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Question by emilysmoma: I cant do any impact exercises?
I had knee surgery about a year ago and the words my doctor used to describe my injury were “horrible” “horrendous” and “if you like sports you better learn to love golf”

I gain quite a bit of weight while I was recovering and even though it has been a year I am still not 100%. My leg gets very tired very quickly and walking for any length of time makes my knee swell up and lock up.

I also can not do any of those leg excercise machines because my kneecap literally grinds when I bend

So, any suggestions on any no-impact excercises I can do to help trim up? I was thinking about taking a yoga class, but I am wondering if it will work and how much stress it will put on my knee.

Any help would be appriciated.

Best answer:

Answer by yogazen
Pilates is probably better…not as many poses putting stress on the knees. Let the teacher know of your condition and she or he can tell you modifications to help you out!

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

 

14 Responses to I cant do any impact exercises?

  1. mockingbird says:

    Swimming is excellent exercise, combining aerobic benefit with resistance training… and it’s really hard to injure yourself doing it so it’s perfect for someone recovering from a sports injury.

    Also see if your local pool offers aquajog classes for an alternative to lap swimming.

  2. maggie says:

    Pilates is pretty good to tone muscle and trim a waistline, it mostly uses lifting weights with arms, stretching, lifting your legs up and down, and other exercises using your own body weight, like situps, crunches, etc. A lot of it is done sitting in a chair or lying on an exercise mat. If it doesn’t hurt to bend your knee, I’d reccommend Pilates.

    Another good low impact exercise is swimming. It might hurt to flail your knee around and bend it a lot, so just keep using steady up and down motions with your feet and see if you could practice swimming on your back – it gives you the buoyancy of floating and so your feet can relax and you can just move your arms around.

    Yet another suggestion I have is an exercise ball – if you have fat in your stomach, then as long as you have the strength to stand up for a while, you can lean with your back on a large ball and do crunches on it. The exercise ball will keep you balanced but it gives you enough rolling around and slipperiness to where you really have to use your abs to keep yourself on it.

    A final suggestion I have is a better diet. I had a friend who suffered a bad ankle injury and her ankle was twisted sideways and she now walks very peculiarly and cannot run or do any exercises with her feet as well. She gained close to 50 pounds after about two years because she did not adjust her diet despite how sedentary and inactive her life became. I’d cut down on sweets and sodas and try to eat mostly lean meats like chicken breast (grilled, with the fat trimmed off) and some lean fish, grilled or baked, maybe 90%fat free ground beef, the expensive kind, use that in a hearty vegetable-laden chili. Eat more fiber to keep your digestive system running like clockwork – I know that Jewel Osco sells these high fiber tortillas, they’re great with some salsa and lettuce and browned lean ground beef, kind of a healthier burrito. Avoid simple sugars, white airfluffed American type breads, etc

  3. trainer53 says:

    You poor thing! That is a bummer! I’ve had injuries before, so I know how difficult it is mentally as well as physically. Seems you can get going with something and be glad about it, then the swelling comes and you have to stop? Been there done that! It’ll be alrite tho, because there are some things you can do.
    One of the options that you have is to get into the pool exercise programs at one of the clubs nearby, this would be just fantastic for your knee, and would help heal it up faster too, the warmth of the water should feel really good to it. After you get out of the pool, you could go into the gym and work all of your upper body 3 times a week. If you can get into a “water jogging” class this would really give your legs a good workout. You could also ask the class instructor in the pool what kinds of things you could do for your legs,buns, and then go into the pool at the off hours and do them yourself. Our club dosen’t enforce dress code in the pool, you could wear shorts and a t-shirt if you want.
    Yoga is great too. You could try a beginner class, I teach yoga and you would’nt want to go into a advanced class, you would ask at the front desk for a slower one. This way the moves are done slower, and you can see how your knee feels. If you can find a beginner class it would be good for you emotionally too, because it causes you to focus on your breathing and movement and you could forget about everything else for awhile, it’s great. Remember that any time you begin something new your knee will react for a couple of days, just give it a day inbetween to recover, and go real easy, to build muscle and strengthen tissue around it. It might get alittle sore at first. Take it real slow, maybe 2-3 times the first week, for plenty of recovery time inbetween. Remember to take some ibprophen before your workouts, as this keeps swelling down, way down.
    Hope this helps, I sure do feel for ya!

  4. Ginkgo says:

    First, it is mostly not your fault that you need to lose weight. You need to re-learn everything that this society has taught you about eating food. It has not just hurt you. It has made (according to Atlantic Monthly magazine) obesity the # 1 health problem in the world, replacing hunger and infectious disease. So this keeps getting worse, not better. So you are a victim of this PANDEMIC (epidemic).

