HIIT recommendations for a beginner with knee issues?
dozensofthreads
Posts: 139 Member
I've had issues with my knees since I was about 12. Cracked a kneecap in sixth grade gym class, then in college I was shoveling my mom's driveway on winter break and did a nasty job on the tendons in my other knee. Being overweight puts additional strain on them. On top of that, I had an injury to my lower back recently; my pain tolerance is pretty high but I'd love to find some good cardio HIIT routines that won't worsen my injuries. "Lose weight to be easier on your knees and joints" would be a lot easier if they weren't injured to the point that exercising hurt them - which is part of where I am now with my weight.
I prefer treadmills to ellipticals and stationery bikes are my favorite. I also attend planet fitness if that helps with specific machine info. I'm looking for a routine that starts easy and gradually becomes a beast. In spite of my weight and injury I do have a background in dance and show choir, and I've been a competitive swimmer and still do laps when I get to a good pool/all summer, so I'm not in the worst shape ever but I'm a little out of practice and looking for a more effective routine that won't get stale. Any help is appreciated!
I prefer treadmills to ellipticals and stationery bikes are my favorite. I also attend planet fitness if that helps with specific machine info. I'm looking for a routine that starts easy and gradually becomes a beast. In spite of my weight and injury I do have a background in dance and show choir, and I've been a competitive swimmer and still do laps when I get to a good pool/all summer, so I'm not in the worst shape ever but I'm a little out of practice and looking for a more effective routine that won't get stale. Any help is appreciated!
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Replies
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Actually if you have knee injuries to deal with, I'd suggest against HIIT, at least until you are comfortable with the added stress on your joints. If weight loss alone is a primary concern to lessen the stress on your joints, cardio at a level that gives them a break might be a better idea. Anything high intensity is more likely to show any weakness in the joints.
If you prefer the treadmill and bike, spend some time on them to figure out if you have any knee issues showing up, then adjust or keep increasing intensity on cardio if you feel ok. Many of the true high intensity programs require working pretty freaking hard, and as such, aren't a good starting point to figure out what might or might not tolerate it. I'd apply the cautious approach to your back as well.
You could possibly do some higher intensity intervals using your upper body, some swimming, or maybe lifting machines that would increase the safety factor. And if your knees and back are ok with it, you could do intervals at whatever intensity you are comfortable with until you figure out if you have any physical limits due to the injuries.
I had some back issues of my own, and it somewhat limited what I could do, so I've been there. In my case I have no knee issues, so I could still bike fairly hard without risk of hurting my back worse. In your case pool time is a great calorie shredder, and that with proper diet could rid some pounds and make it easier to deal with more equipment and open up options.0 -
Why do you want to do HIIT? I cannot imagine why anyone with weight loss as primary goal would need to do HIIT. With the weight your profile indicates you need to lose, 99% of the work will be be diet. For exercise, you need to focus on something that is gentle on the joints and also on duration, not intensity. Walk, if your knees allow it, or figure out if you can find a pool. I seriously doubt that any high impact exercise is recommended until you are further into your weight loss journey, or that it is needed.0
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Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.0
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You are probably looking at the allure of burning more calories in a shorter time frame. I second what others said above. PF has lots of treadmills and bikes and you can create a nice low-load, high intensity exercise program on the bike. Test your knees there and progressively increase time/distance and resistance.0
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The draw of HIIT for me actually came from me asking someone I know through work what she would recommend for the highest and longest lasting calorie burn. I'm a preschool teacher and one of the moms is a gym teacher and personal trainer and I just asked her one day what her recommendations were. She didn't give me a specific outline, just the idea of HIIT - and I didn't outline my injuries for her, as my back was a non issue at the time, and my knees only really act up in sporadically pressured weather.0
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dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
HIIT is something a lot of people claim to do, very few people actually do, and very few people actually benefit from it.
If you are at the point where you are doing lots of steady state cardio and need to add variety, or optimise your training, plus are also in great shape overall, then yes, attempting HIIT would be a good idea. Honestly, I think the benefits from attempting HIIT would be zero, and the risk involved in the process too high.
If the goal is improving overall fitness, focus on a combination of cardio and strength training, at a level your body can take, adjusting as you go. Consistency is what you need, so take it slow and make sure you do not burn out. You need to let both your cardio capacity and strength to adjust gradually to a new exercise routine. Challenge yourself, but do not push too fast.
What is your current routine?
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dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
HIIT is something a lot of people claim to do, very few people actually do, and very few people actually benefit from it.
