c25k on the elliptical?

celtickarasu

Is anyone doing the c25k program on an elliptical trainer? I know some people do the treadmill. I have been trying so hard to start running again, but my knee is shot. I thought maybe the elliptical would be better on it. Any advice?

fbmandy55

bump

murphysraven

I think an elliptical would work just fine if you are trying to be kinder to your knees. Just up the difficulty on the running portions. And kind of exercise is going to give you some benefit.

arc918

Running is running, elliptical is a totally different animal (easier than running).

Best to run outside, if not then the dreadmill will do.

a_stronger_steph

I don't see why you shouldn't give it a shot!

Though, from my personal experience, endurance on the elliptical doesn't necessarily translate to endurance in actual jogging. I could go for 45+ minutes on the elliptical, even with the resistance cranked up, without pausing, but I don't think I could for running on the treadmill. I'm doing the c25k right now, and starting week 4 today (hopefully), and those 3 minute runs from week 3 were challenging at times!

So I would say definitely go for it, just be careful about your expectations about how the program will translate if/when your knee gets better (and I hope it does soon!!!).

Good luck, have fun!

vick9180

Having been there with a knee injury, I used the elliptical so that I could at least get some cardio in, and then I did a lot of strength training and range of motion stuff to get my knee back. Just keep in mind that running uses muscles differently than the elliptical. So while you're building a great cardio base and you'll be able to pull off the run with some ease, you'll be sore the first time you actually hit the pavement...or treadmill, especially since it'll be weight bearing.

The first time I got off the elliptical and attempted a run, I made it just over a 5k and held a decent pace, but I did feel it the next day. When I first started the run, I felt some initial knee pain, which is normal when you're rehabilitating a knee injury, but the pain went away after I was warm. I felt a little knee pain for the first couple of weeks while I was rebuilding my strength, and then it completely went away. The reason I say this is because it can be very discouraging to exercise and feel no pain at all and then try something new and have the pain come back. If it's a sharp pain, then definitely stop. If you feel like the pain is tolerable, just take it easy and give it about 10 min to see if it warms up and goes away. There is a huge difference between mild discomfort and injury. I built my base for about 3 months before I went out the door to run, and while everyone is different, just try to give it some time to get strong again before you hop off the elliptical and try to run.

I hope that's helpful to you!

arc918

Elliptical is my first choice for cardio when I'm too injured to run. I always say, if I can't use the elliptical, then I'm pretty jacked up.

So elliptical is a good thing, no reason to not try C25K on it. But you shouldn't think it will prepare you to run 5K, as it will be preparing you to elliptical 5K.