Whenever the topic of exercise or fitness is discussed, many of us tend to think of jumping jacks, burpees, squat jumps, and similar exercises that make us sweat like a hot mess. Some even have a complete misconception about the idea of exercising, where they think a workout isn’t effective or good if you don’t sweat.
Personal trainers have emphasized enough over the years that sweating is not an indication of a good workout. They even say that you don’t have to sweat to get a good workout. This makes it evident that high impact or intensity workouts aren’t the only right way to be physically active.
If you’re new to the concept of low impact strength training here is all you need to know about its importance and why you should incorporate it as part of your fitness routine.
- Gentle On The Joints
One of the main reasons why you should incorporate low impact strength training is because they are much easier on the joints than many other types of other high-impact exercises. This proves extremely beneficial for anyone with medical restrictions such as joint pain from arthritis or injuries. It allows such people to follow a fitness routine without exacerbating pains or delaying recovery.
Similarly, older people, deconditioned adults, and those who have just started their fitness journey may find high impact strength training challenging and demotivating in the long run. Getting started with low-impact exercises may help such people set an easy and stable foundation to strength training and give the right grip to progress to advanced forms of exercise.
- Short Recovery Time
Rest and recovery time is an important aspect of strength training programmes. Per a renowned personal trainer one of the major drawbacks of high-impact workout is that they come with a significant amount of downtime. This means that they call for a longer recovery period to make workouts effective for your strength training progress. Long recovery period can disturb your momentum, enthusiasm, or motivation to reach your fitness goals.
Thankfully, with a low-impact exercise you can cut back on these rest days significantly. If you take examples like swimming and yoga, they are practiced by people across the globe every day. These low-impact exercises can also allow you to work out for a longer time in each session, and more often throughout the week without the higher chance of injury.
- Less Stress
Although often overlooked, personal trainers strongly relate stress levels with the effectiveness of a workout and how it outputs results. Especially in the field of strength training, maintaining stress levels is extremely crucial to see good results. In fact a study has also concluded that frequent stress increases sympathetic nervous system responses, increased cortisol, and epinephrine secretion (adrenaline), which can negatively impact strength training.
So evidently high-impact exercises increase the stress hormones which may not give out an expected outcome out of your strength training. In contrast , as low impact training causes less stress to the body both physically and mentally, they have a high probability to speeden up progress on your strength training with steady results.
- Increased Full Range Of Motion
If you know one or two things about strength training it’s that a full range of motion is essential for better muscle balance, joint stability, proper activation of the working muscles, and overall better strength and movement quality. As opposed to high impact workouts, you’re more likely to use your full range of motion in low-impact exercises, which can significantly aid your strength training goals.
Practicing a full range of motion in exercises in general is also important to keep the optimal length and strength of your muscles and reduce muscle imbalances and potential injury. Some fitness experts has also admitted that going through a full range of motion is necessary to maximize the value of an exercise
