Low Impact Strength Exercises: Build Strength Without Beating Up Your Joints
- Amanda Boike
- Feb 11
- 12 min read
Updated: Jul 24
By Amanda Boike Fitness
Joint discomfort can make exercise feel like a difficult tradeoff.
You want to become stronger because you know strength supports your joints, mobility, and independence. At the same time, many popular workouts include jumping, fast transitions, deep squats, burpees, and other movements that may aggravate uncomfortable knees, hips, or backs.
But building muscle does not require a high-impact or high-intensity workout.
Low impact strength exercises allow you to challenge your muscles while choosing positions that provide more support and place less unnecessary stress on sensitive joints. You can perform exercises lying on a mat, on your side, or with your hands supported- without sacrificing the muscular challenge that produces results.
The goal is not to make exercise so gentle that it becomes ineffective. The goal is to select exercises that allow your muscles to work hard without asking an uncomfortable joint to tolerate more than it currently can. Who Needs Low Impact Strength Exercises? Low-impact exercises are beneficial for anyone who wants to build strength and increase muscle definition, but find that standard training exacerbates joint pain or discomfort. It can be especially beneficial for women over 40, due to natural changes that occur during aging.
What Are Low Impact Strength Exercises?
Low impact strength exercises are movements performed without jumping, running, or repeatedly striking the ground with force.
However, “low impact” does not have to mean “low effort.”
An exercise can be slow, controlled, and supported while still becoming very challenging for the targeted muscle. A lying chest press, for example, does not place impact on the knees or hips, but the chest and triceps can still work effectively.
Impact describes the force placed on your body when you land or make contact with the ground. Intensity can describe how challenging an exercise feels to your muscles, heart, or overall system.
You can therefore perform a low-impact workout that provides an effective strength-building stimulus without turning the session into an exhausting, fast-paced experience.
Why Joint-Friendly Exercise Selection Matters
When women experience knee, hip, or back discomfort, they are often told to exercise more carefully, use lighter weights, or avoid strength training altogether.
Those recommendations are frequently too vague to be useful.
The problem is not always strength training itself. Sometimes the issue is the specific exercise, setup, range of motion, speed, or position being used.
A woman with knee discomfort may struggle with repeated lunges but feel completely comfortable performing glute bridges and mat-based upper-body exercises. Someone with hip or back discomfort may dislike unsupported bent-over rows but tolerate quadruped rows when one hand is elevated on a yoga block.
This is why joint-friendly strength training begins with exercise selection.
Instead of forcing your body to fit a standard workout, the workout should be adjusted to fit your body.
That may mean:
Choosing mat-based exercises instead of standing exercises
Using a smaller or more comfortable range of motion
Supporting your hands, knees, head, or back
Training one muscle group at a time
Slowing down the movement
Replacing an irritating exercise with another movement for the same muscle
Allowing more recovery between sessions
These adjustments do not make the workout less legitimate. They often make it more sustainable and more effective because you can focus on the intended muscle rather than bracing against discomfort.
Can You Build Muscle With Low Impact Exercise?
Yes. Muscle growth is not dependent on jumping, moving quickly, or performing a large number of exercises.
To build muscle, the targeted muscle needs to experience enough resistance. This can be accomplished with dumbbells, resistance bands, body weight, or a combination of equipment.
A chest press performed while lying on the floor can strengthen the chest and triceps. A glute bridge can challenge the glutes without requiring the knees to absorb impact. A side-lying hip abduction can strengthen the outer hip while the rest of the body remains supported.
As your strength improves, an exercise can be progressed by:
Using a heavier weight
Performing more controlled repetitions
Increasing the range of motion when comfortable
Adding a pause at the hardest part of the exercise
Performing additional sets
Moving closer to muscle fatigue
The muscular challenge matters more than whether the workout looks intense from the outside.
The Difference Between Joint Discomfort and Muscle Effort
One of the most important skills in strength training is learning to distinguish muscular effort from joint discomfort.
