Suggestions for lower-impact at home exercises?

DeeVanderbles

About 5 years ago I started having knee pain. The best way to describe it was it felt like my knee was going to bend backwards, so I went to an orthopedic who took MRIs and xrays and only saw Plica, which "shouldn't cause pain." I did a round of physical therapy which did not help at all.

After about 2 years, a cortisone shot and general anti-inflammatories, they finally decided to do exploratory surgery. The arthroscopic surgery took about 20 minutes during which they scraped out the Plica and looked around for any other cause but they couldn't find anything else.

My knee felt great for about 4 months but now it is back to bothering me once in a while again. Nothing like it was, but still, annoying. I did call my orthopedic once who suggested another round of physical therapy which I kindly declined saying it did nothing for me the first time.

I really like the quick results that I get with 30DS but the last time I started it I only got through about 5 days of Level 1 before needing to rest my knee and because I got busy with pre-wedding errands.

Specifically, the jumping jacks, jump rope and lunges irritate my knee the most. So what the heck am I supposed to do to work out when I can only do so much before my knee causes me enough pain to stop? I attempted C25K at one point as well but had to stop due to knee pain.

Turbo Jam, being lower impact, doesn't bother my knee nearly as much, but I can do it for weeks and not see any results.

I really can't afford a gym membership at the moment, though when I can I think I want to join again.

Sorry this is so long. If you read all the way through, Bless You.

Any suggestions?

DeeVanderbles

bump

WendyTerry420

My advice is to walk on a regular basis and try to incorporate some exercises such as the ones in this link:
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2009/12/09/beginner-body-weight-workout-burn-fat-build-muscle/

Walking is beneficial for your heart, and so long as you sustain your target heart rate for at least 20 minutes, then you've done your cardio. Don't worry if the burn isn't as high, the workout that you are giving your heart has plenty of benefits beyond that, including helping you burn more calories when at rest. Strength training doubles those benefits. You don't have to go to a gym to use your own body as a weight to lift.