exercise and sore knees?

Swimming is a great suggestion.

Other low impact exercises include using a stationary bike or elliptical in terms of cardio. I notice you were asking about weight-training; I also have bad knees (RA) & while I love my squats I seriously feel you about getting back up again. Strengthening the muscles around your knees will take some of the pressure off them & enable you to do more with them, so you may be able to work up to doing more of those 'up and down' type ones in the future.

In the meantime doing lunges using the stairs or a box (as long as it will be stationary) will allow you to do these moves without getting too low, also squatting while facing away from a sofa or chair - squat backwards until your bum touches or almost touches the chair, it will encourage your to have proper form, taking the pressure off your knees & again you wont get too low. Calf raises can be done while holding onto a wall for stability and stiff leg deadlifts will not stress your knees that much, but you need significant lower back strength so bear that in mind. Hope that helps!

If you are in the UK the a GP will be able to point you in the direction of a specialist, such as an OT or a PhysioT who may be able to provide you with aids if you are having real difficulty. Otherwise weightless strengthening exercises can be done from the floor.

Oh god...

Look, I'm obese and a swimmer and yes, no kidding, swimming (WITH PROPER TECHNIQUE) is about the best exercise out there to let someone who is heavy go really hard and get an amazing workout.

That said, please, if you do not have a significant background in swimming, get lessons and get training. I see a lot of bad breaststroke kicks that make me concerned for the state of their knees.

Cycling is easy on the knees, as long as you keep it in a lower gear and push the cadence up. It also gives you a great opportunity to get outside and meet some of your neighbors.

One trick I use is to take an Excedrin before going to the gym.
I don't notice the minor aches and it holds down inflammation.

keziak1 wrote: »

I'm overweight/obese and have very sore knees.

Knee problems could be one of a number of different things, and in some cases the suggestions for swimming and cycling could exacerbate the issue, similarly in some cases they could be exactly what you need.

Speak to a physio and get some advice from them. You can't convey enough detail here for the comments to be useful, and you can't qualify the advice that anyone gives you either.

See a physiotherapist for sure.

But as a general point of reference, here are resources / exercises for 1) anterior knee pain (patellofemoral syndrome), which you may not have and 2) rehab for arthroscopic surgery (which you probably haven't had done, but these seem pretttty safe)

http://www.aapsm.org/patellofemoraldys.html
advice
- rest in acute pain
- if you have lousy feet, get orthotics
- when pain reduces, do these to strengthen your inner quad:

"The medical literature indicates that the three most beneficial exercises [NB: for patellofemoral syndrome] are: 1) an exercise most frequently referred to as "quad sets", simply tightening the VMO when seated or supine with the knee extended for a period of 7-10 seconds and repeated several times per session and repeated several times per day; 2) an exercise called "wall sits", where the injured athlete actually stands with their back to a wall with 20-30 degrees of knee flexion while squeezing an object such as a volleyball between the knees. The squeezing of the object between the knees is important since this recruits the groin muscles (adductors) which are an attachment point of the VMO. As a result, by recruiting the adductors, the patient is indeed selectively strengthening the VMO relative to the other quadriceps -- the key objective of this exercise; and 3) side-step-ups (when symptoms improve sufficiently to allow this exercise) with varying height of step to be determined by the status of the patient and the patient's injury. This is an excellent exercise to selectively recruit the VMO."


http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=a00300
this site has lots of the above-mentioned exercises and a few more

Water classes will help a lot even water arthritis classes which is done in warm water would help talk to instructor too they can help adapt if needed I taught water aerobics and water arthritis classes check on osteoporosis classes they can help build strength with minimal pain. Gentle yoga classes would be good to help get you loose and start strengthening.
Of course if there is pain stop and seek medical advice sore is different than pain. Pain is NOT gain. Good luck

i have one bad knee, and that bad that 2 surgeons said in the past i wouldn't walk without a walking stick. That was in 1995, and i still walk without any help. What i did than and now is train. Slowly and carefully But i trained it. I still cant walk any stairs... when i walk our patio stairs ( only 3 steps) in straight away warns me it doesn't like it ( it hurts). But i walk at least 3.5 miles a day a brisk walk now. And it goes good. I baby it well btw, everyday i have my leg also one hour up.

So i started with 5 minutes walking slowly and builded it up to :
* An hour walking at a speed 3.1mph.
*I jog sometimes some minutes of that hour. Slowly but still it is a jog.
*I do 30 minutes of lifting ( and in this lifting training i have the, leg curls and extension 30 kilo's about 20 repetitions each)
* In the evening and afternoon we walk our doggie ( about 20 minutes slow pace 2.0mph)
* In the summer i swim as much as i can.

So yes it can be done, but you have to be careful. When my knee is to in-stable ( some days) i wrap/protect it.
The more training you get and the more weight you loose the easier you knee functions. Start real slow but do it everyday. Even 5 minutes a day helps.

I know everybody is different, but this is how it worked for me. Now and 30 years ago.....and i am still walking without crutches

I hope it will work for you too.

Agree with swimming. Nothing burns calories like swimming and you get resistance with your cardio. Very easy on the joints. Like any exercise, you can go harder and faster as you improve, so don't worry if you punk out and need a rest after one lap.

Swim! If you don't know how, take lessons.