Cardio that won't hurt my knees?

Hericksen
Hericksen Posts: 43 Member
edited October 4 in Fitness and Exercise
I started 2 weeks ago and I do mostly walking videos by Leslie Sansone.
My right knee hurts a lot lately, I'm not sure if the exercising is causing it or something else, but I want to continue to exercise.
What can I do that is a good calorie burning exercise that won't hurt my knees?
I still want to do my Leslie Sansone videos too, how often or not often should I do them so I don't work my knees too much?
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Replies

  • lockef
    lockef Posts: 466
    Swimming
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,031 Member
    You aren't wearing those TONER shoes (Sketchers and some others make them)?
  • katkins3
    katkins3 Posts: 1,359 Member
    Elliptical, Bike (outside or stationary), walk, swim, low impact dance.
  • lillgurly16
    lillgurly16 Posts: 7
    Try zumba... there is high impact and low impact... i have bad knee's too (hurdles in high school) and it give me a great work out!!!
  • sc1572
    sc1572 Posts: 2,309 Member
    elliptical, cycling, swimming :D
  • ashnm88
    ashnm88 Posts: 748
    I use the elliptical because of my bad hip
  • yesthistime
    yesthistime Posts: 2,051 Member
    Research "chair aerobics" and "chair exercises." YouTube has some good videos :)
  • bregalad5
    bregalad5 Posts: 3,965 Member
    swimming and visiting a doctor.
  • ctroxell2011
    ctroxell2011 Posts: 39
    Spinning, bike, rowing
  • alliekat840
    alliekat840 Posts: 2
    You can do kickboxing or squats with punches, that gets cardio with low impact on lower body. Also, make sure you do circles with your knees before you work out to open them up. Every pound lost is 4 pounds of pressure taken off your knees!!
  • LadyGhostDuchess
    LadyGhostDuchess Posts: 894 Member
    I have horrible arthritis in my knees and this is what I do:
    30 day shred
    Dancing
    Low-impact walking
    Stationary Bike
    Swimming

    That is what I do, and I have noticed less pain. Sometimes the elliptical can work like others mentioned, but for me it has only caused more pain into my knees than anything.
  • Bretto
    Bretto Posts: 196 Member
    First make sure you are wearing "good" shoes not cheap old ones. A good pair of shoes are worth every penny. Go to a good shoe store and get fit for the right kind of shoe. I know when my knees start hurting it is because my shoes are wearing out, (even though they look fine on the outside).

    I would also suggest swimming. It truely is a great workout even though you don't sweat. If you don't swim, try the eliptical and stationary bike. When you use the bike, make sure you have your position set up correctly (have a spin instructor show you), otherwise that can cause your knees to hurt.

    Good luck!
  • Bankman1989
    Bankman1989 Posts: 1,116 Member
    Cycling helps. Also take glucosamine and chondroitin.
  • lisaisso
    lisaisso Posts: 337 Member
    You aren't wearing those TONER shoes (Sketchers and some others make them)?

    :laugh:
    i do the elliptical ALL the time, got a bad wheel as well, you get a helluva burn.
  • Bigwrick
    Bigwrick Posts: 28
    I have found that Stairmaster does not bother my knees but it is limited to the Starimast brand of machine. For calories burned this will be a bigger pay off than treadmill or eliptical. Spinning classes can also be very good. Swimming would be the absolute zero impact but you may not have access to a pool. If walking or running is what you really enjoy, make sure you have good shoes. Light weight shoes made for walking or running. I would stay away from the "fad" type "shape up" shoes. My wife got a personalized fit on her shoes - you might look into that, it isn't as expensive as you might think. Hope this is helpful.
  • lisaritter1519
    lisaritter1519 Posts: 3 Member
    Are you taking time to do the stretching at the end of the workouts? Or if there isn't a good, thorough stretch at the end of the workoutI would suggest adding one. Often times knee pain is due to tight muscles in the hips, quadriceps, and hamstrings. Do stretches for those muscles and make sure to also stretch your iliotibial band and your calves-you can google some good stretches for all of these areas. These are things you definitely want to stretch after a workout-especially walking, running, or step aerobics. That should help aleviate most knee pain.


    HTH!
  • Tujitsu56
    Tujitsu56 Posts: 392 Member
    What he said:) I vote for Swimming and Cycling!
    I have found that Stairmaster does not bother my knees but it is limited to the Starimast brand of machine. For calories burned this will be a bigger pay off than treadmill or eliptical. Spinning classes can also be very good. Swimming would be the absolute zero impact but you may not have access to a pool. If walking or running is what you really enjoy, make sure you have good shoes. Light weight shoes made for walking or running. I would stay away from the "fad" type "shape up" shoes. My wife got a personalized fit on her shoes - you might look into that, it isn't as expensive as you might think. Hope this is helpful.
  • Hericksen
    Hericksen Posts: 43 Member
    You aren't wearing those TONER shoes (Sketchers and some others make them)?