    So if you want to continue being a victim then just keep doing what you are doing. If not, then take the time and make the investment in yourself to learn everything on the website below. You need to re-learn how to eat. Do this and you will get thin and healthier. Do this not and you will continue with whatever you have now.

    You need to learn about getting rid of bodyfat, retained water and something else that gives you a bigger tummy only. It does not make you fatter anywhere else. You cannot burn it away but you can flush it down the toilet after an enema (lose 5 to 20 pounds in an hour). This is a secret trick used by models and dancers before an event. It is only temporary without a change in diet but makes your tummy flatter that day if you are going to a WEDDING or REUNION.

    But this is optional since there are many different powerful strategies to lose weight including no impact exercises that are best for weight loss.

    The very quickest way to lose weight is to take an enema and then to fast 3 to 5 days. You could lose up to 25 pounds but it is not dangerous since very little of it is bodyfat. Site includes info on fasting from 8 different MDs. It is great for health. Even Jesus did it. Plus it produces ketones, the most powerful appetite suppressant. Plus metabolism speeds back up to normal as soon as you start eating again. But it has slower ways of losing weight also. It explains how sunlight and sleep help you to lose more weight.

  5. debrock16 says:

    Best to stay away from pilates unless you talk to a physio cause you may have uneven issues due to your injury and your body over compensating to be balanced.

    If would really think about swimming and aqua aerobics. But I would suggest you talk to your physio and get a list of exercises you can do.

  6. kc_brig says:

    windsor pilates

  7. ♥ Jae ♥ says:

    This is what worked for me. My Dr. recommened The Medifast Diet. It is Soy Protein. It teaches you to eat 5-6 small meals a day every 2-3 hours to speed up your metabolism. You will lose weight quickly with very “little exercise”. This diwet is good for obese individuals and people who have been injured, and that are diabetics as well. I have lost 35 lbs. so far. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions. lovejae247@yahoo.com

  8. fivestarmama says:

    If you have access to a pool or lake, water aerobic exercises are very good. Because of the water buoyancy there is no stress on your joints, but you are getting the benefits of exercise. Pilate’s and stretching exercises are good for toning and strengthening muscles.

  9. ooooohh_babyme says:

    I have been house confined because of skin illness. I do weights sitting in a chair (5lbs) which have really toned my upper body and arms. I usually do weights off and on for about 3 or 4 hours a day. Being female I do not like the effect on my upper body but men would probably like it for themselves. It has gotten my abdomen a little tighter. Make sure u take a multivitamin it helps with overall body health.

  10. Soul Doctor says:

    Homeopathy for your Knee injury :-
    ARNICA 30C + RHUS TOX 30C together thrice a day half hour before or after meals. Take it for a week atleast. It would cure your knee and would work wonders in relieving stffness and pain in the injured parts and for your weight you can read the following :-

    Homeopathic Treatment for Excessive Fat and Weight :-
    PHYTOLACCA BERRY’s Mother Tincture is perhaps the safest and sure fire way of loosing excessive fat around abdomen. With Phytolacca Berry once you loose the excessive fat and weight you don’t get it back because you body takes care of itself after that and keeps you from gathering up excessive fat. It is prescribed after having a baby too, to get the tummy to loose its flab and to make it flatter and tighter. And after loosing weight with this you don’t get flabby it tightens up the flab and skin along with helping your body to shed the excessive accumulation of fat around the girth
    The dosage is 15 to 20 drops of the tincture in half a cup of hot water thrice a day half hour before or after meals.
    Avoid Chocolates, Coffee, Mints, Red Meat and Carbonated and Alcoholic drinks while taking Homeopathic Medicines. You have to take it for at least 30 to 45 days after that you start to feel the results.
    To the best of my knowledge its the safest and the most sure fire way of loosing fat and weight and keeping it of for keeps. Excellent remedy for Obese people who cant seem to shed weight despite trying.
    Homeopathic Remedies can be found at all Major Herbal Stores or could be bought on line, In most of the world Homeopathic remedies are quite cheap and easy to find and they do not need a prescription.
    Take care and God Bless !

