things about exercise

[forgotten_aria]

I need exercise. My knees, however hate me.

I might try to buy a cheap treadmill of craigslist. I emailed someone selling on for $20, but not reply yet.

I did 6 songs of DDR today, which is better than nothing. I'm at least got my motablism up. too bad my knees say no more. It would be great if I could either loose enough weight or strengthen my knee protecting muscles enough to play full sets again. I'm really sad I let DDR leave my life.

I'm going to try to eat better this month with out going all calorie psycho. I might have to go all counting.

Comments

[bdeakin.livejournal.com]

Biking, IMO.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

My knees hate biking more than ANYTHING else, even going up stairs.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

Ok, that's not quite true. They hate squats more.

[bdeakin.livejournal.com]

That could be a sign of not having the right bike. I'd go to a reputable bike store and say, "Hey, I want to bike but it makes my knees hurt." They should be able to pick something out and let you do a little test riding. Until my most recent bikes, most I would tire out after a few miles, but my current bike I don't have the same problem/don't get sore. Bizarrely enough, length of the bike actually made a difference in my case.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I think it's more that my knees hate repeative motion. They can do almost anything once or twice or three times, but if I have to bend over and over again, they get cranky. They feel like they "dry out."

[katybeth]

Is it the repetition, even with no weight or resistance on them? If so, yeah, biking sounds bad. But otherwise you may be able to gear down enough to be OK.

[dcltdw]

I think it'd probably be quite worthwhile to swing by Ace Wheelworks in Porter Sq, or if you're feeling adventurous, their flagship store (Belmont Wheelworks in Belmont Center).

In fact, I might say something exactly like "My friends forced me to come here even though I know my knees will hate biking, and they said I should at least talk to you." so they know how to help you. :)

(The other trick is that a good bike is a few hundred bucks, so you may want to establish first what your soft and hard spending limits are.)

[avacon.livejournal.com]

You might want to try my elliptical sometime... It's fairly non-impactful on the knees.
I should really use it much more, myself.

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I have a cheap one in the basement. I should perhaps pull it back out again.

[alphacygni]

I second the elliptical thing. I also have grouchy knees, and the elliptical lets me work out much more intensely than I possibly can by walking/running on a treadmill or for real. I had a really cheap one once, and it was too wobbly. The one Erik has is pretty darn good, if I recall.

[mathhobbit.livejournal.com]

I don't know if any of this is useful to you. It's all stuff I've been surprised to learn, so I'll share it just in case.

1) Physical therapy works. A physical therapist might be able to give you five exercises to do morning and evening that help a lot. (A yoga instructor or personal trainer might be able to do the same; I dunno.)

2) Not all exercise is created equal. I can't tolerate aerobics or jogging. I like yoga. There may be something out there with enough variety not to hurt you yet fun enough to give you the exercise you need.

3) My doctor recommended the counting thing, and it's worked for V. It's WAY too much math for me. Also, it's easiest if your food has numbers stamped on it, which is often not the best kind of food to eat.

4) The really good chocolate, bread, cheese and cream in my fridge helps me resist the temptation to eat junk food when I go out. A bowl of good ice cream is yummier and better for me than a Milky Way. I'm not losing a lot of weight, but I'm eating tastier food without gaining a lot.

Good luck!

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

I've done the counting before and it worked. the problem with diets, however, is that they usually don't stay working. I also really need the exercise component. I tend to eat a lot of diet frozen meals which do have numbers stamped on them and are still good to eat.