Low-Impact Workouts That Won’t Disturb The Neighbors

If you live in an apartment in Calgary, Canada, you know there are limits to how loud your music is and the jumping and thumping you can do. It’s one reason to focus on low-impact workouts to avoid disturbing the neighbors below. High-impact workouts include jumping jacks, squat jumps, and running that lift both feet off the floor so they land with a jarring movement that can damage the joints. Most endurance exercises tend to be high-impact. Low-impact exceptions are walking, riding a stationary bike, swimming, and ellipticals.

Build strength with bodyweight exercises.

You’ll build strength without thumping on the ceiling when you do squats, push-ups, seated leg lifts, and planks. These strength builders are a few of the calisthenic low-impact ones everyone can do. You can do a high plank or low plank, with the high plank targeting the shoulder and upper body strength and the low plank targeting the core. Push-ups build strength but don’t cause your feet to pound the floor.

My downloads and DVDs include many silent core workouts.

Building your core muscles does more than give you a flat stomach. It improves your balance and strength. While burpees tend to be high-impact because of the jump, mountain climbers are low-impact. Bird dog exercises, kickbacks, and bridges are three more core strength builders. Leg lifts, sit-ups, and other core exercises work your muscles without pounding the floor. The stronger your core, the less prone you’ll be to falls, not to mention how great you’ll look.

Flexibility training is normally low-impact.

When you stretch and move your body to lengthen the muscles, high-impact exercises can cause damage. You want to stretch them slowly, not suddenly pull them. Most high-impact workouts defeat the purpose of flexibility training, which is to protect muscles by improving the range of motion. Stationary lunges, side leg lifts, and the cat-cow pose are three silent flexibility exercises. Gentle full-body stretches, hamstring stretches, and most yoga poses can help you get fit without hammering your joints.

• You can also build strength without disturbing the neighbors by including resistance band exercises. Lateral walking with fitness bands builds leg strength and endurance.
• You may not have considered lifting weights or kettlebell workouts as low-impact, but they are. If you have the space, kettlebell workouts are also fun to do. You can cut workout time when you use kettlebells.
• Isometric exercises don’t involve a lot of movement or high-impact movements. Doing a stomach suction exercise for abs is one isometric. Wall sits, high planks, and pause squats are examples.
• Tai chi and yoga are mild exercises that everyone can do. Many poses, like the bridge—Setu Bandhasana—and plank—Phalakasana—build joint strength without jarring the body.

For more information, contact us today at Get RIPPED! by Jari Love