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Home Low Impact Cardio Exercise
- The Lateral Shift and Touch Plus Reach Ups -
This is one of my favourite home low impact cardio movements. This is a combination movement that combines the lateral shift and touch plus the reach up exercise. This is a challenging low impact movement that will have your breathing pretty heavy after a set. However, it is very safe on your joints since there is not jumping, skipping or hopping.
There is
some body shift work (from left to right and right to left) plus some reaching
down but your body never leaves the ground. For those of you who can’t do
burpees or mountain climbers and looking for something that will really get
your heart rate up this is a great exercise to perform.
This is a combination exercise so you will perform the lateral shift and touch first and without resting, perform the reach up exercise next. You can perform this low impact cardio exercise anywhere
including the gym or your home.
Perform the lateral shift and touch first
Without resting, immediately perform the reach up exercise
Position for the lateral shift and touches
Stand straight, keeping your feet at shoulder width apart. Retract your shoulders, slightly arch your lower back and puff your chest out. Keep your arms in the ready position with your knees slightly bent.
How to perform shift and touch
Using your legs, laterally shift your body to the right (a step or two) and reach down to touch the floor (or near it) with your right hand. Get up and laterally shift your body to the left and reach down to the floor (or near it) with your right hand. Stand up and perform the reach up exercise.
Position for the reach up exercise
Your feet should be at shoulder width apart. Keep your shoulder blades retracted and puff your chest out slightly.
How to perform the reach exercise
Reach down with both hands (while squatting) to just below
your knee level. Stop and propel yourself upwards and reach up as if you are
putting something on a shelf. Repeat the
movement as needed.
Repeat this combination for as many times as needed. I suggest performing this
low impact cardio movement 3 times (in the combination sequence) and see how
you feel afterwards.
Breathing
Lateral shift and touch: Take a deep breath in as you shift
and touch and breathe out as get back up and shift back.
Reach ups: Breathe in as your reach down and breath out as your reach up. It’ll
take a bit of practice but you’ll get the hang of it.
Important notes about the lateral shift and touch plus reach up cardio combination
· Keep your core activated throughout the entire movement
· If you can’t touch the floor go as far as you can without straining yourself.
· If you can’t squat all the way down, only go as far as you’re comfortable. Don’t strain yourself.
· This is a challenging exercise so if you’re just starting out, perform a few run troughs and see how you feel. If you can handle more, go for it. If you’re too out of breath, take it easy and move onto your next exercise.
Video for the lateral shift and touch plus reach up low impact cardio exercise
Related Exercises:
Knee Raise and Touches Plus Front Jacks
High Knee Elbow Touch and Lateral Shift Floor Touch
Standing Side Bend Knee Ups Plus Rope Pulls
Over his 30 plus years of experience, Blake Bissaillion has worked with nationally ranked body builders, power lifters and fitness professionals. In this time he has picked up volumes of applied knowledge that he openly shares with his clients. Mr. Bissaillion’s objective is to help as many beginners to weight training and fitness to achieve their weight loss and fitness goals while getting into their best possible shape. Mr. Bissaillion owns and operates Belly Be Gone, a fitness company that offers fitness and nutritional guidance and products.