    Nope. I have some but I never wear them and haven't worn them in months.

    I want something I can do at home because I'm a stay at home mom and can't go to gym unless I have somewhere for my kids to go (I'd want free or cheap and that's hard to find).
    I don't have any exercise equipment at home other than some 3 lb weights and an aerobic step. My husband wants to buy an elliptical though. I think it would be fun to have an exercise bike too.
  • mccgivens
    mccgivens Posts: 91
    You aren't wearing those TONER shoes (Sketchers and some others make them)?

    Worst shoes I ever bought!
  • My1985Freckles
    My1985Freckles Posts: 1,039 Member
    The treadmill kills my knees, but the elliptical is my best friend!
  • kaetra
    kaetra Posts: 442 Member
  • erikahernandez360
    erikahernandez360 Posts: 17
    I have very bad knees also, and a few years ago I hurt my knee really bad and started swimming. It was a miracle! I started off just paddling around, then laps and then water aerobics! My knee healed very well and even though I still have "bad" knees it's like I don't when in the water. The water is sooo invigorating and it's fun too. I did 4 days a week right up until I had my first daughter, now I have a elliptical in my garage and do that, I also throw Mrs. Sansone in the mix every now and then. But oh how I long for the water again.....
  • shimmergal
    shimmergal Posts: 380 Member
    bump
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
    at home? I don't know. what exercises hurt your knee and what exercises don't? You can try isometric exercises vs just cardio. Pushups, pullups, planks, supermans, etc.. etc.. etc....

    Can you jumprope at all?
  • legrangetackett
    legrangetackett Posts: 21 Member
    I have trouble with my knees too sometimes. Try fast punches (Upper Body Cardio)- punch your right arm to the left side of the room. Punch your left arm to the right side of the room. Then punch in front and up and down (Switch it up) As long as you keep moving fast and keep your heart rate up, it's a great work out! Put on a fast song you like and make up a routine with it.

    Also, try stretching and strengthening exercises (such as straight leg raises.) The more you strengthen the muscles around your knee, the less pain you'll have. You might talk to a doctor to give you a list of exercises/stretching ideas.

    Don't give up!
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
    Stay away from squats and lunges, but as others said..elliptical is awesome!

    I have arthritis in my knees and the glucosamine chondrotin combo worked WONDERS, however, I had to stop taking it because I'm allergic to shellfish and its got some warnings about that (even though I had a whole shellfish-allergy conversation with the idiot at GNC who talked me into buying it..ugh!). Anyway, I did notice an immediate difference when I took that supplement.
  • taglientep
    taglientep Posts: 297 Member
    Hey man I have really bad knees from football wrestling and lacrosse. I have found using the elliptical has been great. I get a great workout and it doesnt hurt my knees at all
  • Hericksen
    Hericksen Posts: 43 Member
    Thanks for all these ideas everyone!

    I'm starting to wonder if this was really caused by my exercise, because aren't the Leslie sansone walking videos low impact too? I've been entering in my exercise as low impact cardio. The dvd I have is the 5 day slim down, I only do a mile at a time, once I did almost 2 miles at a time.
    My left knee feels fine. I wonder if my right knee hurts because of something else.
    We bought a van about a month ago and two of my kids are in the 3rd row. There have been quite a few times when I have knelt on the floor (in the 2nd row) to help reach them to help them buckle or something, and it's mostly my right knee that does that. Maybe that's the cause? I don't really do a whole lot of kneeling any other time.
    I do stretch out after my workouts too.
    I don't want to quit my walking video if it's not an issue.
  • Hericksen
    Hericksen Posts: 43 Member
    If an exercise video says low impact, does that mean it really is?
    I have a low impact step aerobic dvd that I haven't done before (it's by Cathe Friedrich).
    I want to add in strength training pretty soon, I don't want to do just cardio because I don't want to lose a ton and then still be flabby with lots of extra skin, so I want to do cardio one day, strength the next and so forth. I'm looking for a good strength video, I have a few checked out from the library right now. I think I'm going to do pilates and something else. Pilates is low impact too, right?
  • apeecaleb
    apeecaleb Posts: 58 Member
    I love doing Pilates, especially if your looking for an at home workout.
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