Exercises That Are Easy On The Knees!

Do you have bad knees? Are you healing from a previous knee injury? It’s important that you don’t do any high impact exercises or sports, which would aggravate your knees.

There are some exercises that you can still do – even if you have or had knee pain in the past. Of course, every situation is very different, but typically these are the exercises that should be safe for you and your knees. Check with your doc – or stop immediately if you are feeling any pain.

Keep it Easy on the Knees!

Bicycling - This is a great way to exercise without hurting your knees. Make sure to keep your knees bent and enjoy the bike ride!

Swimming – If you want zero impact on your knees, swimming is a great full body workout for you! I suggest keeping to the freestyle stroke and enjoy the many health benefits that come from this cardiovascular exercise.

Elliptical – If you want a machine that is easy on the knees, the elliptical is it. It’s considered to be very low impact and great for those who are trying to lose weight while recovering from some knee pain.

Treadmill – I don’t suggest that you run on a treadmill, but you may want to consider going from a run or jog to a steady paced walk instead. Walking is a great way to continue exercise, lose weight, and stay in shape- all without all the impact that can come with running.

Step Ups – Anyone with knee pain probably cringes at the thought of doing lunges! For those with sensitive knees, but want to still workout the same muscles as you would with lunges, you may want to consider doing step-ups. You can use stairs or actual step ups, and just go up and back down, allowing for a deep- but not too deep-of a bend to activate those glutes and quads!

No Pain No Gain?

When it comes to recovering from an injury, you want to avoid painful movements. If any of the above exercises are painful, you need to stop immediately. I suggest consulting with your doctor first, before you do any of these exercises, since different knee injuries may prevent you from doing specific exercises, or you might just not be ready yet to exercise yet.

Bottom Line: It’s one thing to feel your muscles burning, and it’s another to feel actual pain. Don’t push through an exercise if you are feeling any pain.

No More Excuses!

Now you know that you can still lose weight or stay in shape – even if you have “bad knees”! Empower yourself to reach your goals and always keep moving forward.

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Image Credit: sxc.hu/photo/391481

Tags: easy on your knees, exercise, Fitness, knee, knee pain, Lose Weight, maintain weight, Weight Loss

Walk, Jog, or Run?

Is walking better for you, or is jogging? What about running?

Walk

Walking is a lot easier on your body than jogging or running, and if you have been out of the gym for awhile, walking is an excellent place to start. Walking is also a great cardiovascular exercise, and should not be looked at as an inferior workout to either jogging or running. Try to keep a steady brisk walk, and this is a great way for you to burn calories and lose weight.

Focus on walking correctly, get good comfortable shoes, breathe correctly, and work your way up to speed walking. If you have ever had a knee injury, you might want to stick to walking until you have fully recovered from your injury. Never feel like you have to go faster than what your body is ready for, or capable of.

With any other workout that you do, walking is also a great cool down.

Jog

If you like a short and intense workout, jogging might just be for you. Jogging takes less time for the same calorie burn and cardiovascular benefits compared to walking. Be sure that you have great shoes, and that you are jogging correctly. Jogging can be really hard on the knees and shins if you jog “wrong”, jog for a prolonged amount of time, or even if you didn’t properly stretch before or after your workout. Something important to also keep in mind, is to breathe correctly. It is important that you breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. If you need help practicing this, try walking until you can get the hang of things.

Run

Most people who say then went “running” actually went “jogging” instead.  Running is faster than jogging, and if you are on pace to finish a mile in less than 9 minutes, you are “running”. Just like walking and jogging, running is a great cardiovascular exercise, but takes much faster to burn the same amount of calories as it does for walking or jogging. Just know that this is an intense workout, and not for those just trying to get back to the gym. This is something you should work up to, but you don’t have to reach this point.

Which one is for me?

Do what is best for your body. Because I have had a knee injury in the past, I am not pushing myself to run, and I even limit the amount of jogging that I do. Am I depriving myself of anything? No. Whether you walk, jog, or run,  you are having a cardiovascular workout, burning calories, and getting a great exercise in. As long as you are properly warmed up and prepared, whether you walk for an hour, jog for 15 minutes, or run for 3 minutes, your body will thank you.

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Tags: breathe, burn calories, burn fat, cardio, cardio workout, cardiovascular, cool down, exercise, Fitness, Healthy, heart, injury, jog, jogging, knee, Lose Weight, quality shoes, run, running, running shoes, shin, Skinny, walk, walking