Low impact cardio, also known as low intensity cardio is cardiovascular exercise that is performed without putting too much strain and impact on your joints. It is also used by bodybuilders as a means to burn extra calories without exerting themselves with high intensity cardio.
Whatever the reason, when used in conjunction with a well balanced diet, low impact cardio is an excellent way to stay active and burn fat.
Low Impact Cardio Contents
Some Examples Of Low Impact Cardio
Low impact cardio is a walk in the park – literally!
Well, it’s not just walking, it’s any physical exercise you can do at a casual pace for an extended period of time. This could include (but isn’t limited to):
By our own definition; low impact cardio is exercise you do at a casual pace for at least one uninterrupted hour.
How Does Low Impact Cardio Help With Fat Loss?
Ultimately, fat loss boils down to your diet and body composition/metabolism. Low impact cardio is just an added boost to help you burn more calories and speed up the process.
Low impact cardio helps you burn fat at a steady state. When you combine this with a well-balanced diet – designed to release energy steadily throughout the day; the result is sustainable fat loss and a healthy heart.
Cardiovascular exercise in general is important from the perspective of your cardiovascular health, which is by far more important than trying to burn a few pounds of fat because you want to look a certain way. But that’s not the scope of this article, so if you want to learn more check out this article about making cardio more fun for that very reason.
Protect Your Joints With Low Impact Cardio
Knee and ankle injuries are not uncommon, people of all ages can sustain a knee or ankle injury, and older people have a tendency to develop conditions such as arthritis which affects how much pressure they can put on these joints.
If you have ever experienced joint pain, you will know that it’s no fun at all, and can actually be quite debilitating.
The wonderful thing about low impact cardio is that it is a method that almost anyone can use to stay active. Including anyone with joint issues.
Some of the methods described above don’t put any impact on the joints at all, and this is perfect for anyone who suffers pain in their joints while exercising.
Low Impact Cardio In Bodybuilding
The reason bodybuilders use low impact cardio is because it is not a physically exerting exercise, but it does help to burn extra calories. It also doesn’t interfere with the recovery process after a heavy lifting session.
Imagine performing a high intensity workout and following that up with a heavy lifting session, or doing it the other way around. Anyone would fatigue, and with fatigue comes the risk of injury. Injury is the last thing anyone focused on building lean muscle needs, as it could put a complete stop to their workouts altogether.
Cardio is an important part of the bodybuilding process, but it doesn’t need to be high impact and it doesn’t need to be done fast.
Why Fast And Fat Burning Is Not Necessary
The optimum place to be in terms of burning fat is to have a metabolism that expends your everyday energy efficiently. This is where weightlifting comes in, because when you build lean muscle, you boost your metabolism. Again, there is a lot more to say on this matter, but it’s beyond the scope of this article. If you want to learn more see; Strength Training For Fat Loss.
Usually, what happens is people want to burn fat in a hurry, so they think if they move faster, they burn fat faster. While that is somewhat true, it’s also somewhat self sabotaging. Because you end up depleting your energy to burn only a couple of hundred extra calories.
One snack and you’ve already put that back in, if not more.
The other thing to consider is that fast cardio, done excessively, with an extreme calorie deficit (the recipe people think they need to burn fat), will actually eat into your lean muscle reserves. And since more lean muscle means a faster metabolism, less lean muscle means a slower metabolism.
If any of those ‘fast fat burning’ methods worked, we wouldn’t have so many people searching the internet trying to figure out why it’s not working for them. It’s not just you, it’s the method that the majority default to - it’s flawed.
Slow & Steady Wins The Fat Burning Race
Here’s what the majority of people haven’t tried in terms of fat burning:
The long, slow, sometimes dull, seemingly unrewarding and extremely hard road that requires consistent effort and patience.
But the reality is; this is the only road to sustainable success.
Building muscle takes consistent effort and patience. – So does burning fat.
So our message to you is; play the slow game and play to win.
Why You Should Integrate Low Impact Cardio With Weightlifting
At Lipstick Lifters, we are all about weightlifting, and we understand that cardio, including low impact cardio, is a part of the bigger picture.
Not everyone into weightlifting is doing it to burn fat, and people who want to burn fat are not the only ones who would benefit from low impact cardio.
