Low-impact exercises to keep your body moving

If you're out of practice when it comes to exercising or if you're recovering from an injury, your best bet is to get started with a low-impact routine. But, just because we call it low-impact does not mean it should be considered a low-result workout. Low-impact exercises help you burn calories and lose weight just as well as high-impact moves.

The following are a few favorite low-impact activities along with some ideas for getting the most out of your exercise.

Walking
Walking is by far the most popular low-impact exercise, and to get your heart rate up, there are some things you may want to try.

• Walk faster. One mistake we often make is walking too slowly to get the heart rate up. Picking up the pace can help you up the intensity of your workouts.
• Try interval training. By adding short bursts of speed or an occasional steep hill to your walking workouts, you can increase the intensity of your workouts as well as your calorie-burn.
• Use your arms. Make sure you're not holding onto the treadmill and, when you're outside, swing your arms to keep the intensity up. Holding weights as you walk is a no-no (it can cause injury), but consider using walking poles as an alternative.
• Mix things up. If walking is your only source of cardio, cross-train with other activities to keep your body challenged. Walking is something we do every day and, therefore, we're very good at it. Learning something you're not as adept at can be a significant boost to your endurance and fat loss.

Walking the Stairs
Walking up stairs, whether they're real stairs or the revolving staircase at the gym, can be an incredibly intense workout and a great way to get your heart rate up. If you're a beginner, try adding a few minutes of stair climbing to your usual workout. You'll find you don't have to go very fast to get your heart rate up.

Hiking
Hiking can be another robust, low-impact activity, especially if you're hiking on an incline. The changing terrain requires a lot of work from the lower body and walking up a mountain involves the large muscles of the glutes, hips, and thighs - precisely what you want for an intense cardio workout. Add a backpack, and you're burning even more calories.

Step Aerobics
Step aerobics can be a great alternative if you like choreographed exercise. Because you're stepping onto an elevated platform, you can typically get your heart rate up without doing any jumping. Using your arms can add more intensity to the workout as well.

Other Alternatives
You can also choose other activities that have no impact, but still offer high-intensity workouts like cycling, swimming, cross-country skiing, or rowing. Any of these activities can be intense if you work hard, but you may also want to cross-train with impact activities to keep your body challenged in different ways.