LoseIt! – May 2024

Step Aside: 7 Easy, Effective Workouts Besides Walking

Switch up your exercise routine with these beginner-friendly, low-impact workouts that give your body the movement it craves.

By Natasha Burton
Expert Reviewed by Kara Andrew, RDN, LDN
May 30, 2024

Although walking has an array of mental and physical health benefits, it’s not the only accessible, gentle way to move your body. “Many low-impact workouts offer excellent alternatives to walking, providing similar benefits, like reduced stress on the joints, when compared to higher-impact activities,” says physiotherapist Lalitha Bhowani-Mcsorley, owner of Brentwood Physio in Calgary, Canada.

Below, you’ll find seven expert-backed exercises that can be done by people of a wide range of ages and abilities to keep you moving when you need an alternative to walking.

Desi Bartlett Contributed to this article:

3. Sitting or Lying-Down Workouts
What’s easier than not having to get up? For days when the motivation to move is lacking, try simple workout routines that don’t require standing, or can even be performed lying down.

Research shows that, particularly for older adults, chair-based exercises are not only effective but also help people develop and maintain strength. Fitness expert and Yoga Alliance–trained instructor Desi Bartlett, co-author of Total Body Beautiful, says that chair workouts can be a great way to exercise in a low-impact way. “There are many online and gym workouts that can be performed in a chair,” she says. These include leg, arm, and ab strengthening exercises. “These workouts can be effective for beginners and easy to follow along with,” Bartlett adds.

Another alternative to walking that allows you to be fairly sedentary is mat Pilates, where you mainly sit on your seat or lie in the supine position, which means lying on your back facing up. You then use mostly gravity to work your core and other major muscle groups. Research shows that doing Pilates can improve muscular endurance and flexibility in a low-impact way, with no equipment required other than your body.

It is important to note, however, that Pilates isn’t cardio and there are limitations to how much muscle it can build unless you advance into more high-impact classes. But on days when the weather is dreadful and you can’t walk, doing a Pilates class can be a good way to engage your muscles and get your blood flowing.

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