Muscular effort may feel like:
Burning or fatigue in the working muscle
Increasing difficulty completing each repetition
Shaking as the muscle becomes tired
A temporary feeling of fullness or heaviness in the muscle
Joint discomfort may feel like:
Pinching
Sharpness
Catching
Pressure directly inside a joint
Pain that increases with each repetition
Symptoms that continue or worsen after the exercise
You do not need to avoid every challenging sensation. Muscles need to be challenged in order to become stronger.
However, you also do not need to push through a movement that consistently aggravates a knee, hip, or area of the back. In many cases, the exercise can be modified or replaced while still training the same general muscle group.
Exercise should be adjusted to your body- not used as a test of how much discomfort you can tolerate.
Low Impact Strength Exercises for Women With Joint Discomfort
The following exercises provide examples of how you can strengthen major muscle groups while remaining supported by the floor, a mat, or a yoga block.
The best exercise for you will depend on your body, current symptoms, training history, and access to equipment.
Mat-Based Chest Press
A chest press can be performed lying on your back with one dumbbell in each hand.
Bend your knees if that position feels comfortable, or place your lower legs on a chair for additional support. Begin with your upper arms resting lightly on the floor and your elbows positioned at a comfortable angle away from your body.
Press the dumbbells upward until your arms are extended, then lower them with control.
This exercise strengthens the chest, shoulders, and triceps without requiring you to stand, kneel, or place weight through uncomfortable knees.
The floor also limits how far your elbows can travel behind your body, which some women find more comfortable than performing a chest press on a bench.
Mat-Based Tricep Extension
Lie on your back and hold one or two dumbbells above your chest. Keeping your upper arms relatively still, bend your elbows to lower the weights toward either side of your head. Straighten your elbows to return to the starting position.
This exercise allows you to isolate and strengthen the triceps while the rest of your body remains supported.
Using one weight held between both hands may feel more stable for some people. Others may prefer one lighter dumbbell in each hand.
The goal is to feel the back of the upper arms working without creating uncomfortable pressure in the elbows or shoulders.
Glute Bridges
Glute bridges strengthen the glutes and may also involve the hamstrings.
Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the floor. Press through your feet and lift your hips until your glutes are strongly engaged. Lower your hips slowly rather than dropping back to the mat. Avoid arching your low back.
The feet can be moved closer to or farther from the hips to find a position that feels best for the knees and hamstrings.
You do not need to lift your hips as high as possible. The appropriate height is the point at which you can engage the glutes without creating uncomfortable compression in the lower back.
To make bridges more challenging, you may add a dumbbell across the hips, pause at the top, or perform additional controlled repetitions.
Side-Lying Hip Abduction
Side-lying hip abduction targets muscles along the outer hip.
Lie on your side with the bottom leg bent for stability and the top leg extended. Lift the top leg without allowing the pelvis to roll backward. Lower the leg slowly and repeat.
The leg does not need to lift very high. A smaller movement performed with control may create more muscular effort than a large swing.
The position of the top leg can also be adjusted slightly forward or backward to find the angle at which the outer hip works without irritating the hip joint or lower back.
This exercise can be especially useful when standing lower-body exercises are currently uncomfortable.
Side-Lying Shoulder Abduction
Side-lying shoulder abduction provides a supported way to strengthen the shoulders.
Lie on your side while holding a light dumbbell in the top hand. Begin with the arm resting along the side of your body. Raise the arm toward the ceiling, then lower it slowly.
Because you are lying down, you do not need to stabilize your entire body while training the shoulder. This can make it easier to focus on the working muscle.
Start with a lighter weight than you might expect. The shoulder muscles are smaller than the muscles of the hips or chest, and controlled repetitions can become challenging quickly.
Use a comfortable range of motion and avoid forcing the arm into a position that causes pinching or sharp discomfort.
Quadruped Rows With One Hand on a Yoga Block
Rows strengthen the muscles of the upper back and arms, but traditional bent-over rows may be uncomfortable for someone who experiences back fatigue or has difficulty maintaining the position.
