How To Create A Sweaty But Accessible High-Intensity Low-Impact Workout

If your weekdays were spent watching , we see a high-intensity, low-impact workout in your future. South African women are increasingly looking for ways to stay active that respect joint health – particularly for postpartum recovery, managing menopause, or simply balancing a busy lifestyle. Case in point: Google searches for the terms “low-impact full body workout” and “low-impact but sweaty” or “HILIT” (High-Intensity Low-Impact Training) are on the up in South Africa. 

Why High-intensity, Low-impact Workouts Are A HIIT 

YouTubers and social media PTs are proving that just because you need to go easy on the joints, you can still achieve an envious sweat. “Lately, there’s been quite a buzz around low-impact full-body workouts,” observes PT and Cover Search finalist Jizelle Kotze. “What makes this approach special is that you can still get a good, energising workout without doing high-impact moves like jumping, running, or those dreaded burpees.” HILIT workouts are also excellent because: 

• For anyone with knee injuries (read: everyone who remembers before Neville Meintjies), low-impact workouts still build critical joint strength while helping them recover 
• Even without injury, training without taxing the joints can be beneficial by minimising joint stress, according to the National Federation of Personal Trainers (NFPT)
• They can be scaled to be more or less intense, making them sustainable, says Kotze 

READ MORE: Can Pilates Double As Your Strength Training Workout?

So… Is A Low-impact Exercise Enough For A Full-body Workout?

Short answer: hell yeah. “Low-impact exercises are great for both cardio and strength training, and they’re easy on the joints,” says Kotze. But to make a HILIT a full-body workout, each move needs to engage one or more of the major muscle groups (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, core, back, chest, and shoulders). Some moves engage multiple muscles at once, like lunges with core rotation, called compound movements. 

Secondly, an effective workout should be both aerobic (light to moderate intensity) and anaerobic (high intensity, short time). To get there, your heart rate needs to increase, which you can do with isometric holds, slowing down in the hardest part of the move, or by using large movements, like deeper squats or overhead reaches. 

READ MORE: What Is Rucking? How To Try The Cardio And Strength Workout, According To Experts

What Can A HILIT Workout Look Like?  

Any low-impact cardio counts as HILIT, as long as it’s done with enough intensity. That could be: 

• Rowing 
• Cycling 
• Interval walking 
• Dance, like jaiva or Zumba 

HILIT could also be combined with strength training or mobility work: 

• Pilates 
• Calisthenics 
• Good old-fashioned low-impact gym moves with or without weights 

Workouts to try

How To Craft Your Own High-Intensity, Low-impact Workout 

“The ultimate secret ingredient to get a proper sweat out of a low-impact workout is to keep things heated!” explains Kotze. “Incorporate things like increased workout intensity, add resistance through bands and weights, or incorporate movements that target both large and small muscle groups. And, keep the heart rate elevated and sustain it for longer periods.”  

Use what you have 

Water bottles or canned food work as weights, as long as you keep the rep range high. Use towels to create resistance.

Add music 

Tempo training, especially to music, can encourage speedier reps, which increases the heart rate.

Slow things down 

Slowly add three to six seconds of length for each exercise in the lowering phase. A study in The Journal of Physiology found that this method contributes to increased muscle growth by increasing the rate of muscle protein synthesis. 

Create compound movements 

Engage multiple major muscle groups to get more bang for your buck by increasing the mount of joints engaged at once. 

Set the timer 

Try to work against a timer, giving as much effort as possible in a short amount of time. To make it harder, try supersets, which minimise recovery time. Or, between sets, march in place for active recovery to keep the HR up. 

READ MORE: This Powerful Joint-Friendly Lower Body Workout Tones Every Inch

Try these low-impact workout moves from PT Jizelle Kotze 

Incorporate these movements into your routine a few times a week for all-over strength. This workout is all bodyweight and requires no equipment. To make it high-intensity, try Tabata or AMRAP formats for time, cycling through three to five rounds.