A friend of mine is interested in getting healthier and starting an exercise program but she has bad knees. This obviously can hinder a program if there isn’t enough information to start with. On top of that, a person with bad knees will definitely hurt themselves if they don’t accept the limitations they have. Of course, every injury is different so some people may be able to do some of the exercises that will be mentioned below and others won’t. It’s always wise to speak with a physical therapist or personal trainer before starting a workout if you’re completely new to exercising or if you haven’t been doing so since your injury. The interest is in getting healthy, not ignoring the limitations your body has.
After doing some research I’ve found that a few exercises are completely out:
- squats
- running
- basketball
- tennis
- soccer
- raquetball
- football
- jumping exercises
- full-arc knee extensions
- lunges
- deep squats
- hurdler’s stretches
These are all bad for some one with injured knees because they can either put a lot of force on your knees (they say when running you actually put 3-5 times your weight down on your foot), or can have awkward positions. You’ll also note that I said running and not jogging. Jogging characterized in one source as a shorter, slower paced run. Of course, depending on the injury sustained, that can be out too, so you’ll need to listen to your body to see if that type of workout is okay for you. A treadmill is strongly encouraged.
Good Exercises:
- swimming (minus the butterfly stroke)
- walking
- biking
- elliptical
- partial squats
- step-ups
- side-lying leg lifts
- inner thigh leg lifts
- calf raises
- straight leg raises
- short arc knee extensions
- hamstring stretch
These exercises are better for the knees because they don’t have a high impact and they don’t cause you to place yourself into awkward positions. Of course, no two knee injuries are the same, so some may be good for you while others aren’t. Exercises that work your core and joints you use commonly are also important for strength. Your upper body shouldn’t be neglected either. In fact, you should definitely work it out to the best of your ability since it’s not injured. It’s common knowledge, also, that building lean muscle mass will also help burn fat if your goal is to lose weight.
I highly recommend reading the sources for more information–especially the first article–as it had other interesting information that didn’t quite seem to fit into the scope of this article. Another article I found also mentioned weight machines that are good for people that have bad knees because they strengthen the leg muscles around the knees. However, there is a machine that is mentioned in the article (source 3) that is at a conflict with the information seen so I’ll list it at the bottom and you can check it out with a professional.
This seems like a no-brainer, but you also want to make sure that your caloric intake doesn’t exceed your caloric output. That is how you put on weight. My previous post mentioned different ways to calculate your caloric intake so I would definitely take that into account as well. But remember, for my last post as well as this one, this information is a reference and I strongly encourage you to seek out the help of a professional so that you don’t unintentionally injure yourself.
References:
