Cardio with knee problems

BeccieT wrote: »

Hi! I need some ideas. I have chronic chondromalacia patellae. Which is a very painful knee problem and can't do anything that impacts my knees. I want to find a cardio exercise I can do do burn fat and increase my heart rate but running/jogging is out as is cycling and swimming as afterwards I am in a lot of pain from these and they aggravate it. Wouldn't be such an issue if i could rest a lot afterwards but I have three kids so resting isn't such a viable option. I am thinking of trying trampolining as I thought you don't get as much of an impact on the knees as opposed to jumping on a hard surface? Does anyone else have any other ideas. My doctors opinion is to fight through the pain but he is an idiot and doesn't seem to understand doing that means I can't walk for days afterwards which again isn't an option with 3 children. I do as much strength work as I can but even upper body stuff I seem to strain my legs and REALLY want to incorporate some cardio.

No, you most definitely do not want to be using a trampoline if you cannot even walk or swim. If you mean a trampoline as part of physical therapy, then this is up to your dr and physical therapist, but definitely not in your own or a gym. If you are in so much pain, then you need to be working with a dr and a physical therapist closely, until you have a plan you can follow, I cannot imagine how trying to figure it out on your will work.

I've been doing air boxing in front of the TV for my cardio, and the current series of Big Brother is giving me some good targets so I get an hour's exercise a night ;-)

Hi, what about backstroke in the pool but without using your legs? Just let them drift behind you. Or front crawl but with a float under your hips to keep them elevated so you don't need to kick?

While I don't have the same issue as you, I have found the rowing machine to be the best way to get cardio without hurting my knees.

Elliptical??? Not sure but think it might be comfortable?

Maybe try water aerobics. I know a lot of people who can't handle impact really benefit from these types of classes, and you will get your heart rate up. I wore my HRM in my class last night (a little more strenuous than other water classes) and I burned 500 cals in 50 mins.

OP, I suffered from the same problem as you from a long career of distance running. I basically had to take 6 months off from any kind of repetitive moment exercises involving my legs.

I didn't get much cardio in during that time, just tried to keep the eating in check and did a lot of upper-body weightlifting. I was also wearing a knee brace 24/7 to make sure my kneecap was aligned and not grinding on my femur.

You need to get a second opinion. I had a PT tell me that I needed to do rehab exercises, and then after talking with my uncle who is a doctor, he told me that treating an overuse problem with MORE activity was the stupidest thing you could do.

Lots of rest for the leg, pain meds, and look into getting a brace as well. Mine still gets a bit pissed if I do too much cardio during a given week, but that is not usually an issue anymore since I have switched my training style to lifting weights and small amount of High Intensity Interval Training (which has made me way healthier than doing long sessions of cardio ever did).

I have the same thing plus am getting more and more arthritis in both knees, so I understand. You can work on strengthening the muscles around the knee, that was the first thing I was told (other than all of the things I "can't" do). My PT gave me a bunch of exercises and told me to look online as well so I wouldn't get bored, so check online while you're waiting to get in with a PT. Plus, I became proactive in my workouts: I spoke to my instructor for my Les Mills Combat class to come up with lower impact ways to do combat: I don't shuffle, bounce, do the jumping jacks, or jump kicks, but I do have alternatives that I can do so I can stay in class, when I got the gel injections in my knees and couldn't even do my modified class, I invented chair combat so I could go to class for those 5 weeks. I walk instead of run, I can swim so I will do that on occasion, I had to give up doing weights with lower body so my trainer and I focus on upper body and abs. I still bellydance (had to give up the turkish drops though) I just have to be careful on some of the moves, but it's a low impact activity and you use your own body weight. Several people recommended yoga and pilates as well, I wasn't quite fond of it, but I tried it at least. Start looking at what you can do, then look at things you want to do, figure out a way to modify it so it's something you can do, then go for it. If you're not sure talk to an instructor or a trainer at your gym, they may be able to help you find a way to do things that will be lower impact but still effective.