What is low impact cardio?
Cardio where one foot stays in contact with the ground at all times. No jumping, no bounding, no landing.
The distinction is about force through the joints, not about effort. A brisk incline walk can leave you breathless; a gentle jog is low effort and high impact. Confusing the two is why so many women over 40 believe they have to choose between their knees and their fitness.
What it is not: low intensity. You can work extremely hard with both feet on the floor, and several programmes on this page will prove it.
Seven low impact cardio exercises to try
These are the ones that work for a midlife body, roughly in order of how easy they are to start.
| Exercise | Effort | Why it works after 40 | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisk walking | Easy to moderate | The most evidenced option there is, and free | Pace matters less than total steps, so walk further rather than faster |
| Incline treadmill walking | Moderate to hard | Raises heart rate substantially with no extra joint load | Do not hold the handrails; it removes most of the work |
| Stationary cycling | Easy to hard | Fully supported, so knees and pelvic floor stay unloaded | Saddle height: a slight bend in the knee at the bottom of the stroke |
| Rowing | Moderate to hard | Full body, and one of the few low impact options that loads the back | Legs first, then body, then arms; most people pull too early |
| Swimming or aqua | Easy to hard | Zero impact, useful when everything else hurts | Does nothing for bone, so pair it with loaded work |
| Low impact dance cardio | Moderate | Raises heart rate and mood at once, which helps adherence | Check the class is genuinely step-free, not just labelled low impact |
| Step-free circuits | Moderate to hard | Squats, presses and carries kept continuous, so it doubles as strength | Keep rest short rather than adding speed to the movements |
The pattern worth noticing: five of the seven need no equipment beyond shoes, and the two that do (bike, rower) are the ones you can work hardest on without any joint cost.
How much do you actually need?
Less than the fitness industry implies, and the evidence here is unusually clear.
Following 16,741 older women, Lee and colleagues, writing in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2019, found mortality fell steadily with daily step count. Against the lowest quartile, hazard ratios were 0.59, 0.54 and 0.42 across rising quartiles, with benefit levelling off at around 7,500 steps a day.
The more useful half of that finding is what happened to intensity. When the researchers adjusted for total steps per day, the associations with stepping intensity “were attenuated, and most were no longer significant”. How fast you moved mattered far less than how much you moved.
That is the case for low impact cardio in one sentence: the thing that drives the benefit is volume, and volume is exactly what you can sustain when nothing hurts.
Supporting this, Hupin and colleagues, in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2015, found a low dose of moderate to vigorous activity was associated with a 22% reduction in mortality risk across 122,417 people. And if you cannot find a clear half hour, Murphy and colleagues, in Sports Medicine in 2019, found no differences between accumulated and continuous exercise for cardiorespiratory fitness or blood pressure.
Is low impact cardio good for weight loss?
It helps, but it is the junior partner, and it is worth being straight about that.
Cardio does reach the fat that matters most. In a systematic review and meta-analysis, Vissers and colleagues, writing in PLoS One in 2013, examined exercise and visceral adipose tissue without caloric restriction, noting that reducing visceral fat “potentially plays a pivotal role in the treatment of the metabolic syndrome”.
But during the menopause transition the specific problem is not only fat gain. In the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, Greendale and colleagues, in JCI Insight in 2019, found that “rate of fat gain doubled, and lean mass declined”. Cardio alone does little for the second half of that sentence.
The practical answer: use low impact cardio for heart, mood, visceral fat and daily volume, and add two resistance sessions a week for the lean mass. If you only have three sessions, make two of them strength. That ordering is unglamorous and it is what the evidence supports.
How do the best low impact cardio programmes compare?
