lunges & squats vs. bad knees

Corig22

Hi everyone. New here. Still trying to figure out some stuff like posting topics, finding friends and building a support group. So while I fight through the learning curve please bear with me.

I have minimal cartilage left in my knees according to the doctors and I also have a small bone spur. I am really trying to work on toning my backside and my legs. I know that squats and lunges are the exercise I need to do, but they really tear up my knees. I am walking about 3 miles almost every night, but need to get more toning.

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

Katbaran

You can do squats and lunges in the pool if you have one available to you. I have BOTH knees just about gone and both of those exercises are painless in the water.

Corig22

Excellent! I don't have a pool readily available, but I will kep it in mind. thank you!

waterjogger

I have a torn meniscus in one knee and couldn't even begin to think of doing these on land, but I do just fine in the water-so I second the pool!

wickedcricket

holy crap, that's a brilliant idea! ty
I do what I can, I just don't do them very deep

megamoo04

I have the same problem with my knees, I had my left knee operated on in 2009 and my right knee done 3 weeks ago.

noexcuses1218

try out REALLY "shallow" squats and lunges at first, and make sure you drive ALL your weight down through your heels, not your toes. never bend your knee more than 90 degrees. keep your knee over your heels. back straight at all times - stick your butt out in the squats. get used to that kind of movement (it doesn't take long), and you'll start feeling your stabilizing muscles, quads, and hamstrings working and developing to help keep your knee safe. wall sits are fun, too. in a sick sort of way. and i'll be watching this thread for other suggestions, because my knees are kinda wretched, too.

megamoo04

I have a torn meniscus in one knee and couldn't even begin to think of doing these on land, but I do just fine in the water-so I second the pool!

I tried doing them in the pool with i had my torn meniscus and that didnt help it would lock all the time!

j_courter

mari winsor has a dvd called winsor buns and thighs sculpting. most if not all of the work is done on the floor and it is EFFECTIVE! love, love, love it!

fruitarmy

I have bad knees as well and was worried about hurting them more. While I was searching for some exercise equipment, I really needed something that wouldn't strain my knees, not take up a lot of space (very limited here), and still get the job done. Well, I came across the Gazelle elliptical trainer and it has been great! I actually found one for sale on craigslist for $25! It folds nicely -a little heavy but considering the activity I'm putting on it, I'm grateful for the sturdiness, I can move my body in small ways to get a deeper workout in my legs and bum, works the arms, too; and last but not least, I do it in my livingroom where I can catch up on some good tv shows!! HA! Lazy workout, I call it. ....I actually stayed in motion on the Gazelle for an entire 2 hour show (finale of Smallville) and I didn't get tired or overworked but the day after... oh goodness, my body felt like I worked out for 2 hours!! So, even though it doesn't feel like much of a workout while you're doing it -depending on how you use it- it really works! )

3ball

I'm right there with you on the knees. 4 surgeries on my left knee (blown out the ACL twice) and dislocated my right knee cap twice.

Riding bike on a hard setting? Dead lifts?

StarBug43

Not sure if this is still a problem for you but I would recommend butt lifts, completely avoiding the knees therefore. Lay on the floor like you were to do a normal sit-up, then push your pelvis up high, I find I roll up onto my shoulders see link below:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/butt-lift-bridge

If this is unchallenging put a pillow on your pelvis and then load up with some weights. From what I know you can do a higher than normal rep range for this as it is a big muscle so try 20 and if too easy then add some weights. I do it with 20kg on me and it burns!!

As for dead-lifts as was suggested, if your knees are most susceptible to sheering pain at the front then dead lifts might be OK as this is more pronounced with lunges. If you get overall knee pain then I would avoid dead-lifts too. Train hard

Will

liznotyet

My PT recommended building up all of the little muscles around the knees doing butt lifts and really slow, multi-reps of the simplest leg lifts. Lie on the floor on your back. Bend one leg so that the knee is about 45 degrees up from your belly, and that leg's foot is on the floor. Straighten, relax, and lift the opposite leg SLOWLY until the knees are parallel, hold for a few breaths, then drop that leg down SLOWLY. it sounds super easy but the more you do it the harder it gets. No stress on the knees, all work for the muscles around the knees. Do it on one side until you get tired, then switch. Repeat the whole cycle.
3x per week.

bostonwolf

if you are doing squats and lunges in proper form you should be putting most of the stress on your musculature. I'd have someone evaluate form first, as I think that's probably the main problem.

The whole point of doing squats is to get that whole-body burn going. I can't imagine doing them in water provides anywhere near the same effect.

Benisjez

The videos I've seen of lunges show the knee actually going all the way down the floor. Something I'm not close to being able to do. (I have no cartilage in one knee and the other knee is bad as well.) I've gotten pretty comfortable with lunges and have been doing squats for months, but I wonder if I should just forget about getting my knee to the floor in lunges......... Comments??

newfiemamad

I had googled about doing squats in the pool and it led me here. I am in the process of waiting for double knee replacement and today I had my one year old grandson in the pool and if I wasn't bouncing up and down I was doing squats for 50 min. I had wondered if it was good or not and got my answer to that. I can tell ya I got sorness in my legs and butt that I never felt before LOL.

canadianlbs

Riding bike on a hard setting?

idk about this one so much. i have rheumatoid arthritis and a definite tendency towards both bursitis and (sometimes) inflammation in the joint capsule of my knees. i also ride a whole bunch of a lot. if by 'hard setting' you mean a high gear (i.e. higher resistance from the pedals, more ground covered per stroke), then just thinking about it can get me wincing.

the trouble is, so many different things can go into making knee pain, it's hard to know how well one person's mileage will travel for anyone else. fwiw though, pedaling with a faster cadence in an easier gear ain't just nothing either. i've always been a bit of a grinder, but i made a deliberate effort a while ago to drop the gears and pick up the speed . . . it didn't hurt my knees any, but it thrashed my quads and got me insanely sweaty real fast. and that was after i had been riding good distances daily for months.

Unknown

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