High Intensity Exercises Vs Low Impact Exercises – Which Is Better?

Basically, all exercises can be categorized into two types – High Impact Exercises and Low-Intensity Exercises. The meaning is clearly explained by their names. High-intensity exercises such as push-ups, squats involve high impact. And low-impact exercises such as cycling, swimming, running involves less strength. Certainly, both these exercises are important for staying fit and healthy. Both these exercises are essential for achieving different fitness goals. But, they do provide different types of benefits. As cardiovascular exercises like jogging, cycling help in burning vast calories and thereby help in acquiring weight loss goals. And high-intensity activity specifically focuses on building strength and so help in acquiring goals like strong abs or toned core. So, according to your exercise goals, you can select the particular types of exercises. But, you don’t need to completely forget another type of exercises that you haven’t chosen. Below, I have shared some major differences between high impact and low impact exercises.

• Start-Up –

Well, you cannot say that fitness programs can be started with both these types of exercises. The low-impact cardiovascular workout is an ultimate choice for beginners. Because these exercises do not require definite technique and some exercise equipment. Also, these exercises do not involve pretty much strength and so can also be performed by people who have arthritis pain or joint problems. Even during pregnancy, you can perform low impact exercises. On the other hand, you need to perform some type of training for performing high-intensity exercises. The training is known as strength or impact training. It explains all the tips that are required for building strength and starting performing high impact push-ups, deadlifts, etc. Therefore, if you are a beginner, you must go for low-intensity exercises. And after mastering them, you can start performing high-intensity workouts.

• Fat Loss –

Here is a very common question – which exercises – low-intensity or high-intensity should I perform for losing a great amount of weight? Well, we cannot make one definite choice. It is because a number of calories depend upon on your eating plan. For losing weight, you need to make a calorie deficit plan i.e. the plan that focuses on burning more calories than the calories that have been consumed. So, you need to burn more calories than you have consumed. If you follow this plan, you can burn a vast amount of fat by performing any types of exercises. But, you need to maintain discipline and need to perform exercises with sincerity and diligence. Exercises such as running, swimming, Cycling etc. only helps in burning calories if they are performed for at least 20 minutes. A similar statement holds for high impact exercises too. But, high-intensity exercises can be performed three or four times in a week. A calorie- deficit plan is vital for burning massive fat and losing weight. So, select your favorite exercises and follow calorie deficit for losing weight.

• Strength –

If you want to gain strength or build abs, muscles, you need to perform high impact exercises. High force and resistance involved in exercises like bench presses, push-ups provides pretty much strength. Several body muscles get toned, and so one achieve a wonderful body shape. But, these exercises cannot be performed by people who have pains, injuries, etc. Instead, these exercises can cause sprains, strains, and joint problems. Well, it does not mean high impact exercises are not better exercises. They are very effective exercises and help in acquiring fitness goals in shorter periods. If your goal is to get tough and stable, you need to perform high-intensity squats and burpees on the regular basis. Beginners should go to professionals and perform training before starting high-impact workouts.

• Time Duration

Both high impact and low impact exercises involve different time periods. It means you need to perform these exercises on the different basis. Unlike low-impact exercises such as cycling, running, swimming, etc., high resistance exercises like burpees, deadlifts need to be performed 3 or 4 times in a week. You do not need to perform these exercises regularly for acquiring health benefits. Yes, you will get stronger muscles and lose fat with these exercises. On the other hand, you need to perform low-impact cardiovascular exercises regularly for achieving your exercise goals. Even if you miss these exercises for 3 days in a week, you will fail in losing your belly fat. So, high impact exercises are more effective than low-impact exercises. But, you need to acquire a tremendous amount of strength for performing high-intensity exercises. So, in both these exercises, you need to spend the decent period of time for acquiring your fitness goals.

• Nutrition

Low-impact exercises or high-impact exercises both go hand in hand with nutrition. For acquiring benefits from these exercises, you need to consume proper nutrition. If you keep on eating unhealthy/processed foods such as sandwiches, burgers, etc., you will always never achieve success in workouts and become a failure. As I already mentioned, for losing your belly fat, you need to burn more calories than you eat. So, you need to consume fewer calories every day. Instead of consuming vast calories, you need to burn extra calories present in your body. Cycling, jumping, deadlifts, squats, etc. also provide benefits, if you consume right or healthy food on regular basis. You should look for foods such as fruits, whole-grain rice, vegetables, nuts, and grains. You should avoid eating late night snacks that specifically contributes to obesity. Maintain a decent diet according to your exercises. Therefore, proper nutrition is important in high-intensity exercises as well as in low-impact exercises.

Which Should I Use?

Before selecting exercises or workouts, you need to know different things

1. If you are a beginner and want to start health programs, you should go for low-impact activities such as swimming, cycling, etc
2. If you want to make six-pack abs or stronger core muscles, you should perform high-impact exercises such as deadlifts, burpees.
3. If you have arthritis pain, Oster IP ROIs, low-impact exercises such as swimming, cycling are better option for you
4. If you have less time for performing exercises, you must include high-impact exercises in your workout programs.
5. If you simply want to burn calories and maintain your weight, you should perform low-impact cardio exercises such as cycling and running on regular basis.

Final Verdict

It is difficult to say which is best – high-impact exercise or low-impact exercise. For performing high-impact push-ups and deadlifts, you need to perform some specific training. Low-impact exercises can also be performed by people who have arthritis pain or joint pain or pain in various body muscles. By performing the high-intensity exercise for 4 times in a week, you can acquire various health benefits such as weight loss, stronger core etc. You need to perform low-impact exercises regularly for maintaining your weight. If you want to strengthen your core and abs, you should select high impact exercises. Well, if you are new exercises, you should start your health program with low-impact cardio exercises such as swimming, jogging etc. According to your preference, select specific exercises for availing your fitness goals.

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