Bad knees? What exercise?

[Octobermommy]

I have had a lot of success in the past with Jillian michaels workouts but my knees crunch & hurt so I'm looking for something that will be easier on my knees. Any recommendations for equipment or DVDs?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Honestly, my knees actually got better when I really took up more leg workouts!

Something like zumba or swimming would work, maybe.

[infomama]

you know what I'm going to say...Yoga.
Adding.....when I stopped eating meat my knees stopped hurting. Food is medicine...maybe take a look into your diet as well as exercises.

[hillview]

my knees used to hurt a lot, since I started more squatting with weights they have gotten better. I think they are getting stronger.

[crl]

I have bad knees and physical therapists/orthopedists have always been big on me riding an exercise bike. In general I think strengthening the quads, while being sure to stretch adequately is a good plan for bad knees. Squats achieve this as well, but can be too much depending on how bad your knees are. There are some other weight lifting exercises that focus on quads without putting as much weight in the knee joint. Those might be good.

Swimming can be good because it is not weight bearing.

Ymmv depending on what is wrong with your knees though. TMI coming: The ligaments and tendons that hold my knee joints together are too loose (and have been since I was 12 and had a growth spurt) so my knee cap doesn't stay on track properly. This irritates the cartilage in the joint. Strengthening the quads minimizes the wriggle room in the joint for me.

Honestly depending on how bad they hurt and how long they have hurt for a trip to a doc to get a physical therapy referral might be a good idea. Just a couple of physical therapy sessions to learn the right exercises with the right form could make a big difference.

Catherine

[Octobermommy]

Ymmv depending on what is wrong with your knees though. TMI coming: The ligaments and tendons that hold my knee joints together are too loose (and have been since I was 12 and had a growth spurt) so my knee cap doesn't stay on track properly. This irritates the cartilage in the joint. Strengthening the quads minimizes the wriggle room in the joint for me.

Honestly depending on how bad they hurt and how long they have hurt for a trip to a doc to get a physical therapy referral might be a good idea. Just a couple of physical therapy sessions to learn the right exercises with the right form could make a big difference.

Catherine

My knee caps have always been loose. They easily pop out if one of my children hit the
& it causes tremendous pain. Honestly, I have been avoiding the doctor.

[brittone2]

My knee caps have always been loose. They easily pop out if one of my children hit the
& it causes tremendous pain. Honestly, I have been avoiding the doctor.

I dislocated my patella in college. Strengthening my VMO (little muscle on the inside of the knee) has helped. THat can help keep the patella more stable and in the correct position. Women often have weak VMOs because of the angle of our femur from our hips to our knees. It can be a tough muscle to activate correctly; biofeedback (PT hooks up electrodes that will make a sound or visual cue to show you when you are activating it correctly) can be helpful in learning to isolate and use it correctly. Just tossing that out there as something you could pursue if problematic for you.

[almostmom]

I've had 3 knee surgeries, so I have to be really careful. I have really loved P90X. I don't do all the videos, but the cardio is fine for my knees, as is the legs and back (awesome video for leg strengthening that isn't high impact) and the core and karate videos. It's definitely an investment, but my knees feel much better when I'm doing these videos regularly.

[twowhat?]

Honestly, my knees actually got better when I really took up more leg workouts!

I found this to be true too!! My knees have always been bad - I'm bow-legged so the pressure on the joints is all out of alignment. But in grad school I started doing step aerobics (yes - you would NEVER think that this would help bad knees!!) and I found that it actually helped! I was careful with my form, kept the step low enough so that I could keep my knees mostly at a right angle or greater and my knees totally improved.

And then when I got pregnant with the twins...you'd think it'd hurt my knees but no...it got better!

I think it's because you build up the muscles surrounding the joint...the better muscle tone you have supporting the joint, the less stress on the joint (so when I was pregnant, carrying around an extra 60 pounds just walking improved muscle tone in my legs). Anyway I'm sure this will totally depend based on what is causing your knee problems but it's something to think about!

eta: the one thing I cannot do is run. The whole legs pounding on pavement thing just doesn't work. Step aerobics was fine because it's actually pretty low-impact. All of the stepping is done gently. I wish I had time to pick it back up again! Maybe I should start doing it to videos...

[swissair81]

My knees generally hurt when my sacroiliac is off kilter and then I'm not allowed to exercise at all. I have been ignoring this, because I'm not in the mood to chase down a script for PT. as for the exercise that I'm not supposed to be doing, I've just been walking 1.5 miles up the street and back with my stroller. The elliptical that I was so excited to get is murdering my knees.