Cardio suggestions please

[desktable]

Hi all, I have a question about cardio. I'm middle-aged, was a runner, but now have damaged knees, so I can't run regularly anymore. I work out at home with weights, but need some cardio as I'm putting on a little weight. My local gym just closed and I have a small flat. Can anyone advise me on some cardio that's easy on the knees please? I don't have much room, but could get a small machine. Will probably get a stationary bike, but any advice gratefully received first. Thanks.

[SuffolkPunch]

To lose fat, cardio is not essential. You can simply reduce your calorie intake instead. This approach should be fine if you are also training your whole body with weights (to prevent muscle loss).

But if you miss it, there is cycling, rowing, swimming, elliptical machine... can't guarantee these things won't aggravate your knees though.

Quite often "bad knees" is down to a muscular imbalance and can be fixed by proper exercise (balanced set of quad and posterior chain dominant weight training exercises) and self massage, myofascial release etc.

Of course if the joint face itself is worn, there is not much you can do about that.

[CienMuertes]

add some jump rope

[TheShadowMan]

Swimming is fairly easy on the body, and gives good calorie burn.

[jasdhiman]

Cycling will be one of the easiest on the knees.

[desktable]

Ok, thanks everyone. Yeah I certainly could cut out some junk from my diet. I'll try swimming but am leaning towards an exercise bike.

[GeneralSerpant]

Ok, thanks everyone. Yeah I certainly could cut out some junk from my diet. I'll try swimming but am leaning towards an exercise bike.

No problem. Glad we coudl help.

[supramax]

Hi all, I have a question about cardio. I'm middle-aged, was a runner, but now have damaged knees, so I can't run regularly anymore. I work out at home with weights, but need some cardio as I'm putting on a little weight. My local gym just closed and I have a small flat. Can anyone advise me on some cardio that's easy on the knees please? I don't have much room, but could get a small machine. Will probably get a stationary bike, but any advice gratefully received first. Thanks.

Get a good quality rebounder. You can run in place, skip, jump, etc., etc., mildly or at a maniacal tabata pace, all with very low impact. Like everything else, you get out of it what you put into it. If you do get one, increase bounce time gradually or you'll have first hand experience of extreme detoxification. Here's a good gradual approach: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...k-Workout.html

What Suffolk said about "bad knees". Try these exercises:

Standing Leg Lifts: Stand with your back against the wall. Lift one leg up as high as you can with the knee straight. Hold for five seconds, then bend your knee to relax, hold for five seconds. Straighten your leg again, and do five of these before switching to the other leg. Over time, see if you can build up to ten seconds.


Foot Turns: Lie down or sit in a chair and stretch both legs out, knees straight and feet pointed up toward the knees. Tighten your thigh muscles and turn your feet out as far as you can, holding for ten seconds. Now turn your feet in as far as you can and hold for ten seconds, keeping your thigh muscles tight for the entire exercise. Do three of these sets.


Foot Press: Either sitting or lying down, put one foot on top of the other and pull up with your lower foot as you push down with the upper foot. Hold that for ten seconds, and then switch feet and repeat. Try five sets of these.

[sooby]

a fun way to get some cardio would probably be to hit the punching bag, unless you somehow fuk up really badly you probably aren't going to mess up your knees.

jump rope on a softer surface with some good shoes.

[grouchyjarhead]

Buy a backpack. Put something heavy in it. Take a brisk walk outside. Same benefits as running but easier on the body.

[dmatsinger]

desktable, I had an ACL tear a few years ago from playing indoor soccer in a work league so I also worry about how my knee will hold up for cardio. After the surgery I bought a magnetic bike trainer but I didn't like it and decided to buy a Bowflex M5. This isn't pushing the company itself, and this is to answer your question directly, not give some round about answer that you don't need cardio but I really enjoy the M5 if you have the money to invest into a machine. The footprint is small as the "feet" go more upwards more like a stepper but it has no impact like an elliptical, so the size of the unit is all the space you need. I've been very happy with the purchase and have had it for I guess 3 years so far. Using it has loosen my knee up enough that I feel more comfortable doing other activities that I would have been concerned about doing before using it.

[desktable]

Thanks again for all the advice everyone. I'm going to try a bit of swimming and am looking into the bowflex.

[SuffolkPunch]

Please don't buy a bowflex. Those things are silly gimmicks.

Get a barbell, a cage (or just spotter stands if necessary) and a bench. You can do pretty much everything you need with this - it's time proven and will be well supported by routines and advice available on this forum.

[supramax]

Please don't buy a bowflex. Those things are silly gimmicks.

Get a barbell, a cage (or just spotter stands if necessary) and a bench. You can do pretty much everything you need with this - it's time proven and will be well supported by routines and advice available on this forum.

He's living in a small space.

desktable,

Buy a pair of PowerBlocks, a loadable kettlebell handle and some weight plates to load it. High rep kettlebell swinging is the cardio workout from hell. Best for your knees, though, as already mentioned, is a good quality rebounder.

[k9pit]

Battle ropes
Stationary bike with seat high as possible

Unless your knees are totally shot then Tire Flips and Rowing machine may work too.

[sjmdesigns]

Hi all, I have a question about cardio. I'm middle-aged, was a runner, but now have damaged knees, so I can't run regularly anymore. I work out at home with weights, but need some cardio as I'm putting on a little weight. My local gym just closed and I have a small flat. Can anyone advise me on some cardio that's easy on the knees please? I don't have much room, but could get a small machine. Will probably get a stationary bike, but any advice gratefully received first. Thanks.

Try the rowing machine

[joseperez18]

Hi all, I have a question about cardio. I'm middle-aged, was a runner, but now have damaged knees, so I can't run regularly anymore. I work out at home with weights, but need some cardio as I'm putting on a little weight. My local gym just closed and I have a small flat. Can anyone advise me on some cardio that's easy on the knees please? I don't have much room, but could get a small machine. Will probably get a stationary bike, but any advice gratefully received first. Thanks.

elliptical and rowing machines are easier on the knees.