If you are at the point where you are doing lots of steady state cardio and need to add variety, or optimise your training, plus are also in great shape overall, then yes, attempting HIIT would be a good idea. Honestly, I think the benefits from attempting HIIT would be zero, and the risk involved in the process too high.
If the goal is improving overall fitness, focus on a combination of cardio and strength training, at a level your body can take, adjusting as you go. Consistency is what you need, so take it slow and make sure you do not burn out. You need to let both your cardio capacity and strength to adjust gradually to a new exercise routine. Challenge yourself, but do not push too fast.
What is your current routine?
I only have time to go to the gym every other day, but when I'm there, I do warmup stretches, then walk and work up to a jog for fifteen minutes on the treadmill. I spend the most time in my cardio routine on a stationery bike, and I usually do that for 25-30 minutes. I average anywhere between 10-13 miles depending on how I pace myself. I'm generally at about 90-95 RPM if I'm going for endurance and 115-120 if I'm pushing myself. Then I hit free weights and weight machines, alternating between a leg/core combo every other visit and an arm/core combo every other visit. My arms are my weakest when it comes to weights. On the days when I can't make time go to the gym, I do body weight exercises when I have a free moment, and I do have Dumbbells at home. Squats and planking are my favorite. Crunches and sit-ups are pretty painful to my lower back anymore.0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
HIIT is something a lot of people claim to do, very few people actually do, and very few people actually benefit from it.
If you are at the point where you are doing lots of steady state cardio and need to add variety, or optimise your training, plus are also in great shape overall, then yes, attempting HIIT would be a good idea. Honestly, I think the benefits from attempting HIIT would be zero, and the risk involved in the process too high.
If the goal is improving overall fitness, focus on a combination of cardio and strength training, at a level your body can take, adjusting as you go. Consistency is what you need, so take it slow and make sure you do not burn out. You need to let both your cardio capacity and strength to adjust gradually to a new exercise routine. Challenge yourself, but do not push too fast.
What is your current routine?
I only have time to go to the gym every other day, but when I'm there, I do warmup stretches, then walk and work up to a jog for fifteen minutes on the treadmill. I spend the most time in my cardio routine on a stationery bike, and I usually do that for 25-30 minutes. I average anywhere between 10-13 miles depending on how I pace myself. I'm generally at about 90-95 RPM if I'm going for endurance and 115-120 if I'm pushing myself. Then I hit free weights and weight machines, alternating between a leg/core combo every other visit and an arm/core combo every other visit. My arms are my weakest when it comes to weights. On the days when I can't make time go to the gym, I do body weight exercises when I have a free moment, and I do have Dumbbells at home. Squats and planking are my favorite. Crunches and sit-ups are pretty painful to my lower back anymore.
Sounds good, do not stress yourself and do not overcomplicate it
And do not push through any pain from knees or other joints if they do bother you at any point. Listen to your body. 0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
HIIT is something a lot of people claim to do, very few people actually do, and very few people actually benefit from it.
If you are at the point where you are doing lots of steady state cardio and need to add variety, or optimise your training, plus are also in great shape overall, then yes, attempting HIIT would be a good idea. Honestly, I think the benefits from attempting HIIT would be zero, and the risk involved in the process too high.
If the goal is improving overall fitness, focus on a combination of cardio and strength training, at a level your body can take, adjusting as you go. Consistency is what you need, so take it slow and make sure you do not burn out. You need to let both your cardio capacity and strength to adjust gradually to a new exercise routine. Challenge yourself, but do not push too fast.
What is your current routine?
I only have time to go to the gym every other day, but when I'm there, I do warmup stretches, then walk and work up to a jog for fifteen minutes on the treadmill. I spend the most time in my cardio routine on a stationery bike, and I usually do that for 25-30 minutes. I average anywhere between 10-13 miles depending on how I pace myself. I'm generally at about 90-95 RPM if I'm going for endurance and 115-120 if I'm pushing myself. Then I hit free weights and weight machines, alternating between a leg/core combo every other visit and an arm/core combo every other visit. My arms are my weakest when it comes to weights. On the days when I can't make time go to the gym, I do body weight exercises when I have a free moment, and I do have Dumbbells at home. Squats and planking are my favorite. Crunches and sit-ups are pretty painful to my lower back anymore.
Sounds good, do not stress yourself and do not overcomplicate it And do not push through any pain from knees or other joints if they do bother you at any point. Listen to your body.
Thank you! 0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
Your leg muscles may be strong but your knees aren't, sadly
and you will blow yourself out if you push it. Orthopedic problems are a total contraindication for HIIT.