Cardio, or low impact cardio as we are discussing in this article, should be part of your weightlifting experience. It should be part of everyone's experience, regardless of who they are and what they do.
Please pay attention, because you may hear out there in the land of the internet that cardio is not necessary for burning fat, and that it boils down to a calorie deficit. But this is a good example of something that is factually correct being used in a negative way.
It is true that you can lift, diet, and lose body fat without doing cardio at all. In fact, you don’t even need the lifting, you can be in a consistent calorie deficit and do nothing, you will still lose body fat, you will also lose a lot of your lean muscle reserve in that process.
But let’s put the aesthetic goal aside for a second. Because your cardiovascular health is far more important than your physical appearance. Your cardiovascular system literally keeps you alive. If you’re not taking that seriously, you should be.
How To Integrate Low Impact Cardio With Weightlifting
Because we understand the goals that women in weightlifting have, we understand that cardio is more often than not used for the purpose of burning extra calories, and that is fine, it’s more than fine, it’s great, and it’s what we teach.
When combining low impact cardio with weightlifting, you need a careful balance, because as mentioned above, too much cardio will sabotage your muscle building efforts and your boosted metabolism.
There are a couple of ways you can approach this. You can add 20-30 minutes of low impact cardio to the end of all, or some of your lifting workouts. Or, you can dedicate an entire workout to 60-90 minutes of low impact cardio once or twice a week.
Low Impact Cardio Summary
Hopefully by now you can see that low impact cardio is so much more valuable to your overall health than for the purpose of fat loss. But to stick with the theme of this article, it is worth noting that if you want to use low impact cardio for fat loss, you must consider your diet also.
Lipstick Lifters doesn't provide diet plans, but we do help women in terms of how to approach their diet if fat loss is their goal. We’ve covered this in a lot of detail on our website and through exclusive member benefits via our Members Zone portal. Below are some free resources you may find useful:
Cutting For Women - The Ultimate Guide
Fasted Cardio: Is It Worth It?
Low Impact Cardio Frequently Asked Questions
Is low impact cardio effective for weight loss compared to high-intensity workouts?
Low impact cardio offers a gentler approach suitable for sustainable fat burning without placing excessive strain on joints and muscles. While high-intensity workouts may yield quicker calorie burn at the time, low impact cardio promotes consistency and long-term adherence, supporting sustainable fat loss goals.
How often should I incorporate low impact cardio into my routine for optimal results?
This really depends on how you want to approach it. You can add 20-30 minutes at the end of every workout, or you can dedicate 1-3 days per week to a longer 60-90 minute low impact cardio session.
Can I do weightlifting and low impact cardio simultaneously without compromising muscle gains?
Yes, and you should do this. Just keep the fundamentals of building and maintaining lean muscle in mind and fit your low impact cardio in around your weightlifting sessions.
If you’re not sure how best to approach this in your own personal circumstances, we can help you. Part of our member benefits is dedicated online support. You can join free and find out more about Members Zone here.
How long should each low impact cardio session last to maximise fat burning?
Try not to think about fat burning as something that happens during your actual workout, the majority of the magic happens outside of the gym.
Remember that fat burning happens as a result of your diet, body composition and metabolism. With weightlifting; building lean muscle and eating foods that help you perform and recover, you will alter your body in such a way that it burns excess calories/fat at rest.
Are there specific low impact cardio exercises more effective for fat loss than others?
Some activities burn calories faster than others, but as mentioned in the previous answer, try not to think about fat loss as something that’s happening during your actual workout. There is a much bigger picture and that is to adjust your body composition in such a way that it burns fat more efficiently by default.
How soon can I expect to see results from incorporating low impact cardio into my routine?
It really depends what you’re looking for, the benefits of low impact cardio kick in when you take the first step. Any movement you do, for any period of time is beneficial for your cardiovascular health.
Is it necessary to adjust my diet when incorporating low impact cardio for fat loss?
Yes. If you have excess body fat to lose, you should consider that there is some issue with your current diet.
How you adjust your diet depends on a lot of personal factors. We can help you to identify your own issues with our 7 Day Food Fact Find which is part of our member benefits, which serves a bigger purpose, and that is to help you become gym independent. You can learn more here.
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