core workouts (think bridges, modified crunches, and heel taps). These mat exercises focus on slow and controlled movements without straining your joints.

“If your core is strong, stable, and agile, the rest of your body [can] achieve numerous and varied fitness goals,” Ellen Thompson, CPT, head personal trainer at Blink Fitness, told Women’s Health. Check out some of our favorite core workouts before getting started.

23) Kettlebell Flow

Utilizing a kettlebell eliminates jumping but increases the heart rate, making it an ideal low-impact but high-intensity workout. We created a guide to the best kettlebell workouts, ranging from kettlebell swings to deadlifts.

24) Barre

Barre is essentially a combination of ballet, pilates, and yoga, while incorporating high-intensity training. Pure Barre studio told Women’s Health that the class is designed to elevate your heart rate, build strength, and boost your metabolism, but is also joint-friendly due to it’s low-impact but higher weight resistance techniques.

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