Starting exercise routine after 2 years! Bad knees - Need advice on steady fat loss/muscle gain

firepoof
firepoof Posts: 2 Member
edited November 15 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi Everyone!!

I'm getting back into a healthy lifestyle after a few years off the radar. I'm a 22-year-old woman and recovered from BED. I've lost lots of weight in the past (from 190 to 150 - twice) but done it by restricting and overexercising without any real guidance. I currently have around 30-40lbs to lose, although I'm far more focused on losing body fat %.

This time around, I'm slowly fixing my diet with the help of a nutritionist and a lot more self-awareness, but I still am a little scared about how to go about exercising. My goal is to SLOWLY lose fat while gaining lean muscle mass. I love lifting and cardio both but due to past over-training I've developed bad knees so I need to work around this issue (i.e. squats/deadlifts are pretty much impossible without pain for me; and extended periods of running also exasperate the pain.)

I'd like to ask the MFP community if anyone is in the same boat or has any advice about how to begin a training routine with these issues in mind. Preferably, I'd like to train 3-4 days/week for about 45-60 minutes with low-impact but effective exercises (I do have a Planet Fitness membership if this helps). Any guidance for a broke college student? :smile:

Zlata

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    It's pretty hard to do both at the same time.

    Have you seen a doctor/physio about your knees?
  • SonyaCele
    SonyaCele Posts: 2,841 Member
    have you thought about getting a trainer for a few sessions at the gym to teach you the exercises, and then pick a program you like. there are so many to choose from. you dont have to overexercise for it to be effective. its ok to Start out slow in the gym and increase as you go. Cardio things that are easier on knees are low impact like elliptical and cycle I have bad knees and strength training has been awesome for them. but just start out slow to give your joints and body a chance to toughen up
  • Embera
    Embera Posts: 289 Member
    SonyaCele wrote: »
    have you thought about getting a trainer for a few sessions at the gym to teach you the exercises, and then pick a program you like. there are so many to choose from. you dont have to overexercise for it to be effective. its ok to Start out slow in the gym and increase as you go. Cardio things that are easier on knees are low impact like elliptical and cycle I have bad knees and strength training has been awesome for them. but just start out slow to give your joints and body a chance to toughen up

    i agree with this when i hurt my knee back in hs i tried to push my self after it healed to gain muscle and the more you use it the stronger it gets and the less pain will react over time it still hurts sometimes dont get me wrong. personaly right now ive just joined the gym for the first time and im trying to just do something its btter than not doing anything
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    It's pretty hard to do both at the same time.

    Have you seen a doctor/physio about your knees?

    This. We lose weight by maintaining a caloric deficit, but maintaining a deficit makes it very difficult to build lean muscle mass. You should still workout to preserve the lean muscle you do have, but I wouldn't expect to gain an appreciable amount lean muscle mass until you're closer to goal/maintenance.
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