Intensity and Impact – what is the difference?

Hands up if when you see a high intensity workout you immediately think “not with my knees”…

For many people, high intensity workouts and classes are synonymous with high impact. Jumping, burpees, star jumps, and all things hard on the joints.

But actually, intensity is not the same as impact.

And once you understand the difference between intensity and impact, suddenly a whole world of effective (and dare I say fun…) workouts become available to you.

Impact is about force through your joints

Impact is what happens when your body hits the ground with jumping, running and landing, and your bones and joints absorb the force.

We all need a bit of impact to support bone health, but it’s the repeated loading through your body that can make high impact workouts hurt rather than help.

If you have a joint condition, pelvic floor concerns, hip or back issues, then repeated high impact can make things worse.

And you don’t need to have a joint condition to find that doing a high impact workouts can leave you feeling aching, drained and exhausted.

Intensity is all about effort

Intensity is a completely separate thing.

It’s about how hard you are working. It can be measured by your heart rate, how out of breath you are, or how much effort you feel you putting in.

And it has nothing to do with impact.

Think about riding a bike. There is no impact but you can change the intensity by simply moving from a slow, meandering pace, to a fast all out pace or by adding in a few hills.

When something is high intensity you are putting in effort, which raises your heart rate and improves your cardiovascular health.

You don’t need impact for intensity

This is where workouts like my high intensity, low impact Heat class comes in.

We keep the intensity high – you put in the effort, you get sweaty, you get out of breath – but I take away the impact.

Which means it’s really good for women who

• Have knee, hip, or back issues but still want a proper, sweaty workout
• Have pelvic floor concerns and high impact exercises are uncomfortable or cause leaks
• Are returning to exercise from pregnancy, injury, illness, or just time away from exercise
• Are just tired of being tired after every class!

What does Heat, a high intensity, low impact class, actually look like?

As it’s high intensity you are working hard. Aiming for a 6-7 out of 10 effort, where you your breathing is raised and if I asked you a question you could only say a few words at a time.

We lose the impact. Which means no hard jumping, burpees, start jumps or high knees on the spot.

Instead we have a wide variety of exercises in each class that use a combination of bodyweight, dumbbells, resistance bands, minibands and Pilates balls. These exercises work the whole body and are designed to get your heart pumping and your body moving.

Although it’s high intensity, you work to your own effort. What feels high intensity one week may feel different the next. It doesn’t mean you’re not putting the effort in, only that you might have had a poor night’s sleep, had a stressful week, or have had a fluctuation in your hormones.

And I recognise that not every exercise is right for you. So I will suggest lower intensity options or joint friendly modifications if needed.

 

If you’ve ever felt that high intensity workouts aren’t for you, it might be that the problem is the impact, not the intensity.

So, maybe give Heat a try. It might just change your mind!