Andie Thueson » Fitness » Workouts » What is LISS Cardio, and why you need it!

What is LISS Cardio, and why you need it!

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You may or may not have heard the term, LISS.

LISS – stands for Low Impact Steady State. “[LISS] means doing light cardio — 50 to 60 percent of your maximum heart rate — at a consistent pace, usually for long durations,” says Alex VanHouten, National Development Specialist.

LISS activities can be a very powerful tool to add to your fitness regimen. They are an even more powerful tool to add if you are new to fitness.

As I have worked with clients over the years the one thing I often hear is that they do not know where to start. I get it!

Gyms and lifting weights can be intimidating and can cause you to be sore and disheartened so you dread having to go back.

But being better is hard, but better is always worth it! So that is why LISS cardio is a great way to get going!

LISS activities are a great way to get started. They are easier on your joints and are designed to be done at only 50-60% of your target heart rate. So this type of exercise can easily be done while binging your favorite show.

On a scale of 1-10 – 1 being sitting doing nothing and 10 being sweating and wishing for death being 10 – with LISS cardio you’ll want to aim for a 3 or 4!

I often tell my clients to tie their habit of binging shows with a LISS activity so they are able to enjoy and look forward to working out because they can watch their favorite show or Podcast. I am all about connecting the desired habit with a fun reward. This helps to create and cement new habits.

What are some examples of LISS Activities:

Here are some of my favorite ways to incorporate Low Impact Steady State Cardio!

  1. Yoga
  2. Walking
  3. Jogging at an easy pace
  4. Elliptical
  5. Biking
  6. Stair Stepper
  7. Dancing Workout
  8. Rowing
  9. Swimming
  10. Hiking
  11. Walk your stairs
  12. Incline Walk on Treadmill
  13. Focus on 10k + Steps Daily! 

How Much LISS Cardio Should You Do?

When first starting out with LISS style cardio aim for 30 minutes and work yourself up to 60 minutes.

For those who are actively working out – LISS is a great way to enable active recovery. When I know I have pushed my body pretty hard for a few days – I will use a LISS cardio activity of my choice to help my body’s muscles to help loosen up and begin to recover from being overworked. I will always end a LISS recovery session with yoga stretching or foam rolling.

Are There Drawbacks to LISS Cardio?

The downside to LISS cardio is that your body will get used to this type of movement very quickly so as you improve your level of fitness, you will want to move on to include HIIT workouts and weight training.

Our bodies can get bored really easily, as in most aspects of our lives, variety is the spice of life.

I couldn’t touch on fitness without dropping a bit of nutritional information.

As I often preach food is fuel and having the right fuel for before and after a workout is key. I am inherently lazy so I love having good for you options that I can easily grab when I am on the go.

ZonePerfect Macros Bars are an awesome way tool to use before or after a workout – they offer a great blend of macronutrients to help fuel your workout or help you recover.


40% of calories from Carbs 

30% of calories from Protein (15g)

30% of calories from Fat 

This is a ratio that nourishes your body and delivers on-the-go energy. And as I previously mentioned it is perfect for pre-workout, recovery, or just powering through your day! These bars are also great because they are high in protein but have only 1-2g of sugar.




Now let’s get to what is REALLY important – the taste.


I am a bit of a cynic when it comes to protein bars, let’s be honest protein bars can go bad REAL fast and have weird after tastes.


The ZonePerfect Macros Bars taste great – the texture is like a cereal bar which provides the fun crunchiness. The bars come in the following flavors White Chocolate Peanut Butter, Fruity Cereal, and Birthday Cake. All of the bars tasted great but my personal fave surprisingly even to me, was the Fruity Cereal. It has a great like fruity flavor and with the cereal crunch, it was yummy!!

Try the ZonePerfect Macros Bar for FREE! ZonePerfect is sending free samples of these Macros Bars to anyone who wants to try them.​ Find the offer HERE.

ZonePerfect is so confident that you will love their bars -they offer a money-back guarantee! Woot Woot! You can find ZonePerfect Macros Bars at Walmart in select cities in the supplement area it’s usually near the pharmacy in most stores.

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