  11. Sunflower says:

    Walking is suppose to be the best, but remember the following so that you don’t continue to gain weight as your knees repair themselves:

    You already know how to lose weight. You know that if you eat less and exercise more eventually you’ll see the pounds come off. What’s getting in your way? Why do you usually regain the weight you lost? The answer to all these questions is the same “Emotional Eating.” Simply defined, emotional eating means you eat to satisfy emotional hunger; it means you use food for comfort or as a way to cope with life; and it means you eat for reasons other than what your body needs. Whenever you reach for a boredom-breaking snack despite your commitment, or whenever you eat to quell anxiety, that’s emotional eating. Whenever you binge after a fight, or double up on portions because your day turned sour, that’s emotional eating. Whenever you feel that sharp craving for your favorite food, that’s emotional eating. When we eat during these times while on a diet, we believe the diet doesn’t work or that we lack self control and then look for the quickest way to lose weight (fasting/diet pills, ect) after eating all we can since we already messed the diet day up. Read the information below but remember that emotional eating plays a big part in why we don’t continue dieting and why we regain lost weight and why we binge today and start a new diet tomorrow. Best of Luck.

    Every year Americans invest billions of dollars in weight loss diets and gimmicks, many of which yield few results. However, the lure of quick, easy weight loss is hard to resist. Despite ineffective tools, most hopeful consumers are willing to give the next weight loss fad a chance. If you’re planning to start a new diet, it is important to remember the following information.
    Food-specific diets: Have you ever tried the cabbage diet or the fruit-only diet? These are just a couple of examples of diets that promote one “specific” food that causes weight loss. No matter how much you think you’ll enjoy ice cream at every meal, inevitably you will get bored with eating the same food repeatedly. As a result, you’ll eat less food than needed to maintain your weight. This type of diet will not teach you healthier eating habits or provide a balance of nutrients, and consequently is not effective for long-term weight loss.

    High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets: One of the most recent trends in dieting, these diets are based on the concept that carbohydrates are “bad” and that everyone has some degree of insulin resistance, resulting in poor carbohydrate metabolism. Many proponents of these diets suggest that including carbohydrates in your diet will cause weight gain. The reality, though, is that eating more calories (whether as carbohydrate, fats, or protein) than you burn will cause weight gain.

    High-fiber, low-calorie diets: Fiber-rich foods play an important role in a healthy diet. They are a helpful ingredient of weight loss efforts because they provide bulk to the diet, which helps you feel fuller sooner. Be careful, though: if you plan to increase the fiber in your diet, be sure to increase your fluid intake at the same time or you may experience cramping, bloating, and constipation. High-fiber diets will help with weight loss only if you restrict calories in conjunction with addition of extra grains, fruits and vegetables.

    Liquid diets: Consumers face a couple of different liquid diet options. Your local grocery store and pharmacy sell over-the-counter liquid meal replacements, which can be expensive and frequently add extra calories to daily consumption if not managed carefully. On the other hand are liquid diets that require medical supervision. These diets are usually very low in calories and may result in metabolic abnormalities if dieters are not carefully monitored. Neither type of liquid diet should be used for long-term weight loss unless monitored by a health care professional. Radically changing your caloric intake in this way will not result in long-term behavior modification and healthy eating patterns.

    Fasting: As a way to cleanse the body or jump-start a weight-loss program, fasting has been recommended for years. However, all that fasting really does is deprive your body of nutrients and decrease your energy, leaving you feeling weak and lightheaded. If the right nutrients are not available for your cells to use as energy, your liver will convert fat stores to ketones for use as energy (ketosis). Long-term ketosis can be harmful to your health.
    No fad diet or gimmick will work magic for safe and effective weight loss. The following are some suggestions for ensuring a long-term healthy eating plan and getting your weight loss efforts off to an encouraging start:
    Eat a variety of foods. Remember, a balanced diet will ensure that you get all necessary nutrients.

    Get some physical activity every day. Calories in must be less than calories out to ensure successful weight loss. To keep “calories out” at a healthful level, make you get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day.

    Include sources of fiber in your diet. They will add bulk and give you a feeling of fullness.

    Choose a diet low in fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol. You do need to consume some fat for good health. Aim for no more than 30 percent of your total calories as fat calories, of which no more than 10 percent should be saturated fat calories.

    Choose foods moderate in sugars. Foods that are high in simple sugars usually offer little nutritional value and will add unwanted calories.

    Choose foods moderate in salt and sodium. Remember that salt has been added to many foods during preparation or processing, so it’s not necessary to add extra salt at the table.

  12. almond says:

    Try TAI CHI. It’s as low impact as it gets, but it does work all your muscles and it’s considered a “meditation exercise” too as it’s a stress reliever.

  13. Maria M says:

    swimming is the best exercise of the body.

  14. Hemachandra c says:

    It might be always hard to go for heavy exercise, but taking a good diet plan and going for light exercises is always good. I hav com through sum offers regarding a diet plan. well if u want to kno about that you can refer the below link

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