A supported quadruped row offers another option.
Begin on your hands and knees. Place the supporting hand on a yoga block and hold a dumbbell in the opposite hand. The block creates additional space for the weight to move and may make the position feel more stable.
Pull the dumbbell toward the side of your rib cage while keeping your torso as steady as possible. Lower the weight slowly.
The standing hand should press into the yoga block to help support the upper body. A folded towel or cushion may be placed under the knees when needed.
If being on both knees is uncomfortable, the exercise can also be adapted using a chair, bench, or elevated surface.
The important feature is support. You should be able to train the upper back without feeling as though the lower back is doing most of the work.
Low Impact Does Not Mean Every Exercise Is Right for Every Joint
An exercise may be low impact and still be uncomfortable for a particular person.
For example, squats do not involve jumping, so they are technically low impact. However, they may still aggravate someone’s knees or hips depending on the depth, stance, resistance, and individual joint tolerance.
Likewise, yoga and Pilates are commonly described as gentle, but certain positions can still place substantial pressure on the wrists, knees, hips, or spine.
This is why exercise categories are less important than individual exercise selection.
Rather than asking, “Is this a low-impact workout?” it may be more helpful to ask:
Does this position feel supported?
Can I feel the intended muscle working?
Can the range of motion be adjusted?
Does the exercise create joint discomfort?
Is there another exercise that trains the same muscle more comfortably?
Do my symptoms settle normally after the workout?
A workout should not receive a blanket label of safe or unsafe. It should be evaluated based on the person performing it.
What About Knee Discomfort?
When your knees are uncomfortable, you may assume that every lower-body exercise will make the problem worse.
That is not necessarily true.
Some knee-dominant exercises may need to be adjusted temporarily, but you can often continue strengthening the hips, glutes, hamstrings, upper body, and core.
Glute bridges and side-lying hip exercises allow you to train important lower-body muscles without repeatedly bending and straightening the knees under your full body weight.
When you are ready to include more knee movement, you might begin with a supported sit-to-stand, a shallow squat to a chair, or another exercise with a range of motion you can control.
There is no prize for selecting the hardest variation.
The best variation is one that allows you to strengthen the appropriate muscles while respecting your current joint tolerance.
What About Hip or Back Discomfort?
Hip and back discomfort can make unsupported standing exercises feel tiring or uncertain.
Mat-based and supported exercises reduce the number of things your body must manage at one time. This allows you to focus on one area without asking the hips or back to stabilize every movement.
For example, replacing a standing bent-over row with a quadruped row may give the upper back a meaningful challenge while providing more support for the torso.
Similarly, a glute bridge can train the glutes without requiring a deep squat or lunge. Side-lying hip abduction can strengthen the outer hip without balancing on one leg.
Small changes in position can significantly alter how an exercise feels.
If an exercise creates back discomfort, consider whether you can:
Reduce the range of motion
Use less weight
Support your head or legs
Change the position of your feet
Perform the movement on a mat
Select a different exercise for the same muscle
Slow the exercise down
Pain that is severe, worsening, unexplained, or associated with numbness, weakness, or other concerning symptoms should be evaluated by an appropriate healthcare professional.
How Hard Should Low Impact Strength Training Feel?
A productive strength set should eventually feel challenging to the targeted muscle.
You do not need to rush between exercises or elevate your heart rate dramatically for the workout to be effective. You also do not need to finish every session feeling exhausted.
In my approach, the goal is to choose an exercise that feels appropriate for the joints and then take the working muscle reasonably close to fatigue.
You might finish a set feeling as though you could complete only a few more controlled repetitions with good form.
That muscular effort is what makes a supported chest press, glute bridge, or side-lying exercise capable of building strength.
The exercise can look calm while the muscle is working very hard.
How Often Should You Perform Low Impact Strength Exercises?
Two to four strength sessions per week can work well for many women, depending on the length and structure of each session.
