Great Cardio for Bad Knees?

If cardio makes you weak in the knees, a gym membership can give you access to a whole world of low-impact workouts. 
By Ellis Moore, BlackDoctor.org
Posted: 07/09/2012 02:56 PM EDT
Filed Under obesity, Fitness, Health News, cardiovascular disease

Swimming makes good cardio workout for bad knees.

The dilemma of many: you have weak knees but want a good workout.

Exercising with bad knees can be a painful experience. A bad knee can cause immense amounts of pain and greatly hinder the freedom of movement.

Performing cardiovascular exercises can therefore be very hard to accomplish, and can even cause significant amounts of damage in the long run.

What are the best knee-friendly exercises?

Got a Gym Membership?

Swimming

Not only does swimming burn an incredible amount of calories (close to what you’d burn on a run), but it offers a wide variety of options to get your heart pumping in the water. As an alternative to your usual laps, try putting a buoy between your legs (squeeze it tight!) to get more of an upper-body workout, or hold on to a kickboard in front of you to work just your lower half.

Upper-Body Ergometer

This is that piece of equipment in the cardio area at your gym that looks like a bike for hands. Treat it like any other piece of cardio equipment—go for a long forty-five-minute stint or pound out a shorter and harder interval session. Warning: this will be extremely hard for just about everyone at first, since most people aren’t used to using only their upper body for cardio.

Rowing Machine

Just about every gym has a rowing machine or two, and they’re often some of the most underutilized pieces of cardio equipment. Rowing is mostly upper-body work (great for toning up your arms and shoulders), but your legs provide low-impact support by pushing against the machine with each stroke.

For more exercise and weight loss tips, visit BlackDoctor.org.


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