Help Me Get Shapely Legs....despite my bad knees....

emmyjo1981

I am 33 with severe osteoarthritis in both knees, I've been advised I need to consider total knee replacements but am not ready for that.

Anyone out there have any recommendations on exercises that I can do to tone and strengthen my legs without a lot of strain being placed on my knees. I've been doing anterior lunges with weights, monster walking, battle ropes (which I have found I really, really love doing) and wall squats. I also do 30-45 minutes of cardio (low impact treadmill, 9% incline/3.2 mph) and use a stair climber (skip steps, leg lifts and side steps).

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Cherimoose

I'm surprised you can do the stair climber. Have you tried squatting under the guidance of a personal trainer?

You should be able to do stiff-leg deadlifts.



Form tips are here
https://youtube.com/watch?v=-6Jq_sWcGTI

Keep in mind that exercises don't target fat from specific locations, they only build the muscle layer under the fat. Looking "toned" = low bodyfat.

emmyjo1981

Thanks so much for your response! I don't have a trainer--that may be something for me to consider. I am going to add the stiff-leg deadlifts to my list of strength training exercises.

I do the stair climber on the slowest setting, there's no way I could do it at a moderate pace...and I limit it to between 5-10 minutes. I have a job that requires climbing up to four flights of steps at a time from time to time and sometimes carrying people down the steps in a stair-chair, so I feel like the stair climber is a little bit of a necessary evil.

I am working on dropping weight, I figured if I am building muscle (even if it's hidden under a layer of fat for now) while I do that, I am better off in the long run.