Fat Burning Cardio For Non-Run days?

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fairestthings
fairestthings Posts: 335 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have injury-prone knees and have been running pretty steadily the past 10 days. My knees REALLY don't like running, no matter how much I work on form and how thick the soles of my shoes are.

What other intense calorie/fat burning cardio exercises are there that I can do? I am a SAHM to a toddler and cannot go to a gym nor can I always bicycle (unless hubby is home).

Need some help as my knees are beginning to crunch -- this is the sign that I need to take it easy on the running. (I already try to make sure they are babied by doing lots and lots of squats and wall sits and lunges as my former doctor prescribed).

If you don't have exercise tips, any tips to baby the knees? :)

Replies

  • EmilyMarieMo
    EmilyMarieMo Posts: 67 Member
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  • navy1984
    navy1984 Posts: 57
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    My trainer told me to ice for three minutes, then apply heat for three and continue going this for as long as you can stand it. It helped with my arm. Hope your knees get better! Also HIGHLY rec Jillians 30 day shred, its like 9 bucks at Walmart and all you need is a DVD player and a pair of free weights. I use 10 pound ones. Awsome for two reasons, 1.) I sweat more then jogging two miles 2.) I can do it when my son naps, from warm up to cool down its only 20 minutes long. Best of luck!!:happy:
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
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    I run 30-40km/week in 3-4 runs/week. I usually take 1 rest day per week and do Insanity videos on the other days. Very good cardio.
  • FryingPanda
    FryingPanda Posts: 99 Member
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    Have you had a medical professional look at your knees? Not to be in any way alarmist, but I injuried my knee in a run and thought time would make it better. Did the whole rest, mixing hot and cold, tried strengthening stablizing muscles, but whenever I would go back to running (or do any sports at greater than 50%) the pain came back. Finally got my butt to see someone and turn out I have a torn meniscus, an ACL bundle, and a chip in my knee cartilage. The pain when you run may mean something, but hopefully it is nothing major.

    But to anser your OP, two things you may try could be step-ups and what I call bicycles. Bicycles involve you lying on you back and then lifting your legs and lower back in the air and move your legs in the motion of pedaling a bike. Gets a nice burn with no impact.
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,449 Member
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    Do intervals. You could always alternate the walking with running. Or do some at home circuit training (do a 1 minute of pushups, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, crunches, high knees, shadow boxing, tricep dips, one minute of each in a row. Then rest for 1 minutes and repeat 3 times)
  • ChesterAyers
    ChesterAyers Posts: 7 Member
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    You could always break up your cardio. Instead of doing "x" miles all at once, do cardio with some weight training in circuits. On my circuit days I run for a minute, then do a bench set, run again, then curls...rinse and repeat for 5-7 sets of curling/benching and a total of 10-14 running sets. Then continue on with alternating weight training to keep my heart rate up I take limited break time between sets.

    I don't know if doing less running all at once will help you though... I find that limiting the time of high impact and breaking it up is actually helpful. Not to mention the fact that doing cardio in between lifting helps with my performance dramatically. Hope this helps!
  • fairestthings
    fairestthings Posts: 335 Member
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    Have you had a medical professional look at your knees? Not to be in any way alarmist, but I injuried my knee in a run and thought time would make it better. Did the whole rest, mixing hot and cold, tried strengthening stablizing muscles, but whenever I would go back to running (or do any sports at greater than 50%) the pain came back. Finally got my butt to see someone and turn out I have a torn meniscus, an ACL bundle, and a chip in my knee cartilage. The pain when you run may mean something, but hopefully it is nothing major.

    But to anser your OP, two things you may try could be step-ups and what I call bicycles. Bicycles involve you lying on you back and then lifting your legs and lower back in the air and move your legs in the motion of pedaling a bike. Gets a nice burn with no impact.

    I did. Last year I HAD to see a doctor because just as we got our treadmill, BOTH knees hurt enough that going down our stairs was just too troubling. I had to stay off my feet for 2 months entirely. Nothing major, just runner's knee he said.
    My trainer told me to ice for three minutes, then apply heat for three and continue going this for as long as you can stand it. It helped with my arm. Hope your knees get better! Also HIGHLY rec Jillians 30 day shred, its like 9 bucks at Walmart and all you need is a DVD player and a pair of free weights. I use 10 pound ones. Awsome for two reasons, 1.) I sweat more then jogging two miles 2.) I can do it when my son naps, from warm up to cool down its only 20 minutes long. Best of luck!!

    Thanks :-D I do the 30DS already, but it is just so boring LOL. I'm not sure how I can do 30 days straight of it because the levels get easy for me very quickly :-/

    To the other who suggested running even in intervals, I can't. I really need to make sure I don't run whatsoever. Unless someone is trying to kill me.
  • MinaAriel
    MinaAriel Posts: 138 Member
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    Use your library. Mine allows reserving of videos online. I have a constant stream of new videos coming and going so I can keep the burn up and not get bored. If I really, really like one, I buy it. Jillian is my fave. I have the Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism and No More Trouble Zones. Both get great burns. Jari Love has a Ripped one that I tried and it had a great burn. I also find dancing dvds have really high burns because it's using my body in ways I'm not familiar.

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