Thirteen of our 77 programmes are both genuinely low impact and genuinely cardio, which is the qualifier for this page. Those are ranked on our menopause fit score, weighted 70%, blended with ease of use, weighted 30%. Low impact is shown so you can see every entry clears it. Overall is the weighted score across all nine criteria. All four scores update live from each programme’s own review.
| Rank | Programme | Cardio style | Menopause fit 70% | Ease of use 30% | Low impact qualifier | Overall | Testing tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pvolve | Step-free circuits | 7.4/10 | 8.5/10 | 9/10 | 8.3/10 | Fully tested |
| 2 | The Sculpt Society | Dance cardio | 6.6/10 | 8.5/10 | 9/10 | 8.2/10 | Fully tested |
| 3 | Obé Fitness | Dance and barre | 6/10 | 9.5/10 | 8/10 | 7.5/10 | Fully tested |
| 4 | Peloton | Cycling, walking, rowing | 6/10 | 7.8/10 | 8/10 | 7.3/10 | Fully tested |
| 5 | Burn360 | Metabolic circuits | 5.1/10 | 7/10 | 8/10 | 7.9/10 | Fully tested |
| 6 | Daily Burn | Low impact HIIT, seated options | 4.4/10 | 9/10 | 8/10 | 6.8/10 | Fully tested |
| 7 | Pure Barre | Barre | 4.5/10 | 7/10 | 8/10 | 6.6/10 | Sample tested |
| 8 | Grow with Jo | Walk at home | 4.6/10 | 6/10 | 8/10 | 6.3/10 | Sample tested |
The Cardio style column is the one to read alongside the ranking. These are genuinely different activities, and the best programme for you is often the one whose format you will not talk yourself out of on a Tuesday evening.
Which low impact cardio programmes rank highest?
Pvolve: step-free circuits that double as strength
Zero impact by design, with the highest menopause fit on this page
Pvolve is clinically studied low-impact functional training with a clinical advisory board including Dr Amy Hoover, a doctor of physical therapy. Its circuits keep the heart rate up without a single jump.
Tested by Katy Cole: I have done the high-intensity programmes, the HIIT blasts and the thirty-day challenges. At this point in my life, in my 40s, in early perimenopause, with a previous knee injury, two kids and a full-time job, I am a lot more precise about what I actually need. Pvolve is what I landed on.
The honest limitation: the method leans on its own equipment, which adds real cost, and it is closer to conditioning-through-strength than to traditional cardio. If you want your heart rate high for thirty unbroken minutes, look at Peloton instead.
Cost: $24.99 a month, or $224.91 a year, about $18.74 a month. The 14-day trial asks for a card.
Start the 14-day free trialAffiliate link, opens pvolve.com. I earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Full disclosureThe Sculpt Society: dance cardio you will actually repeat
Joyful low-impact dance with a doctor-backed midlife programme added in 2026
The Sculpt Society was founded by Megan Roup. The dance cardio is easily modified and the sculpt work has no jumping, which is what earns it a place here.
Tested by Katy Cole, 4 weeks: I came to it in my 40s, recently post knee injury, with what I am fairly sure is the start of perimenopause. I was not sure where to start, so I did the two-minute quiz and it pointed me straight to the Midlife Movement Programme.
The honest limitation: light to moderate loading, so it caps out for strength and bone. Treat the dance as your cardio and add resistance separately.
Cost: $24.99 a month on the web, $27.99 through Apple, with a 7-day trial.
Obé Fitness: the most enjoyable low impact cardio here
Dance and barre with an explicit low-impact filter across the whole library
Obé Fitness scores highest on this page for ease of use, with joint-aware cueing and signature 28-minute classes.
Tested by Katy Cole: Obé is one of the most enjoyable perimenopause-friendly platforms I have tested in years, with outstanding filtering and a design that lifts mood. You can go from “twenty-five minutes and a dodgy knee” to a matching class in under a minute.
The honest limitation: loads are light and maintenance-oriented, and it is US and Canada only.
Cost: $24.99 a month, with a 7-day trial or 30 days via a Guest Pass.
