Bad Knees

This may not help you, OP, if you can't walk for any distances, but I'm going to leave this on the thread for other people who may come here based on the title.

I've have 5 knee surgeries in under 2 years on the same knee (2 open, 3 scope, MPFL replacement, meniscus repair, removal, and replacement, cartilage removal) and still have a LOT of knee pain and issues. I was lucky enough to find a gym that had a Curve Treadmill, and they are WONDERFUL! for low impact cardio. They are literally the only cardio I've done in years that didn't hurt my knee and leave it swollen afterwards. Unfortunately, I relocated due to work and my current gym doesn't have one.

If you have bad knees and have the option to shop around for gyms and need/like cardio - look for a gym with a Curve treadmill - those things are game changing!

indigoblue9572 wrote: »

I also have bad knees (patellafemoral syndrome in both from old sports injuries) - my doc recommended ellipticals and recumbent bikes. I'm very short so ellipticals feel jerky to me. I have good results with the recumbent bike; however. As far as upper body goes - you can always use hand weights

Don't use the moving handles - I'm under 5ft and find them a nightmare, but if I hold the stationary handle I'm ok.

If your injections work for you, you should be able to walk or even run. I have a friend who is a marathon runner with bad knee arthritis who does a mixture of pool running and road running to train. The shots have really helped her. My husband had the shots and was able to go on a 2700 mile backpack trip afterwards. The second series a few years later was less effective, but he still continued to hike for about two more years before getting his knee replaced.

Losing weight and exercise can help arthritis. I have some knee pain, thanks to a lot of years of hiking and backpacking, but it got better when I started running.

STEVE142142 wrote: »

If I read your post right there are two issues you're addressing. Give you a little background as myself I have to arthritic knees and a double hip replacement. Best thing to do is talk to your orthopedist and physical therapist about a workout routine for your legs. One of my physical therapist told me any exercise that you can do for your lower body you can do it in a pool walking or jogging will work in a pool it's a lot less stress same thing with lunges

As far as the upper body and abdomen area there's no reason you can't workout with free weights or with the Nautilus machines as you're not putting any stress on your knees.

Endorsing the above advice about getting a physiotherapy referral & asking your orthopedist about suitable lower-body exercise.

Different specific knee problems, even different cases of osteoarthritis, require different things. And each of us has different musculature and skeletal configuration, to add to the complexity. The right exercises can help you improve, and the wrong ones have the potential to make things worse.

My double partner (rowing) and I both have bad knees. In both cases, it involves osteoarthritis. But the physiotherapy exercises we do are very different, because of different personal details.

I can do straight-line hinge-type knee motions (bike, spin, row) all day, and don't need quad strengthening, but have to work on hip mobility. I shouldn't walk or run huge amounts, but since I've lost weight, stairs aren't a problem. My fellow rower needs to work quad strength (yup, stuff like squats & lunges), and does pool exercises. She can walk all day, but sold her house & moved partly because stairs were a huge problem for her.

It's very individual. Wishing you good luck in finding a path to improvement.