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CHAPTER 1 WHAT IS LOW-IMPACT TRAINING? WHAT IS LOW-IMPACT TRAINING? If you don’t like to exercise or find it intimidating, low-impact training offers so much variety to choose from that you are bound to find a workout you like. On the other hand, if you’re a serious athlete and think low-impact training is too easy or won’t improve your performance, think again. Its name implies that it involves a non-contact sport or exercise, but that’s not the case. Low-impact training is any activity or sport that is easy (low-impact) on your joints. For example, swimming and cycling are low-impact activities. In swimming, thewater supports the body and eliminates joint stress. In cycling, the rider sits on a saddle and doesn’t put undue stress on his or her joints as, for example, a runner does. High-impact training is the opposite of low-impact training. It is a sport or exercise that impacts the joints, such as running, jumping rope, and gymnastics. Football is high-impact not because there is a physical contact or impact between players but because running and blocking impacts the joints. When done properly, high-impact training improves bone density, can burn calories faster, and helps improve stability. HOWTHE BODYMOVES To understand how these two trainingmethods affect your body, we need to understand how your bodymoves.

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