Cardio workout for a person with bad Knees & Back

TeaBea

Walk At Home .... these are a series of "in home" walking videos. Moves are simple, go at your own pace, make the moves bigger or smaller as needed. Get yourself some good shoes. I walk in my basement ... but use an exercise mat for added "bounce." Here's a sample (DVDs at Target, WalMart, etc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnsfbneFQ_8&feature=related 5 Minute Walk


Rebounder (mini trampoline) will cut down on impact too

ShapeUpSidney

recumbent bike is also easy on knees and back

andrichj

Try spinning, low impact on your knees, you may feel some stress on the lower back but once you develop you abs and lower back muscles the standing portions should be become tolerable. I spin at least 3x a week for 50 minutes and burn on average 1020 calories. I am 6'4" and my starting weight was 295. I have dropped 50 lbs over the last 4 months. Good luck....I have been there and just keep telling yourself to keep moving.

CyberEd312

32 months ago I could barely walk from one room to the other. Because of my weight and an accident in 2002 I have grade 3 osteoarthritis and torn meniscus in both knee's and a torn ACL in my left knee. I recommend going to an ortho dr. and find out just what your facing, if you haven't already. I had to begin my journey in Aquatic therapy because I couldn't support my own weight and the water takes that out of the equation. I spent the next year and a half losing 175 lbs. in the water and working with my PT therapist and they fitted me with custom knee braces and slowly talked me out of the pool and onto land. I split time between both the pool and land base exercise, I do moderate treadmill walking and some stationary biking but I now use the elliptical (after my therapist hounded me for 6 months to get on it) for the majority of my exercise out of the water. I belong to the YMCA and they have both Standing Elliptical and Seated Elliptical, it is alot less stress on my knee's over the pounding I get walking on the treadmill. I also like to do the rowing machine, great cardio workout there..... I have also worked with my ortho dr. for pain treatment (pain meds and injection therapy) After my weightloss I will be getting knee replacements, the damage to my knee's is to far gone now so we are just buying time... I can tell you this, My legs have Never been stronger than they are today, If I didn't have the bone on bone problem/pain I would be good to go (hence the knee replacement will take care of that part) but by strengthening my muscles in my legs I know it has help get me farther than I would have had I not.... If you can get access to a pool that is the place I would start.....

GerryG1

The elliptical machine is a godsend!! Although I've always been an athlete, genetic problems have always impaired me from proportionally developing my body. My pride and joy killer legs have largely been due to my longtime long distance running regimen. Less fortunately, they also developed due to the disproportionate amount of weight they'd always supported as a result of my congenital scoliosis and a slipped lumbar disc. The tradeoff in the end? Woefully underdeveloped lower back muscles, persistent central obesity, and a perpetual, stubborn spare tire - all unaffected by seemingly any combination of exercise, dieting and weight loss. While I'm grateful that discomfort from my back issues have been mostly mildly noticeable, they thoroughly prevented me me from doing the conventional exercises that would uniformly develop my torso. Then - to make matters worse - I entered my late 40s and developed a severe case of plantar fascitis. I learned that this painful, chronic , foot tissue inflammation is caused most notably by the repeated impact from running. Forced to consistently use the elliptical machine as the closest running alternative, I was delighted to discover that my spare tire vanished, my lower back firmed up, and my first-time developed core muscles gave me a newfound gliding sensation when I walked. This is because that the increased use of my upper body strength - all but absent during running, in comparison - enabled me to "tilt" my upper body during exercise accordingly to keep my balance, and to naturally compensate/redistribute my weight toward my undeveloped torso areas - exercising these muscles for the first time, in a fashion they could tolerate. No more battering feet on hard surfaces, no more shinsplints, no more sore knees. AND, you can adjust the height and resistance to fine tune and progressively modify your body muscle development to your liking.
The elliptical machine - underrated, awesome!!!