Exercises for those with knee problems.

do what you can do Dont over do it
But do every day a bit

When it is unbearable now you did to much. Just take it easy it is not a race. And when you want to lose weight you dont even have to exercise.

Weight loss starts in the kitchen. I lost my first 32 pounds without exercising the other 60 pound was while i also was walking/jogging. Of course when you want to get fit exercise is great and it helps you to lose weight.

But dont push it with the knee. It will get stronger over time.

Even for me now, there are still days that i walk or jog and after a few minutes i have to stop. But i think the next day another attempt. It doesn't happen much but still it happens.

Can you swim? If so, try hitting the pool. It's virtually "zero impact" on leg joints as the water supports them. Or you could join an aqua aerobics class if swimming doesn't sound quite your thing. (Both Assuming your surgical wounds are fully healed)

I had knee surgery in April and for therapy and exercise I was told bicycling is the best. I use a recumbent bike. It helps regain range of motion in my knee. Walking is ok as long as I don't overdo it. Make sure you have good shoes for support.

It's odd to me that they recommend the recumbent bike. I have psoriatic arthritis and my knees are pretty bad. I can't do the bike anymore, it's just too painful. I am a weirdo, though.

I like to walk, I do water jogging, and I also do strength training. Strengthening the muscles surrounding the knees helps a lot.

I do find that I have to limit my time walking, but that is more for pain in some other joints, particularly my SI joints and feet.

I, too, have had 3 knee surgeries. The most recent being in October of last year. As a Clinical Exercise Physiologist, I've been doing my own rehab with the approval of my surgeon. I avoid the elliptical as my stride length doesn't match up with the stride length of the machine, so if you pick an elliptical, make sure it is one that matches your stride length or has an adjustment to make it match your stride length. A lot of people with knee issues complain about the exercise bike, but what I've seen in the gym is that they don't set the seat at the proper distance and that is why it bothers the knees. When the leg is fully extended (at the bottom of the circle made by the pedals) you should have a 5 degree bend in the knee and never let it lock out. Too far or too close and you will have too much of a bend or lock out and that can cause pain, especially in an already compromised knee joint. With the 5 degree bend, however, it won't give you those issues. I also love the Arc Trainer by Cybex. It is adjustable so you can make it more like a stepper if you have no knee issues but for those of us with knee problems, we can set it to a 0 incline so it is more like a Gazelle (also good for cardio with knee issues) where the knee stays in a semi-bent position. The number one thing I've done for my knee rehab, however, is weight training. Specifically, the leg press and 30% leg extensions are my favorites. Just make sure your form is perfect on any weight training. Never let your knees go past your toes on leg presses, squats, lunges, etc. And most importantly, talk to your doctor about what your limitations are because those differ based on what kind of injury/surgery you had. My most recent one was a new treatment for athletes to grow new cartilage, which won't be fully matured for 2 years, so I am not allowed to run again until next year. But the strengthening exercises are vital now because they stimulate the blood flow that gets the nutrients into the joint to grow the new cartilage. So, check with your doctor first but I'm betting strengthening will be most important and then find the other form of cardio that you prefer.

TheOwlhouseDesigns wrote: »

When it is unbearable now you did to much. Just take it easy it is not a race. And when you want to lose weight you dont even have to exercise.

Weight loss starts in the kitchen. I lost my first 32 pounds without exercising the other 60 pound was while i also was walking/jogging. Of course when you want to get fit exercise is great and it helps you to lose weight.

But dont push it with the knee. It will get stronger over time.

Even for me now, there are still days that i walk or jog and after a few minutes i have to stop. But i think the next day another attempt. It doesn't happen much but still it happens.

This is all excellent advice. I've made several weight loss attempts, and my past logging shows I can lose about 10 pounds per month just through diet, and it goes up to 25 pounds per month when I add an hour on the elliptical every day later on, when I feel like I'm ready. This time I have a high starting weight, which makes me worried about my knees if I run, so all I'm doing is fairly casual walking, about an 18 minute mile, according to the MapMyWalk app. If you just take a walk every day you'll feel good doing it, if you go slow it would be great rehabilitation for your knee, and you're laying down that fitness habit that you can increase later. For now, you'll be getting in the habit of saving that time every day for exercise.

Also, I'm going to start swimming at my local pool, which is zero impact on legs. If you have one of those, swimming is great strength and cardio!

TrainingWithTonya wrote: »

I, too, have had 3 knee surgeries. The most recent being in October of last year. As a Clinical Exercise Physiologist, I've been doing my own rehab with the approval of my surgeon. I avoid the elliptical as my stride length doesn't match up with the stride length of the machine, so if you pick an elliptical, make sure it is one that matches your stride length or has an adjustment to make it match your stride length. A lot of people with knee issues complain about the exercise bike, but what I've seen in the gym is that they don't set the seat at the proper distance and that is why it bothers the knees. When the leg is fully extended (at the bottom of the circle made by the pedals) you should have a 5 degree bend in the knee and never let it lock out. Too far or too close and you will have too much of a bend or lock out and that can cause pain, especially in an already compromised knee joint. With the 5 degree bend, however, it won't give you those issues. I also love the Arc Trainer by Cybex. It is adjustable so you can make it more like a stepper if you have no knee issues but for those of us with knee problems, we can set it to a 0 incline so it is more like a Gazelle (also good for cardio with knee issues) where the knee stays in a semi-bent position. The number one thing I've done for my knee rehab, however, is weight training. Specifically, the leg press and 30% leg extensions are my favorites. Just make sure your form is perfect on any weight training. Never let your knees go past your toes on leg presses, squats, lunges, etc. And most importantly, talk to your doctor about what your limitations are because those differ based on what kind of injury/surgery you had. My most recent one was a new treatment for athletes to grow new cartilage, which won't be fully matured for 2 years, so I am not allowed to run again until next year. But the strengthening exercises are vital now because they stimulate the blood flow that gets the nutrients into the joint to grow the new cartilage. So, check with your doctor first but I'm betting strengthening will be most important and then find the other form of cardio that you prefer.

That's how I was using the bike, because I'd read that advice before. Still have pain. My pain was from the bent leg, not the extended leg.

Swimming is a great workout. I swim once a week for an hour and it really has reduced my overall body pain And given some greats results.

I am new to the program and have enjoyed this conversation. I, too, have bad knees. No surgeries yet, but am scheduled for a consultation in a week. I also have hip pain and nuropothy (I have no idea how to spell that) in both feet. I have to lose 100+ pounds.

I have always been over weight. I gain rapidly, but when I commit to a program, I also lose fairly easily. Four years ago I lost over 200 pounds and maintained that for a year. Then, foolishly allowed myself to gain half of the weight back.

Any exercise hurts. I have found that I can use an exercise ball with little or no pain. However, I cannot find any information on the value of this exercise. I know it has to be helping some, but how much? If nothing else, it increases circulation.

Any ideas?

Also, I'm sure your doctor gave you exercises to do - do them! Here's what mine gave me. I do these and more as part of my yoga warm ups.