What is Low-Impact Exercise?
A low-impact exercise is exactly what it sounds like. They are exercises that don’t put a lot of impact on your joints and they are not as tiring. Typical examples of low impact exercise are:
- Yoga
- Swimming
- Elliptical cardio
- Cycling
- Stretching exercises
Essentially, these exercises are slow and gentle with a fluid motion. They are perfect for beginners, older individuals, and those in recovery. It’s also great for athletes who have been recently injured and cannot put a lot of strain on the body yet.
Low impact exercises prepare you for a more strenuous workout in the future. So, if you want to slowly build your performance up, they are excellent. Additionally, they also help with flexibility, range of motion, and strength building. With stretching and yoga, you can strengthen your core so you have better posture and more efficiency during workouts.
The Problem With High-Impact Workouts
High-impact workout routines use a lot of strenuous movements that put a ton of impact on the joints. There are a lot of jolting and jumping movements. The idea is to get both the feet off the ground as much as possible to gain maximum output. Because of that, you have to put a lot of pressure on bones and joints.
Common high-impact exercises include -
- Rugby
- Running
- Skiing
- Tennis
- Gymnastics
High-impact workouts carry a lot of benefits. But, there are several risks as well. These exercises tend to exert more than double the amount of force than your body weight. People with poor health, low fitness levels, and bone issues could stress their ligaments, tendons, and joints. Over the years, it could lead to significant injuries.
They are also not good for older individuals with weaker joints and bones as they are more susceptible to worsening their arthritis.
What is the Megaformer?
The Megaformer is a low-impact fitness equipment meant to offer high-intensity and total-body workouts. The variety of movements on this machine can make you sweat and shake; thus helping you strengthen your core and build muscles.
This machine is designed for the Lagree method which puts a ton of focus on form, posture, alignment, and slow but precise movements.
The Pilates machine - the reformer, isolates certain muscle groups and takes longer breaks between exercises. Unlike that, the Megaformer involves slow movements that works on several muscles simultaneously without giving many breaks in-between. Despite that, the workouts are highly doable and not strenuous.
Benefits of the Megaformer
Unlike the traditional reformer, Megafomer has a much broader and varied application. The number of variations you can perform on this machine is practically endless. The spring system is a lot better on this which allows for all kinds of intensity levels even for the most seasoned participants.
You can perform hundreds of combinations of different exercises. That’s why this pilates-inspired fitness routine allows for a highly comprehensive workout. Compared to the pilates reformer, the Megaformer has a lot more options for adjustments, tweaking the angle, movement, and targeting various muscle groups.
The kind of movements you perform on the machine really get your heart working. Generally, pilates is unable to achieve that since the break time and transitions between exercises are much longer. You can get excellent cardio while also burning fat and stimulating calories. With infinite combinations possible, you can make room for all kinds of injuries.
The best thing about Megaformer is the consistent, slow yet controlled pace of low-impact movements. There is no unnecessary stress put on joints. The muscle stimulation is continuous with a focus on balance, form, flexibility, alignment, and regular core engagement.
This kind of whole and full-body workout is not possible with any other fitness method. Here’s why full-body workouts are better for everyone:
- Manageable Time Commitment - If you can't work out every day, full-body workouts are better for you. You only have to do them twice or thrice a week and yet reap wholesome benefits.
- Great Muscle Growth - Since the Megaformer muscle groups are ignored, you get the maximum testosterone release for efficient recovery and great muscle growth.
- Flexible Workouts - Full-body workouts are great in that you can avoid plateaus. That happens due to the sheer number of variations available. You can keep changing them up now and then.
- Super Engaging - The Megaformer makes sure that workouts never get repetitive or boring. All the exercises are highly dynamic and engaging.
How Lagree is Low-Impact but High-Intensity
Never confuse intensity with impact. They are two different things but most people mistake them for the same. When you think about high-intensity workouts, most of them are generally high-impact. But, that is not always the case. At least, not necessarily. And Lagree method has proved that you can engage in high-intensity workouts without too much impact.
Lagree is a perfect blend of high-intensity and low-impact workouts. You truly get the best of both worlds. The Megaformer has made the once impossible, possible. It’s an incredible workout machine that gives you the maximum results from a single session. It gets your body moving to its maximum capacity.
Often touted as the ‘ultimate workout machine’, the Megaformer has something to offer for all kinds of workout needs. You get strength training, great cardio, and fast transitions. With adjustable resistance in a spring setting, there’s no limit to what you can do on this machine. It’s completely low-impact whether you’re on your knees, standing, or sitting. No matter if you’re old, young, fit, or chiseled - it’s for you.
The Megaformer is highly personalizable. This kind of flexibility allows room for different needs. You can assume almost all positions on this pilates-style machine. With adjustable handlebars, you can shift your weight in different positions and angles. The adjustable sliding platform in the middle further tests your muscular strength with a full range of movements.
In Conclusion
This article is brought to you by Lagree Fit 415. Want to learn more about the Megaformer? Read our informational article: “Megaformer vs Reformer” to learn about the benefits of Lagree fitness versus Pilates.