The same muscle group does not need to be trained hard every day.
Allowing recovery between sessions gives the muscles time to adapt. This is especially helpful for women who find that frequent high-intensity workouts leave them feeling excessively sore, fatigued, or uncomfortable.
A low impact weekly routine might include:
Two full-body workouts
Three workouts dividing the major muscle groups
Four shorter sessions focused on different areas
A combination of 15- and 30-minute sessions
Read my article, How to Create a Strength Training Routine That Fits Your Busy Schedule for practical tips on creating a safe routine.
A Sample Low Impact Strength Workout
A simple full-body session could include:
Mat-based chest press
Quadruped row with the supporting hand on a yoga block
Glute bridge
Side-lying hip abduction
Side-lying shoulder abduction
Mat-based triceps extension
Perform each exercise for a controlled set that becomes challenging near the end.
Rest as needed between exercises. The workout does not need to be performed as a fast circuit.
Complete one to three sets of each exercise based on your current fitness level, available time, and recovery capacity.
Beginners may start with one set of each movement. As the exercises become easier, increase the weight, repetitions, control, or number of sets.
Why High-Intensity Exercise Is Not Required
High-intensity workouts are often presented as the fastest or most effective way to improve fitness.
They can be appropriate for some people, but they are not a requirement for becoming stronger.
For a woman dealing with joint discomfort, a high-intensity format may actually make it harder to identify which exercise is causing irritation. Fast transitions and short rest periods can also make it difficult to maintain good positioning or choose an appropriate weight.
Slowing the workout down offers several advantages.
You have time to:
Set up each exercise carefully
Notice how your joints feel
Adjust the position
Focus on the intended muscle
Choose an appropriate resistance
Rest before technique deteriorates
This approach can be especially valuable if you have previously believed that exercise only “counts” when you are sweating heavily or struggling to catch your breath.
Strength training has a different purpose. It is designed to challenge your muscles.
Your breathing and heart rate may increase, but exhaustion is not the primary goal.
How to Progress Without Sacrificing Joint Comfort
Progress does not have to mean moving to a more complicated exercise.
You can make a simple, supported movement more difficult by gradually changing one variable at a time.
For example, you could progress a glute bridge by:
Adding a pause at the top
Slowing the lowering phase
Holding a dumbbell over the hips
Increasing the number of repetitions
Adding another set
You could progress a chest press by:
Using slightly heavier dumbbells
Lowering the weights more slowly
Pausing when the upper arms reach the floor
Completing more controlled repetitions
Adding another weekly set
This method allows the muscles to receive a greater training stimulus without automatically increasing joint stress.
The right progression should make the exercise more challenging for the muscle-not simply more complicated for the entire body.
Building Strength While Preserving Your Joints
Women with joint discomfort do not have to choose between protecting their bodies and becoming stronger.
You can do both.
Low impact strength exercises provide a way to train the major muscle groups without relying on jumping, fast-paced circuits, or painful movement patterns.
The most important factor is not finding a universally perfect list of exercises. It is learning how to select and adjust movements based on your body.
Mat-based chest presses, triceps extension, glute bridges, side-lying shoulder and hip exercises, and supported quadruped rows are examples of exercises that can provide muscular challenge while offering more stability and support.
From there, you can gradually increase the resistance and effort as your strength improves.
Joint preservation does not mean avoiding challenge. It means applying the challenge where you want it: to your muscles rather than unnecessarily to your joints.
With thoughtful exercise selection, appropriate resistance, and enough recovery, you can build meaningful strength without a high-impact or high-intensity approach.
Get Support With Joint-Friendly Strength Training
If joint discomfort has made you unsure how to exercise, personalized guidance can help you identify which movements work best for your body.
Amanda Boike Fitness guided joint-friendly strength workouts designed to help women become stronger without relying on jumping, punishing circuits, or an all-or-nothing approach. Feel the difference for yourself- start with this free 30 minute Upper Body class.
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