How to Exercise with Bad Knees

Exercise can be a friend or a foe when you have bad knees. If you have suffered a serious knee injury in the past or you are coming off of knee surgery, high impact activities that involve a lot of running are going to be counterproductive for you. However, if you can find an effective low impact workout that is gentle on the joints, your previous injuries should be of no concern.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Access to at least one of:
• Bicycle/stationary bike
• Elliptical machine
• A gym
• Or a pool

1. When you have bad knees, the most important thing to keep in mind is that running is your adversary. While you are running, each stride you take puts the equivalent pressure of three times your body weight on each of your knees. If you have bad knees, you should do your best to avoid running, jogging, jumping, lower-body weight training activities (such as squats), and most high impact sports.

2. One exercise that uses the leg muscles without putting much strain on the joints is bicycling. Whether you utilize actual bike or a stationary bike, cycling can be the perfect exercise for someone with bad knees as it is low impact. Often, the stationary bike is a favorite tool of trainers and physical therapists for their patients’ rehabilitation.

3. Elliptical machines provide many of the same benefits as running, but like bicycles, they do not exert must strain on the joints. The motions employed by elliptical machines are something of a cross between biking and walking or running, using mainly the legs to propel movement. They also provide a workout for the arms, albeit to a lesser extent, as they are the secondary force in making the machine move.

4. Another favorite exercise for people with bad knees or people rehabbing from injury is swimming. Because of the combination of resistance provided by the water and the simulated weightlessness it projects on the body, swimming can burn a lot of calories without straining the knees or other joints. It is a great cardiovascular exercise that is a great option for weight loss, rehabilitation, or basic fitness activity.

5. Any workout that can avoid using the lower body altogether is ideal for people with bad knees. Upper body weight training, including bench presses, curls, chin-ups, and pushups among other activities can be used for general fitness (using less weight for more repetitions) or for muscle growth (using more weight with less repetitions). Similarly, workouts that focus on the midsection such as crunches can be added to a fitness routine without any effect on the knees.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't overdo your workout. Even low-impact activities can cause stress if you push yourself too hard.

[ramo84]

on 7/26/2009 Thanks for the article!

Should my leg be straight (http://img148.imageshack.us/i/straightu.jpg/) at the lowest point when riding on an exercise bike or should there be a bend at the knee (http://img268.imageshack.us/i/bentn.jpg/)?

[sammysfirefox22]

on 6/26/2009 great article although im upset i cannot run but biking and swimming are fun as well.

[Vanillatte]

on 8/18/2008 Excellent article. My knee has been bothering me lately so this is chock full of good information for me!