Peloton: the widest range of true cardio formats
Cycling, walking, rowing and low-impact classes, from $12.99 with no hardware
Peloton is the strongest option here if you want traditional cardio: genuine low-impact rides, walking and rowing, plus a menopause collection co-created with Respin Health.
Tested by Katy Cole: I tested it mixing strength, yoga, walking and running classes, using my own treadmill for the cardio content and a single pair of 17 lb dumbbells for strength. The menopause collection is the part that changed my mind about the brand.
The honest limitation: no nutrition, no guided progressive overload and no symptom tracking. If you own a bike or treadmill it is the obvious pick; if you do not, the App One tier still works.
Cost: App One $12.99 a month on web and Google Play, $15.99 through Apple, with a 30-day trial.
Daily Burn: the widest range of seated and modified options
Over two thousand workouts including seated programmes and low-impact modifications
Daily Burn is the right answer if your capacity varies week to week: it carries seated programmes, low-impact modifications and a True Beginner track alongside everything else.
Tested by Katy Cole: I opened the platform, saw thousands of workouts across every type of exercise imaginable, and spent a few minutes just staring. Then I found Fierce and Fit for Women, which is the programme I came back to again and again.
Two cautions: some of the HIIT content is genuinely high impact despite the low-impact options elsewhere, so check the class rather than the brand. And there is no monthly plan: it starts at $44.99 for three months, about $15 a month.
Cost: from $44.99 for three months, with a 30-day trial on that plan.
Burn360: metabolic circuits, bought once
Twenty to twenty-five minute compound sessions that raise the heart rate without jumping
Burn360 is by Susan Ohtake, an ISSA-certified personal trainer. The metabolic circuits keep intensity high through continuous compound work rather than through impact.
Tested by Katy Cole: This is the programme I wish I had found when I was coming off years of running and HIIT that had stopped working for me at around 39.
Unusual pricing worth knowing: it is a one-off $39.95 for lifetime access rather than a subscription, with a 90-day money-back guarantee and no trial.
The honest limitation: no menopause or hormone content, and the creator is not a menopause specialist.
Cost: $39.95 once.
Pure Barre: structured barre with real muscular endurance
A joint-friendly system with some bone stimulus, which most barre lacks
Pure Barre is a well-structured low-impact barre system taught by studio-trained instructors, not clinicians. It carries a Sample tested tier here.
Sampled by Katy Cole: I tried a 20-minute dumbbell strength session, which was solid and well explained, and a dance class on a day I did not feel like training, which was fun and lifted my mood.
The honest limitation: no menopause or pelvic floor programming and no nutrition, and the on-demand tier at around $29.99 is priced like a full platform.
Cost: Pure Barre On Demand around $29.99 a month, with a 7-day trial. Studio membership is separate.
Grow with Jo: walk-at-home cardio, free
Upbeat low-impact walking workouts, and the easiest restart on this page
Grow with Jo is Johanna Devries Da Silva, a certified personal trainer since 2013 specialising in low-impact work. The YouTube library is free and genuinely welcoming for a deconditioned start.
Sampled by Katy Cole: I liked how easy it is to find workouts by time and stack your own week, and it carries more than I expected: a real 51-video Menopause and Beyond category, multi-week strength plans and a nutrition section.
Mind the app pricing: the YouTube content is free, but the app is $39.99 a month, which is premium pricing for a free-content brand. The free library is the reason it is here.
Cost: free on YouTube; the app is $39.99 a month with a 7-day trial.
Which low impact cardio programme is right for you?
If joints are the reason you are here, Pvolve, which is zero impact by design.
If you want to enjoy it enough to repeat it, The Sculpt Society or Obé Fitness.
If you own a bike or treadmill, Peloton at $12.99 for App One.
If your energy varies week to week, Daily Burn, for the seated and modified options.
If you want to spend nothing, Grow with Jo on YouTube.
And whichever you pick, count the walking. It is the most evidenced low impact cardio there is and it does not need a subscription.
How did we choose these eight?
