Fitness plan for overweight , middle aged woman with a bad knee and a bad hip

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docsandy
docsandy Posts: 12 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
:s 18 months ago I had an accident that left me with a somewhat stiff (R) knee and a painful (L) hip. I comforted and indulged myself with every gooey, fattening food I could find. Now I am 40lbs up. I’ve come to my senses but I want and need to exercise. High impact exercises hurts my hip and I can’t find any lower body exercises that don’t hurt my knee. What can I do?

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  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,160 Member
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    Find a Way Of Eating that prevents you from getting hungry yet does not cause more weight gain and consider walking a quarter mile every day on a level smooth surface or at least that worked in my case starting 4 years ago. Now I can walk any distance but still do the 1/4 mile daily come hail or high water.

    Best of success.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
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    Hopefully you've been through physical therapy, but if not, I would start there because there may be specific exercises that will help you restore mobility and such. Walking and swimming might be your best bets, starting slow as Gale suggested.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited October 2018
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    docsandy wrote: »
    :s 18 months ago I had an accident that left me with a somewhat stiff (R) knee and a painful (L) hip. I comforted and indulged myself with every gooey, fattening food I could find. Now I am 40lbs up. I’ve come to my senses but I want and need to exercise. High impact exercises hurts my hip and I can’t find any lower body exercises that don’t hurt my knee. What can I do?

    I have joint issues with my left knee and left hip (yes, replacements are in my future) as well as osteoarthritis in the outer metatarsals and the cuboid bone in my right foot. I swim laps and take a water aerobics class, neither of which cause me pain. I even was able to swim laps with a sprained ankle but couldn't do the aerobics.

    The nice thing about the water exercise is that you can go as deep or as shallow as you are comfortable, Some even strap on a flotation belt and do the workout in the deep end so there is no impact whatsoever. you are also getting a bit of resistance in moving against the water.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    walk, elliptical, water exercise
  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
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    docsandy wrote: »
    :s 18 months ago I had an accident that left me with a somewhat stiff (R) knee and a painful (L) hip. I comforted and indulged myself with every gooey, fattening food I could find. Now I am 40lbs up. I’ve come to my senses but I want and need to exercise. High impact exercises hurts my hip and I can’t find any lower body exercises that don’t hurt my knee. What can I do?[/quote]
    Maxxitt wrote: »
    Hopefully you've been through physical therapy, but if not, I would start there because there may be specific exercises that will help you restore mobility and such. Walking and swimming might be your best bets, starting slow as Gale suggested.

    A question more properly addressed to your professional medical provider: your doctor and/or physical therapist.
  • RKIANA2018
    RKIANA2018 Posts: 10 Member
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    Do you do housework? If so that would be enough exercise. That along with healthy eating will give you the results you want.

    This is the plan I’m following because I have two bad knees so excessive walking is painful. I’m house bound due to other reasons so housework is my only cardiovascular exercise right now.
  • RKIANA2018
    RKIANA2018 Posts: 10 Member
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    Calorielab dot com has the break down for different household chores.enter your weight at the top.
  • ellyseb1
    ellyseb1 Posts: 49 Member
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    Does cycling bother your hip? If not, a recumbent stationary bike might be an option.
  • marysabetournay
    marysabetournay Posts: 69 Member
    edited October 2018
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    swimming!
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    docsandy wrote: »
    :s 18 months ago I had an accident that left me with a somewhat stiff (R) knee and a painful (L) hip. I comforted and indulged myself with every gooey, fattening food I could find. Now I am 40lbs up. I’ve come to my senses but I want and need to exercise. High impact exercises hurts my hip and I can’t find any lower body exercises that don’t hurt my knee. What can I do?

    If you have access to a pool you could use that for exercise. There are seated workouts on youtube that may be okay for you.
    If your motivation for exercise is mainly to lose weight then I would say to just work on your calorie intake more and give it time.
  • BeezBeez
    BeezBeez Posts: 41 Member
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    Have you tried rowing? I have foot issues that most weigh-bearing exercises cause to flare up and I picked up an inexpensive rowing machine on Amazon. So far it's working really well for me, but it might not be comfortable with hip issues. Give it a shot at a gym if you can and see if it might be a good option for you.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    BeezBeez wrote: »
    Have you tried rowing? I have foot issues that most weigh-bearing exercises cause to flare up and I picked up an inexpensive rowing machine on Amazon. So far it's working really well for me, but it might not be comfortable with hip issues. Give it a shot at a gym if you can and see if it might be a good option for you.

    Trying at a gym is a good idea, but do it with a trainer who can show you correct form right off the bat. Rowers can be great, but they can make some knee issues worse. It all depends on what the problem is.
  • AustinRuadhain
    AustinRuadhain Posts: 2,574 Member
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    Hey there, the thing that will take the weight off is diet. So maybe work on building new food habits, weigh/measure and log all your food, figure out a comfortable deficit to eat at. Getting the extra weight off might well make that knee happier (worked for me).

    As far as movement -- there have already been great suggestions. I would also suggest trying yoga and/or Tai Chi. I know I can work up a sweat doing the hatha yoga flow series, and that the stretching is helping my knees.
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,034 Member
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    I have hip and knee issues too. Losing weight makes a huge difference. That happened with a calorie deficit, not exercise. As others have said, water and walking are great. You should also try restorative yoga if you can find it in your area. It helps you gain flexibility, mobility, balance, and core strength. All of these thugs will help stabilize your pelvis which in turn lessens the stress on your joints.
  • docsandy
    docsandy Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks so much for all the help. I’m going to try yoga/Tai Chi. I’ve begun the keto diet. I’ll keep you posted so you can help keep me honest. Thanks again.
  • ata1anta
    ata1anta Posts: 115 Member
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    I was going to suggest Yoga and Pilates. I was in a MVA in 2016 and ended up with a broken hip to go with my bad knees. Therapy included a recumbent bike until I could walk and then treadmill. Also assorted band and body weight exercises. I tried to go back to TRX a year after - TOO SOON!!

    I'm now (almost 2 years later) with a personal trainer who's continuing the PT (better than the therapist through insurance) and kicking my butt! I will be doing a virtual 5k in the next week or so. I've also lost 80 lbs (so far) which I think has been the most help.

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