cardio at home for someone with messed up legs?

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CeleryStalker
CeleryStalker Posts: 665 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hey everyone :)

My fiance and I are trying to de-chunk for our September wedding. We are cyclists, but we rarely have the time to get on the bike as often as we'd like. Same problem with the gym. I've got a treadmill at home, a couple of bosu's, some of those interchangeable weights (the handheld barbell ones where you can select the weight you want), bands, tons of workout vids, you name it. I want to be able to set up a routine at home that we can do on days we cant get to the gym or on the bike.

The problem is, he was born knock-kneed. He had to have surgery to correct his legs, had to wear leg braces, the whole nine yards. Because of this, he can't do high impact stuff like running on a treadmill. I tried to get him to do 30 Day Shred with me (evil grin, lol) but it was too much on his knees.

Anyone have a decent cardio routine to do at home which doesn't impact the knees a whole lot?

Thanks!

Replies

  • elorentz
    elorentz Posts: 5
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    An elliptical trainer is easy on the knees.
  • LoveleeB
    LoveleeB Posts: 560 Member
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    Definitely boxing. You can even do it sitting down, standing, or squatting. You don't need a punching bag, just punch in the air and you will for sure feel your HR going up.
  • gottaluvchris
    gottaluvchris Posts: 1 Member
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    Hi! I too have a knee problem due to me, at one time gaining so much weight really fast. I watched TV and looked at all the workout programs and most of them seemed to high impact for a fat guy with a bad knee. I would often watch the p90X commercial with envious eyes, wishing I could do all that stuff they do, but I knew I couldn't. But then I realized that there was an earlier version of p90x called, simply, P90. It's the early incarnation of the program and it hasn't been much trouble at all. There's one lateral X workout I can't do because of the knee but everything else can be low impact if you make it so. I started that in January, worked the plan and worked my way up to being able to do the entire workouts on 1-2.

    I've lost 15lbs and have since started working on the 3-4 difficulty. It's a great workout that's not high impact. It keeps you moving for 30 minutes solid. Tony even tells you to use "supple" movements so as to not make it high impact. Give it a shot. It's really cheap and worth a solid attempt.

    After I'm satisfied with my progress and subsequent fitness level, I'm going up to P90X!
  • CeleryStalker
    CeleryStalker Posts: 665 Member
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    An elliptical trainer is easy on the knees.

    LOL We own a treadmill and a bunch of other stuff. I'm running out of room to put fitness equipment in the house ;)
  • CeleryStalker
    CeleryStalker Posts: 665 Member
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    Definitely boxing. You can even do it sitting down, standing, or squatting. You don't need a punching bag, just punch in the air and you will for sure feel your HR going up.

    This is an awesome suggestion. Thank you! :D
  • CeleryStalker
    CeleryStalker Posts: 665 Member
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    But then I realized that there was an earlier version of p90x called, simply, P90. It's the early incarnation of the program and it hasn't been much trouble at all.

    Also awesome. Thank you! I had read a lot of reviews of P90X and P90. From what I understood, it was just as you described. Kind of an intro course to the real deal. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

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