The qualifier is genuinely low impact and genuinely cardio. A programme has to score 8 or above on low impact and carry a real cardio modality: dance, barre, walking, cycling, metabolic or circuit work. Thirteen of our 77 qualify, so this gate does real work rather than decorating the page.
We tried a wider gate first, using the conditioning goal tag, and rejected it: it sits on 59 of 71 programmes and let pelvic floor rehab and yoga onto a cardio list.
The ranking is menopause fit, weighted 70%, blended with ease of use at 30%. Low impact cardio is a generic quality that thirteen programmes share, so ranking on it again would restate the qualifier. Menopause fit and ease of use are close to independent, correlating at r = 0.24.
Six of the eight I have used, four across a full test and two sampled, and each card carries its tier.
We buy our own subscriptions. Some links on this page earn a commission, which never affects a score or a position.
What research is this page based on?
- Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Kamada M, et al. Association of Step Volume and Intensity With All-Cause Mortality in Older Women. JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019.
- Hupin D, Roche F, Gremeaux V, et al. Even a low-dose of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reduces mortality by 22% in adults aged 60 years and older. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2015.
- Murphy MH, Lahart I, Carlin A, Murtagh E. The Effects of Continuous Compared to Accumulated Exercise on Health: A Meta-Analytic Review. Sports Medicine, 2019.
- Vissers D, Hens W, Taeymans J, et al. The effect of exercise on visceral adipose tissue in overweight adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One, 2013.
- Greendale GA, Sternfeld B, Huang M, et al. Changes in body composition and weight during the menopause transition. JCI Insight, 2019.
Nothing on this page is medical advice. If you have a diagnosed joint condition, heart condition or injury, check with your doctor or a physiotherapist before starting.
Frequently asked questions about low impact cardio
Cardio where one foot stays in contact with the ground at all times: brisk walking, incline treadmill, cycling, rowing, swimming, dance without jumps and step-free circuits. It describes force through the joints, not effort. A brisk incline walk can leave you breathless while a gentle jog is low effort and high impact.
For the outcomes that matter most, yes. Following 16,741 older women, Lee and colleagues found in JAMA Internal Medicine in 2019 that mortality fell steadily with total daily steps, and that once total steps were accounted for, associations with stepping intensity were attenuated and mostly no longer significant. Volume mattered more than intensity.
It helps but it is the junior partner. Vissers and colleagues found in PLoS One in 2013 that exercise reduces visceral adipose tissue even without caloric restriction. But during the menopause transition, Greendale and colleagues found fat gain doubled while lean mass declined, and cardio does little for lean mass. Use cardio for heart, mood and visceral fat, and add two resistance sessions a week.
Benefit rises with total volume and levels off around 7,500 steps a day in the JAMA study. The WHO baseline of 150 minutes a week of moderate activity is five thirty-minute sessions. If you cannot find a clear half hour, Murphy and colleagues found no difference between accumulated and continuous exercise for cardiorespiratory fitness or blood pressure.
Brisk walking, incline treadmill walking, stationary cycling, rowing, swimming or aqua, low impact dance cardio, and step-free circuits. Five of those seven need nothing beyond shoes, and the two that need equipment, the bike and the rower, are the ones you can work hardest on with no joint cost.
Not much on its own, and this is the honest gap. Swimming and cycling in particular are unloaded, so they do little for bone. Weight-bearing options like walking help more, but bone responds best to loading combined with some impact, so treat low impact cardio as the heart-and-mood half of your week and add resistance training for bone.
Generally yes, and that is one of its advantages: the low joint cost is what makes daily volume sustainable. Walking every day is fine for most people. If you are doing harder metabolic or interval sessions, two or three a week is a more realistic ceiling after 40, because recovery capacity is the constraint rather than motivation.
Where should you read next?
- Our full Pvolve review, including what the equipment actually costs.
- Best low impact workouts for women over 50, for the strength side.
- 30 minute workouts, if time is the constraint.
- How we score, including how the menopause fit score is built.
