There are different intensities to exercise that provide a lot of benefit to living a healthy lifestyle. Both high-impact and low-impact workouts can be equally beneficial.
Somedays finding exercises to mix into your normal, busy routine can feel exhausting or discouraging. Trying something new shouldn’t discourage but instead help your mind and muscles work together to find new coordination. Making sure your exercises don’t add too much strain to already stressed joints and bones is always something to remember.
Low-impact exercises are an effective way to work on strength and cardiovascular fitness without adding too much extra stress on our joints and tendons. A good rule of thumb for knowing if it’s low-impact is if you keep at least one foot on the ground during exercise and it is easier on your body. Don’t be fooled: low impact exercises can be just as challenging as high impact. Cardio isn’t the only form of exercise that can be low impact. Strength training with dumbbells, resistance bands and body weight are also considered low-impact workouts that bring a lot of benefit.
Low impact training is beneficial because it:
Low-impact strength training can look like:
The biggest factor when starting or continuing exercise is to listen to your body. If you need to rest, rest. If you need to just slow down, then do so. Getting enough rest is also essential for strengthening our bodies, but don’t be afraid to move. Keep it up AML fighters!
If you're ready to join a community of AML patients and caregivers who are striving to add more minutes of activity to their day, join us for our Active for AML Challenge taking place during the month of April. Download the HealthTree Moves app and register for the upcoming Active for AML challenge. More information on how to join is found here. We can't wait to work towards a collective goal of 100,000 minutes between all participants together!
There are different intensities to exercise that provide a lot of benefit to living a healthy lifestyle. Both high-impact and low-impact workouts can be equally beneficial.
Somedays finding exercises to mix into your normal, busy routine can feel exhausting or discouraging. Trying something new shouldn’t discourage but instead help your mind and muscles work together to find new coordination. Making sure your exercises don’t add too much strain to already stressed joints and bones is always something to remember.
Low-impact exercises are an effective way to work on strength and cardiovascular fitness without adding too much extra stress on our joints and tendons. A good rule of thumb for knowing if it’s low-impact is if you keep at least one foot on the ground during exercise and it is easier on your body. Don’t be fooled: low impact exercises can be just as challenging as high impact. Cardio isn’t the only form of exercise that can be low impact. Strength training with dumbbells, resistance bands and body weight are also considered low-impact workouts that bring a lot of benefit.
Low impact training is beneficial because it:
Low-impact strength training can look like:
The biggest factor when starting or continuing exercise is to listen to your body. If you need to rest, rest. If you need to just slow down, then do so. Getting enough rest is also essential for strengthening our bodies, but don’t be afraid to move. Keep it up AML fighters!
If you're ready to join a community of AML patients and caregivers who are striving to add more minutes of activity to their day, join us for our Active for AML Challenge taking place during the month of April. Download the HealthTree Moves app and register for the upcoming Active for AML challenge. More information on how to join is found here. We can't wait to work towards a collective goal of 100,000 minutes between all participants together!
about the author
Linnley Sweeney
Linnley is a Cancer Exercise Specialist. She joined HealthTree in January 2020 to share her passion for health. Her husband is a Childhood Cancer Survivor as well as a Cancer Biologist. Finding a cure, better treatments, and balancing life through treatment is a huge passion of their family. She's a mom of an energetic 6-year old, marathon runner, and Ironman finisher. Fitness has been a huge part of her life, and she loves to share it with others.