What Is High-Impact Exercise and Why Is it Good for the Body?

This is the story of Kristi Barker, a physical therapist. She has a five-day-a-week weightlifting routine at the gym. She desired an alternative form of exercise that left her feeling as good mentally as it did physically. Therefore, she turned to high-impact exercise that gave her a significant endorphin boost in addition to being feasible in a small place. Experts continue to recommend incorporating force-focused exercises into your routine.

What Is High-Impact Exercise?

If you imagine dreadful burpees when you read “high-impact exercise,” you are not incorrect. The term ‘impact’ implies two forces coming into contact with each other. That said, any exercise that involves such an interaction would be considered high-impact. This is what Brad Shoenfeld, Ph.D., an exercise science professor at Lehman College, City University of New York says. This includes exercises such as jump squats and jumping rope, as well as high-energy dancing and jogging. Contrary to what many athletes have been taught to believe, it is an amazing experience for your body and mind.

Unfortunately, Kristi Barker says that there is a stigma surrounding high-impact training. It’s portrayed as detrimental to the joints and beyond. The solution, according to Barker, is education about its benefits and insights into how to incorporate it into your routine.

What Are the Benefits?

The number one advantage, according to Chris Hartley, Ph.D., lecturer in biomedical sciences at Birmingham City University in the U.K., high-impact exercise increases bone mineral density and reduces fracture risk. It has been demonstrated that jumping and hopping increase bone strength at the hip. This is a fracture point in older women. Hartley also explains that bone adapts to the stress and strains placed on it. The more we load the bone, the stronger it will become. Young soccer players had denser bones than cyclists and swimmers, according to research conducted at the University of Exeter in England. Feeling the force also improves your joint stability and balance, and may assist you in altering your body composition.

When Shoenfeld and his team compared resistance training and plyometrics for lower-body muscle growth, they found that both activities resulted in comparable gains. A recent assessment discovered that plyometric exercises promote hypertrophy, regardless of age and gender.

We’re not suggesting that you should replace resistance training with plyometrics. Incorporating bouncy exercises into your routine can help you achieve your muscle-building objectives and improve your mental health. Whether you are a 25-year-old and looking to shake up your strength-training routine or a 45-year-old and want to strengthen your frame so that you can run marathons with your grandkids one day, or in your 50s or 60s and looking to combat the bone-weakening effects of menopause, high-training exercise is the missing piece.