One of the greatest advantages of yoga and other isometric types of workouts is the benefits that are gained from exercise without the wear and tear of high impact movement. Indoor cycling and rowing provide solid zero impact workouts too. Infrared heat makes low impact training even more attractive due to the workout recovery component that it adds to the fitness equation.
Athletic style fitness training is all the rage these days. As a former athlete, I can attest to the effectiveness of ballistic movement and plyometrics, but injuries are sure to occur with such high impact methods. While plyometrics can provide excellent training for sports, there is a high probability of risk for injury and I would not recommend it for general fitness programs.
Recently I was speaking to another fitness professional who made the prediction that in the near future there would be a wave of long term injuries caused from excessive plyometric exercise practiced for general fitness reasons. Unfortunately, I believe that he is right.
“If you are considering this type of training be warned! With high reward always comes high risk. The incidences of orthopedic injuries with ballistic activities are higher than with traditional exercise. In my practice I have seen many athletes who have started plyometric exercises without having the proper core strength to begin with.” http://www.everydayhealth.com/columns/daniel-baumstark-physical-injury-and-rehab/plyometric-exercise-is-that-for-me/
Flawed plyometric programming and larger fitness training classes are contributing to the problem. Plyometrics, or “jump training” can be very dangerous due to the stress from the landings mainly. The high acceleration and landing impact is dangerous resulting in wear and tear to the spine and joints. The damage can be cumulative and can result in long term injury over time.
Reports have shown that high-impact repetitive exercise results in spinal shrinkage. “Studies indicate that the musculoskeletal system is subjected to impact forces between 3-5 times body weight as a result of landing from a plyometric activity (depth jumps).” http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/plyometric-injuries.html#
“My premise is that all injuries (i.e. tissue damage) are caused by the application of forces that exceed the structural tolerances of the tissues injured. A bone fracture is an obvious example. Simply put, plyometrics exposes a trainee to injury level forces and this is unnecessary to gain the adaptive benefits of exercise.” http://answers.webmd.com/answers/1198071/what-are-the-risks-of-plyometric
Fortunately, there are better ways to achieve optimum levels of fitness. Zero impact programs can easily get your heart rate to the right level quickly, especially when they are performed in a heated studio.
HOTWORX provides a variety of infrared workouts that are all designed for zero impact fitness. With our 3-Dimensional training method that combines zero impact exercise with heat and infrared energy, the metabolism is accelerated and the time to warm up to the full workout intensity is reduced to provide for more fitness in less time with no impact to the joints!