Longer, low intensity (50-70% max capacity) steady state cardio is a decent alternative to HIIT, for fat burning. *However* you then have to balance risk of overuse with even that, because it's still repetitive movement.
Best thing is to not rely on cardio for the burn. Do moderate cardio for your CV health, and do it smart - build up your strength in your knees, with little resistance and speed to start out with, then slowly bump one of those up at a time.
Edit: Ah I see you're doing that now, ok. Don't go faster than 115 rpm on the bike & keep resistance low when you do go up there. Don't go below 80 rpm or that will cause too much stress on your knees, too.
If you use a bike, make sure it's set up properly - a poorly fitting bike can cause more problems. But a bike would be the way to go. Swimming too, just stay away from the breaststroke kick.0 -
Have a look at the app "12 minute athlete" - it has some pretty cool workouts, especially for the days when you're not able to get to the gym.
HIIT on a stationary bike is really good. Find a good balance where you can push your pace against a bit of tension, go flat out for 15 seconds, drop the tension off and recover for 45 seconds. Repeat 12-15 times. When that is not hard enough increase your work interval and decrease your rest. However, if it aggravates your knee, keep looking for other cardio options. 0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
Your leg muscles may be strong but your knees aren't, sadly and you will blow yourself out if you push it. Orthopedic problems are a total contraindication for HIIT.
Longer, low intensity (50-70% max capacity) steady state cardio is a decent alternative to HIIT, for fat burning. *However* you then have to balance risk of overuse with even that, because it's still repetitive movement.
Best thing is to not rely on cardio for the burn. Do moderate cardio for your CV health, and do it smart - build up your strength in your knees, with little resistance and speed to start out with, then slowly bump one of those up at a time.
Edit: Ah I see you're doing that now, ok. Don't go faster than 115 rpm on the bike & keep resistance low when you do go up there. Don't go below 80 rpm or that will cause too much stress on your knees, too.
If you use a bike, make sure it's set up properly - a poorly fitting bike can cause more problems. But a bike would be the way to go. Swimming too, just stay away from the breaststroke kick.
The breaststroke is actually my best stroke. I swam competitively for years and my best event was the 100m breast! I do a lot of front crawl anymore though.0 -
Have a look at the app "12 minute athlete" - it has some pretty cool workouts, especially for the days when you're not able to get to the gym.
HIIT on a stationary bike is really good. Find a good balance where you can push your pace against a bit of tension, go flat out for 15 seconds, drop the tension off and recover for 45 seconds. Repeat 12-15 times. When that is not hard enough increase your work interval and decrease your rest. However, if it aggravates your knee, keep looking for other cardio options.Have a look at the app "12 minute athlete" - it has some pretty cool workouts, especially for the days when you're not able to get to the gym.
HIIT on a stationary bike is really good. Find a good balance where you can push your pace against a bit of tension, go flat out for 15 seconds, drop the tension off and recover for 45 seconds. Repeat 12-15 times. When that is not hard enough increase your work interval and decrease your rest. However, if it aggravates your knee, keep looking for other cardio options.
Thank you so much 0 -
I have arthritis and other issues with one knee, which prevents me from running, and makes a lot of HIIT work difficult.
I spent a good 6+ months focused on walking and calorie/macro intake. I lost a significant amount of weight in that time frame, and then started up on the stride machine ... similar to elliptical, but allows for a wider range of motion, and about as close to running as I'm going to get. I worked out a HIIT routine for the stride machine, and burned even more calories. If your gym has one of these machines, you may find you like it better than an elliptical.
Best of luck!0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
Your leg muscles may be strong but your knees aren't, sadly and you will blow yourself out if you push it. Orthopedic problems are a total contraindication for HIIT.
Longer, low intensity (50-70% max capacity) steady state cardio is a decent alternative to HIIT, for fat burning. *However* you then have to balance risk of overuse with even that, because it's still repetitive movement.
Best thing is to not rely on cardio for the burn. Do moderate cardio for your CV health, and do it smart - build up your strength in your knees, with little resistance and speed to start out with, then slowly bump one of those up at a time.
Edit: Ah I see you're doing that now, ok. Don't go faster than 115 rpm on the bike & keep resistance low when you do go up there. Don't go below 80 rpm or that will cause too much stress on your knees, too.
If you use a bike, make sure it's set up properly - a poorly fitting bike can cause more problems. But a bike would be the way to go. Swimming too, just stay away from the breaststroke kick.
The breaststroke is actually my best stroke. I swam competitively for years and my best event was the 100m breast! I do a lot of front crawl anymore though.
