Working out with bad knee and osteoarthritis

chocoluvdlite
chocoluvdlite Posts: 12 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello. I’m 5”4 and 160.. I’ve been struggling to lose weight forever. My biggest issue is exercising, and not being able to to the things I used to do. I do walk, but not every day due to pain in my knee and hips. I would love to go back to water aerobics, but immunosupressed and taking precautions due to COVID-19. I will need surgery on my knee, one day.. Just wondering if anyone else is having this issue, and what are you doing to get your heart rate up?

Replies

  • asthesoapturns
    asthesoapturns Posts: 313 Member
    I walk. We're the same height and weight interestingly enough. Jogging isn't ideal for me. While some days I can do a little of it, other days my knees let me know that no, they don't like that. I was diagnosed with arthritis ag 19 but have had the symptoms of joint pain since I was a preschooler. Walking loops around my favourite park or by the river helps keep my weight loss on track without overstressing my knees.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,222 Member
    It's going to vary depending on what's wrong, and exactly where, but with my torn meniscus and OA, I've found that impact or torque on my knee are bad for me, but linear hinging motion (even against resistance) is pretty tolerable. I walk some (especially in the current stay-at-home orders), but always work my way up gradually if I've not done much walking in a while. My more normal things are rowing (boats and machine), spin classes, and some outdoor bicycling. Those all have pretty heavy leg involvement, but limited impact and torque. In my case, I've found it helpful to ice after workouts.

    I stay away from running, things with turning or jumping (games, aerobics, some calisthenics, martial arts, etc.).

    FWIW, I found that my routine discomfort and pain reduced significantly in severity, frequency, and duration, with weight loss. I'm 5'5", started out at 183, and have been wandering from mid-120s to mid-130s for the past 4+ years (currently about 129).

    There will be surgery in my future at some point, too. I'm putting it off as long as discomfort doesn't prevent me doing the things I really want to, and weight loss for sure helped that delay.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    chocoluvdlite wrote: »
    I do walk, but not every day due to pain in my knee and hips.

    Just want to say, try walking in shoes with no raised heel. Almost all athletic shoes have a raised heel, which creates a clunky walking gait, adding to joint stress and worsening orthopedic problems. Examples of good shoes include Vans, Altras, Keds, skateboard shoes, etc.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
    chocoluvdlite wrote: »
    Hello. I’m 5”4 and 160.. I’ve been struggling to lose weight forever. My biggest issue is exercising, and not being able to to the things I used to do. I do walk, but not every day due to pain in my knee and hips. I would love to go back to water aerobics, but immunosupressed and taking precautions due to COVID-19. I will need surgery on my knee, one day.. Just wondering if anyone else is having this issue, and what are you doing to get your heart rate up?

    I don't concern myself with heart rate.

    One can do LISS cardio and get benefits of cardio just at a different ratio.

    Have you tried to incorporate cycling it stationary bike to get your recommend dosage of cardio? I've had clients that cycled for years before getting knee replacements and had no issues if they practiced proper load management. Rowing might be a option as well.

    I've used both means personally when I was unable to walk for more than 2-3 minutes at a time do to my autoimmune disease.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,743 Member
    Cycling my work for you, or an elliptical. I have a friend who runs marathons who did about half her weekly mileage pool running or elliptical. Hyaluron shots in the knee may help. The friend who does marathons did the shots for several years before her knee replacement. My husband was a hiker and he did the shots as well for his knee before his TKR. They have him about 5 extra years before needing the surgery.
  • kelseylamson
    kelseylamson Posts: 3 Member
    I am 5'1" and started at 163lbs. I xan't run because of my knees as well. I began kickscootering (kick biking) and CICO near the end of April and lost 20lbs. Super low impact and burns the amount of calories somewhere between biking and running. Make sure to alternate kicking legs every 4-8 kicks and use good kicking form to spare your ankles unnessary stress.

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