what's high impact mean?

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What does "high impact" mean when we are talking aerobics? To me, it means stomping your foot really hard. lol For a fat girl "high impact" isnt a whole lot. what i did today burned my lungs, made me pour sweat, i was breathing like a cow and i thought i might die. is that high impact, even though it may not be LABELED high impact? What is high impact for some, may not be high impact for another. Right?
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  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
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    Whenever I've done something high impact, it usually means I end up feeling my heartbeat in my gums :)
  • judkinsjenny
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    LMAO!!!! oh man! lol
  • TluvK
    TluvK Posts: 733 Member
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    High impact typically means an exercise that could be somewhat jarring to your body, like your knees, ankles, etc. So, really, jumping of any kind where you are coming down hard. I think if you're talking about breathing hard, you would call it high intensity, which, yes, I think can definitely vary by the person.
  • surfrgrl1
    surfrgrl1 Posts: 1,464 Member
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  • CakeFit21
    CakeFit21 Posts: 2,521 Member
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    High impact is anything like jumping. Things that impact your joints. Running is high impact. Elliptical and bike are low impact.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,670 Member
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    High impact relates to actual movements that put pressure and strain on the joints. You knees, ankles, hips, etc. Usually there is jumping, or fast stopping movements involved.
  • MarieNevada
    MarieNevada Posts: 395 Member
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    high impact refers to the impact on your physical body through jumping. not impact on your heart rate. lol sorry. so if it involves jumping it's high impact, if it doesn't, it's not. ie. jumping jacks-high impact. eliptical-low impact. step aerobics can be mixed, usually written as high/low impact. running-high impact, walking-lower impact. et cetera.
  • MrsWagz
    MrsWagz Posts: 41
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    It usually implies jumping to some degree or even just a bouncing motion when you move.. It's a higher intensity workout.. Running is high impact, TurboFire is REALLY high impact.. Anything where your really getting your heart rate up there..Kinda hard to put into words now that I think about it! lol
  • plantgrrl
    plantgrrl Posts: 436 Member
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    When I did Weight Watchers, I found their definitions very helpful:

    http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=20971

    Light Easy:
    Does not induce sweating unless it's a hot, humid day. There is no noticeable change in breathing patterns.

    Moderate Somewhat hard
    Will break a sweat after performing the activity for about 10 minutes. Breathing becomes deeper and more frequent. You can carry on a conversation but not sing.

    High Hard
    Will break a sweat after 3-5 minutes. Breathing is deep and rapid. You can only talk in short phrases.
  • judkinsjenny
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    allright. you burn more cals on high impact than on low impact. it sounds like the fat girl (me) did high impact. hope my joints hold out...(in my choked voice)
  • judkinsjenny
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    yeah, that was me today!! lol
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
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    allright. you burn more cals on high impact than on low impact. it sounds like the fat girl (me) did high impact. hope my joints hold out...(in my choked voice)

    That's a good question. I'd like to know as well. If I had to guess, either one could be lower or higher in intensity. When I did do high impact exercises with a trainer, he said it was so that I could work on form and my body would know how to react to the same situations in real life (jumping, falling, etc). At the time I guess I didn't think about it terms of calories burned, but the jumping sure worked my legs.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,670 Member
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    When I did Weight Watchers, I found their definitions very helpful:

    http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=20971

    Light Easy:
    Does not induce sweating unless it's a hot, humid day. There is no noticeable change in breathing patterns.

    Moderate Somewhat hard
    Will break a sweat after performing the activity for about 10 minutes. Breathing becomes deeper and more frequent. You can carry on a conversation but not sing.

    High Hard
    Will break a sweat after 3-5 minutes. Breathing is deep and rapid. You can only talk in short phrases.
    This describes INTENSITY not the actual IMPACT.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,670 Member
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    allright. you burn more cals on high impact than on low impact. it sounds like the fat girl (me) did high impact. hope my joints hold out...(in my choked voice)
    You did high intensity not high impact. High intensity doesn't always mean high impact. You can lift weights at high intensity and sweat and gasp for air, but it's not high impact.
  • judkinsjenny
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    thats what the exercise thing on MFP said, that it burns more. for 10 mins of low, its 75 cals for high its 103
  • TluvK
    TluvK Posts: 733 Member
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    thats what the exercise thing on MFP said, that it burns more. for 10 mins of low, its 75 cals for high its 103

    High Impact, coupled with High Intensity will burn the most. It sounds like this is what you did -

    Example 1: Say you were to jump with two legs up in the air and land on two feet every 90 seconds. You've just done High Impact/Low Intensity

    Example 2: You step up on a step 60 times in one minute You've just done Low Impact/High Intensity.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,670 Member
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    thats what the exercise thing on MFP said, that it burns more. for 10 mins of low, its 75 cals for high its 103
    Then it's high INTENSITY. There's a difference between high intensity and high impact.
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
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    thats what the exercise thing on MFP said, that it burns more. for 10 mins of low, its 75 cals for high its 103

    High Impact, coupled with High Intensity will burn the most. It sounds like this is what you did -

    Example 1: Say you were to jump with two legs up in the air and land on two feet every 90 seconds. You've just done High Impact/Low Intensity

    Example 2: You step up on a step 60 times in one minute You've just done Low Impact/High Intensity.

    Exactly. Think about the word "impact". It means a forceful contact between two things, i.e. your foot and the ground.
  • judkinsjenny
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    no, it realy said high impact.
  • judkinsjenny
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    ill look up high intensity if its there.