Regular exercise can play a vital role in your overall health, but sometimes, an injury can get in the way of your fitness goals. Knee injuries are a common occurrence, which can result in surgery or significant rehabilitation. Whether coming off a major operation, or just dealing with some inflammation and soreness, there are ways to maintain a safe level of cardio exercise without further aggravating a sore knee. As always, if you are experiencing pain in the knees, contact your physician before beginning any workout programs.
Warming Up
As with any workout program, properly warm up the body before starting more strenuous exercises. According to BigKneePain.com, proper warm-up includes five minutes of slow-paced walking and a few minutes of stretching, particularly the quadriceps and hamstrings, which offer support and stability to the knee joint.
Walking/Jogging
Running on rugged, uneven surfaces can take a toll on injured knees. But light jogging on a level, smooth surface, such as a track or on a treadmill, can reduce the pounding taken by the knee joint.
A safer route is achieved by walking at a brisk pace, which produces the same aerobic effect as jogging, but greatly decreases the wear and tear on knee joints, because of its low-impact nature.
With either walking or jogging, using proper shoewear with plenty of cushioning and support is also a benefit to tender knees. After starting with five minutes of warm-up, walk at a medium pace for 10 minutes each day, gradually building up to as long as an hour. As the knee and muscles around the joint strengthen, more strenuous walking or jogging can be attempted. Swinging the arms back and forth can increase the intensity of the workout without affecting the knees.
Cycling
According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin, a physician and radio talk show host specializing in sports medicine, a stationary bike is another safe way to achieve a strong cardio workout without taxing the knee joints.
Mirkin recommends pedaling in a smooth rotary motion without sudden stopping to avoid sudden forward movement of the femur on the tibia and shearing off additional cartilage from the knee joint.
The upright stationary bike may provide a higher-intensity workout than a recumbent bike, but the advantage for the knees of the recumbent bike is its reclining bucket seat, with extra back support, which places greater impact on the quads and hamstrings, which need to be strengthened, and less on the damaged knee joint.
Swimming
Probably the best source of zero-impact exercise for an injured knee is swimming. Water buoyancy supports body weight and resistance forces the muscles, including those around the knee joint, to work harder and strengthen quicker.
Swimming laps is the best way to incorporate the entire body into the workout without impacting knee joints. It is best to avoid the butterfly stroke, as the kicking movement does stress the knee joints.
Ellipitcal Training
Like the stationary bike, an elliptical trainer is an ideal way to get a high-intensity cardio workout without over-taxing the knee. The legs move in the pattern of a bicycle, but the up-and-down circular motion, combined with the swinging of the arms on ski-pole like handles, prevents the knees from bending too severely, even as the pace of the elliptical increases. The arm motion also creates a workout for the upper-body, something that the stationary bike cannot do.
