Chondromalacia

kcrocfer

Hi all. I have worn away about 50% of the cartilage behind my knee cap. I need some cardio in my life (no access to a pool) with the repetitive motions of an elliptical or bike also being painful. Any suggestions that are more effective then just walking. I already get my 10,000 steps a day.

soapsandropes

Boxing, it is great cardio and if you can walk then you can shuffle around a bag.

Blueseraphchaos

if you can handle kickboxing, that too. i know it requires movements of the knee, but it depends entirely on how forceful they are.

i am used to this condition as well as torn acl and lcl.

i do a lot of walking, honestly, i used to run but i cut it out because i just can't. but walking does a lot more than you would think.

but yes, boxing all by itself, or upper body martial arts are great. i have done martial arts for a long time. i've had to adjust with knee problems, but those exercises are good cardio.

suzyloveskoalas

Jump rope. There's so many ways of doing it, check out Sara Solomon on YouTube. She's got great HIIT workouts using it and weights.

Blueseraphchaos

suzyloveskoalas wrote: »

Jump rope. There's so many ways of doing it, check out Sara Solomon on YouTube. She's got great HIIT workouts using it and weights.

i'm just going to say, coming from someone with a knee problem like this, jumping rope is ..... difficult...

lindaloo1213

Blueseraphchaos wrote: »

suzyloveskoalas wrote: »

Jump rope. There's so many ways of doing it, check out Sara Solomon on YouTube. She's got great HIIT workouts using it and weights.

i'm just going to say, coming from someone with a knee problem like this, jumping rope is ..... difficult...

+1

pstegman888

I have Achilles tendon issues that limit my walking/biking. At my gym, they have a rebounder (mini-trampoline) set up at an angle so you can bounce a ball off of it. I use the 6 or 8 pound ball & do about 100 rebounds. Instead of a chest-level throw&catch, I use an overhead throw&catch that really gets my arms into it. Really gets the heart rate up & gets me into that deep steady respiration zone that reminds me of my running days.

CJsf1t

OP .I have the same problem since last three- four years. Any high impact exercise like running or jump rope etc caused pain .Squatting ,lunging,climbing stairs etc was very painful. Then , a few months back I chanced upon a Pilates video on fitness blender. I did it regularly 2-3 times a week . Now my pain is almost gone. And I have started with squats and lunges too.

RodaRose

An "Arm Bike" -- good for cardio.

kcrocfer

Thank you all. I really appreciate it

RoadtotheRAN

You could always try cleaning, power snatching, ring rows, push press, push jerk, small ROM squats, push ups,

tomatoey

+1 do not jump rope

Blueseraphchaos wrote: »

if you can handle kickboxing, that too. i know it requires movements of the knee, but it depends entirely on how forceful they are.

i am used to this condition as well as torn acl and lcl.

i do a lot of walking, honestly, i used to run but i cut it out because i just can't. but walking does a lot more than you would think.

but yes, boxing all by itself, or upper body martial arts are great. i have done martial arts for a long time. i've had to adjust with knee problems, but those exercises are good cardio.

+1 - For home - there's a Jillian Michaels cardio kick box vid floating around YouTube, it's short. You could replace kicks that involve bending the knee with straight legged kicks (like in ballet). If you can you do teensy mini squats to any depth at all, you could do those instead of anything painful.