If your day is busy enough that you leave yourself just a short window in which to exercise, the best thing you can do for your health is to make the workout count. Aerobic exercises can help you burn calories quickly, but if you have pain in your joints, look for an exercise that provides little to no impact on joints.

Gym Exercises

If you've left yourself just 15 minutes for a low-impact aerobic workout at the gym, two of your best options are the stationary bicycle and elliptical trainer. Both machines help you burn calories without putting stress on your joints. A 125-pound person who spends 15 minutes riding the stationary bike at a vigorous pace will burn 158 calories, while the same person who uses an elliptical trainer at a moderate pace for 15 minutes will burn 135 calories.


Depending on your interests and available resources, the outdoors provide a number of options for low-impact aerobic workouts. Inline skating is an ideal choice because it exercises many major muscle groups and because of the gliding motion, doesn't have much impact. Swimming is another outdoor activity with no impact, making it an ideal exercise for people with joint pain. A 125-pound person who spends 15 minutes in-line skating or swimming the front crawl will burn 105 and 165 calories, respectively.


Walking doesn't burn as many calories as more vigorous aerobic exercises, but it provides relatively low impact, especially if you wear comfortable shoes or walk on soft ground. A 125-pound person who walks at 4.5 miles per hour for 15 minutes will burn 125 calories. A rowing machine will help you burn 128 calories in 15 minutes, and jumping rope, provided you jump on a padded surface and keep your knees bent to absorb the impact, is also effective. Expect to burn 150 calories in 15 minutes of jumping rope.


Any time you plan to adopt a new workout regimen, especially if you have pain in your hips, knees, ankles or elsewhere in your body, speak to your doctor to determine if the workout is right for you. Aerobic activities are the best way to burn calories, but not if you risk sustaining a new injury or causing complications to an existing one.

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