5 Tips on Low-Impact Cardio Workout for Bad Knees
Knee problems are a very common health condition. In fact, research suggests that around one in every four adults in the U.S. deals with knee pain on a regular basis. Joint conditions and knee pain can make performing traditional cardio workouts and other forms of exercise difficult. That being said, dealing with knee pain shouldn’t get in the way of you achieving your fitness goals.
Low-impact workouts are an excellent solution for anyone suffering from knee pain or other joint conditions. They’re designed to put less stress on the joints. It’s important to remember that even if a workout is low-impact, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s less effective than other forms of exercise.
At-home exercise routines with Aeroski are a great low-impact fitness solution. With Aeroski, you get all of the benefits of low-impact exercise while also enjoying truly effective workouts. Here are our best tips on making sure your low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees get you the results you want.
Build Up Over Time
One tip for effective low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees is to start off slow and build up the length and intensity of your fitness sessions over time. This is a good approach when starting any kind of new exercise program, but is especially important when you have joint issues. If you dive right into a grueling fitness routine, you increase the likelihood of aggravating existing knee problems and causing further joint conditions to develop.
Working your way up to a longer fitness session over time gives your body a chance to adjust to your at-home exercise routine and reduces the chance of injury. Try beginning with spending just 10 minutes at a time on your Aeroski machine to see how your body feels afterwards. You can slowly increase your workouts by 5 minute intervals as you feel comfortable, and reduce the time if you feel symptoms developing. You can also start off by exercising only a couple days a week and then increase the number of days you work out as you get used to low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees with Aeroski.
Pair Workouts with Low-Impact Stretches
To make sure your low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees go smoothly, pair them with low-impact stretches. Your at-home exercise routine shouldn’t just be about the main event. It should also include stretching before and after your workout. The importance of stretching is often overlooked, but it has many benefits like elevated blood flow to the muscles, a greater range of motion, improved flexibility, better performance during workouts and injury prevention.
There are plenty of ways to incorporate stretching into your fitness routine. You can research pre- and post-workout stretches, or you can focus on stretches designed to help with your specific joint condition. Here are some stretches that help with knee pain that make a great addition to low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees:
- Heel and Calf Stretch
- Hamstring Stretch
- Calf Raises
- Leg Extensions
- Half Squats
Try Interval Training
Another great way to increase the effectiveness of your low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees is to try out interval training. HIIT or high-intensity interval training is a popular workout method that involves alternating between short periods of high-intensity exercise and longer periods of low-intensity exercise during your fitness session.
While high-intensity exercise might sound like it’s not well-suited to individuals with joint issues, it can be as long as it’s still low-impact. When you choose the right type of exercise for the high-intensity portions of your HIIT workout, you can avoid joint and knee pain while still enjoying all of the rewards of interval training. Aeroski’s at-home exercise machine is a great high-intensity, low-impact option for HIIT exercise. Choose Aeroski to get the many benefits of HIIT exercise, like:
- Burn Calories — The high potential for burning calories is one of the main reasons HIIT exercise has remained such a popular workout strategy over the years. Research has demonstrated that HIIT exercise can burn more calories in a shorter amount of time than other traditional workout methods.
- Elevated Metabolic Rate — HIIT fitness lets you enjoy the benefits of exercise even after you’ve finished your cardio workouts for bad knees. With HIIT exercise, the body’s metabolic rate can be elevated for hours after your workout is over. This means calorie burning continues even once you’ve finished your at-home exercise routine and stepped off your Aeroski.
- Improve Muscle Mass — If one of your main workout goals is to increase your overall muscle mass, HIIT workouts can help. Studies have found that HIIT exercise can aid in muscle gain, and that the increases in muscle mass occur in the muscle groups that are the main target of the workout. Aeroski is a full-body workout that engages all of the major muscle groups in the body, meaning that you can focus on targeting all of your muscles when you choose low-impact HIIT workouts with Aeroski.
Vary Your Workouts
A common barrier to making progress toward your fitness goals is underestimating the importance of variety in your at-home exercise routine. Many individuals will find one workout that they enjoy or that is easy to complete and continue to perform it the same way every time they exercise. Over time, the effectiveness of the routine will decrease because it won’t be as much of a challenge to the body anymore. Luckily, there’s an easy solution to this issue: vary your workouts.
Switch up the low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees that you include in your at-home exercise routine rotation. This doesn’t mean you have to have multiple exercise machines in your home gym. There are plenty of ways to add variety to your workouts on one machine, especially when that machine is Aeroski. The Aeroski app has a wide range of customizable routines to choose from, in addition to fitness courses led by expert coaches. You can easily create your own routines in the app by selecting your desired intensity level and session length.
You can vary how long you work out, the number of days in a week you exercise and the types of moves you perform. You can also take advantage of Aeroski’s different support options to change which areas of the body you want to focus on. For example, for an excellent lower-body workout, use the fixed handlebar to work on increasing the strength in your thighs and glutes. Go hands-free if you want to target your core, and use the ski poles for a full body-workout that engages all the main muscle groups at once.
Pick Fun Exercise
This final tip for low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees is simple: choose fun workouts. Finding a fun workout is often easier said than done. There are plenty of low-impact exercise options out there, but they don’t all provide an enjoyable or exciting experience. When you truly enjoy your workouts, you’re more likely to maintain an at-home exercise routine and make progress towards your fitness goals. Aeroski is both effective and enjoyable, ensuring that you’ll get results and have fun along the way. Aeroski has a unique gliding motion that allows for dynamic fitness sessions you’re sure to look forward to.
Enjoy Low-Impact Exercise with Aeroski
Here’s one bonus tip for improving your low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees: choose Aeroski as the star of your home gym. Aeroski is the most fun cardio machine on the market. It engages your upper body, lower body and core all at the same time during each workout. It’s beginner-friendly and a great choice for individuals of any fitness level. Best of all, the Aeroski machine uses your own body weight as resistance so no unnecessary stress is put on your joints.
Enjoy fun and effective low-impact exercise when you choose Aeroski for your low-impact cardio workouts for bad knees!