Oh ok, if you can do it, that's great! The rotation of the kick usually bothers people with knee problems, but if it doesn't bother you, I guess it doesn't.0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »dozensofthreads wrote: »Diet has had a huge impact already, yes. But it's only part of what I want. And while I have injuries, they don't prevent me from higher intensity workouts, I just don't want to blow myself out completely. I'm not that out of shape. I bear a lot of extra flub, but my legs themselves are very muscular and strong. I'm middle heavy.
Your leg muscles may be strong but your knees aren't, sadly and you will blow yourself out if you push it. Orthopedic problems are a total contraindication for HIIT.
Longer, low intensity (50-70% max capacity) steady state cardio is a decent alternative to HIIT, for fat burning. *However* you then have to balance risk of overuse with even that, because it's still repetitive movement.
Best thing is to not rely on cardio for the burn. Do moderate cardio for your CV health, and do it smart - build up your strength in your knees, with little resistance and speed to start out with, then slowly bump one of those up at a time.
Edit: Ah I see you're doing that now, ok. Don't go faster than 115 rpm on the bike & keep resistance low when you do go up there. Don't go below 80 rpm or that will cause too much stress on your knees, too.
If you use a bike, make sure it's set up properly - a poorly fitting bike can cause more problems. But a bike would be the way to go. Swimming too, just stay away from the breaststroke kick.
The breaststroke is actually my best stroke. I swam competitively for years and my best event was the 100m breast! I do a lot of front crawl anymore though.
Oh ok, if you can do it, that's great! The rotation of the kick usually bothers people with knee problems, but if it doesn't bother you, I guess it doesn't.
I think it's probably just because I've been doing it for so long, honestly.0 -
Why not see if your knees can manage HIIT on a bike?
http://fitnessator.com/hiit-stationary-bike/0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »The draw of HIIT for me actually came from me asking someone I know through work what she would recommend for the highest and longest lasting calorie burn. I'm a preschool teacher and one of the moms is a gym teacher and personal trainer and I just asked her one day what her recommendations were. She didn't give me a specific outline, just the idea of HIIT - and I didn't outline my injuries for her, as my back was a non issue at the time, and my knees only really act up in sporadically pressured weather.
The correct answer for the largest burn would be to go as hard as you can maintain for the period of time you have available to exercise - the recovery periods of HIIT mean it really isn't a big calorie burner, that's just fitness industry woo and marketing further exaggerated by people using HRMs and not understanding that they won't give an accurate calorie count for intervals.
There may be a higher EPOC effect from HIIT but it's negligible, a higher (but still very small) percentage of a far smaller number.
There's plenty of good reasons to do intervals (including, but not only, HIIT) but maximizing calorie burns isn't one of them.
I find cycling (especially with proper cycling shoes) very kind to my badly damaged knees - and it's as challenging as you want it to be in terms of intensity or duration.0 -
dozensofthreads wrote: »e. She didn't give me a specific outline, just the idea of HIIT
In that case I suspect she didn't mean proper HIIT, given what you've said that would cause you more problems than help you with anything.
There is a lot of nonsense spoken about HIIT being some kind of mircale solution, burning hundreds of calories in a few minutes with 24 hour afterburn effects.
Better just to find a level of intensity that you can sustain for longer periods, for far more effect.and I didn't outline my injuries for her, as my back was a non issue at the time, and my knees only really act up in sporadically pressured weather.
If the gym has WiFi then there are lots of cycling videos that you could use on Youtube to help you to train.
An alternative would be the Sufferfest videos or similar.
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Thank you all so much! I took it pretty easy tonight and juSt did a couple of short bursts of higher speeds on my cardio and I'm not feeling too crappy! We'll see how sore I am in the morning but all of your advice really helped.0
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Glad to hear that it's going ok. Adding some quicker paced intervals will help if you have trouble setting pace and have extra energy. But as stated upthread, if you have a set amount of time to exercise, finding out your maximum output for the length of time is always going to burn more calories overall.
You can use cadence vs resistance, heart rate, or whatever data you have available to figure out your sustained output you can handle for that time period. The closer you get to your real max, the less energy you will have left at the end of your workout.
You can burn a good chunk of calories on a bike, as you are engaging some of the largest muscles in your body, and doing it while not supporting your body weight.
I figured out a way to calculate doing the original Tabata HIIT protocol on my elliptical. Not as muscle intensive as I had expected it to be, but brutal on the breathing system. But I burned almost as many calories on the warm up as I did doing the intervals. And if I had taken the total time and just worked at high output sustained, I would have easily burned more.0
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