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Knee
Injury
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Q&A -> Knee Injury
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Question:
I have
injured my tendon on the left side of my
knee. I usually use the treadmill but have
been told my injury can take up to six weeks
to heal and that I shouldn't use the treadmill.
I've been trying to come up with some other
exercises that will produce the same results
as the treadmill.
Do you think
Tae Bo™ workouts, swimming, and lifting
weights will produce the same results or
do more for me? For the past couple of months
I have used one of those elliptical machines,
then I switched over to the treadmill and
what a difference a treadmill makes.
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Answer:
The treadmill
is definitely one of the better pieces
of cardio equipment out there. It has
actually been shown to burn the most calories
out of all the different pieces of cardiovascular
training equipment.
As far as
replacements for the treadmill go, I have
the following recommendations:
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Stationary
Bike - The stationary bike is fairly
easy on the knees but the only drawback
is you won't be burning as many calories
as the treadmill.
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Elliptical
Trainer - The elliptical trainer is
effective as long as it doesn't hurt
your knee injury.
-
Tae
Bo™ - I would definitely stay
away from Tae Bo™ classes. They
contain a lot of pivoting movements
(such as when you plant your foot
then twist your body around to throw
punch) that can actually cause injury
in healthy knees if you're not careful.
With an injured knee, you would be
taking a huge risk.
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Swimming
- Swimming is great cardio exercise,
just be careful with your kicking.
DO NOT do the breaststroke as the
kick places all the stress on the
knees (especially the inner side).
There are floats you can squeeze between
your legs to do arms-only swimming.
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Weight
Training - Weight training will help
your weight loss efforts immensely
and I would recommend it wholeheartedly.
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