leg exercises with no knee impact

[tazer]

hey all,

so i went to the kinesiologist yesterday, and after he spend an incredibly painful half hour putting me back together, he told me that i shouldn't do squats or lunges for at least another week and to ease into them slowly. he also told me that walking and biking are both fine, but absolutely no running until the end of the month.

so, i was wondering if there are any exercises that one can do for the legs that don't involve any strain on the knees? i don't want to lose any more of the progress i was making pre-injury.

thanks,

-leah.

[Waldo]

Wall sits are pretty easy on the knees.

Extensions/curls with resistance bands or machines

Romanian (straight leg) deadlift, 1 leg or both, bodyweight or weighted. The knee doesn't move.

Low bridges are a surprisingly good exercise for the back of the leg (was just reading an article that the exercise + weighted versions are some of the best butt exercises there are, better than a heavily weighted squats or deadlifts). They put very little strain on the knee.

Toe raises for the calves put no strain on the knee.

The only muscle that is a little tough to get to without the knees is the quad, wall sits might be the best low knee strain bodyweight exercise for it. Machines in gyms that isolate the upper leg muscles put low strain on the knees, resistance bands can approximate the motion of machines, they are good for rehab.

[gugi9000]

Rippetoe writes that the deadlift can

be used as a led exercise if injury prevents sqautting. It is not nearly as effective as the sqaut for this purpose, due to lack of depth used in the starting position. Butt this is the very reason it can be used if a knee injury makes sqauts too difficult or painful, and at least some leg work can be done while healing takes place. A high-rep deadlift workout can provide enough work to maintain some leg conditioningm even if the injury is something - such as a groin pull or a not-too-severe quad tear - that would prevent the lifter from doing heavier, low-rep deadlifts.

Hope that helps.

[Pat G]

I'll throw rowing into the mix as well.

[maegs]

What about swimming? Low/no impact (depends if you're like me and run into the wall...) and it works your whole body

[bprime]

Possibly relevant mob: http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/09/episode-33-fgb-push-press-prep-hot.html

Not sure what the problem is. But I'd suggest simply extensive mobbing this whole week so you can put your body back together. It's actually worked miracles for people. And it may be something unrelated that's causing problems.

It won't kill you to take a complete week off. Most times you'll actually come back stronger. Plus taking a whole week off can be used in place of deload days (which what lazy lifters like me do ) You don't start to lose gains until over a week out of the gym.

[Conk]

Swimming could also work well.

[Marlowe]

I agree on swimming, but I agree with others that I'd recommend you just let the legs rest and work out your upper body or do other stuff until you're recuperated. If your knees have been f'd up, then there's a huge potential to F them up further or delay the time it takes to recover. Lay off the lower body for a while and focus elsewhere. We're not talking a year here, just a couple of weeks.

[Waldo]

I agree on swimming, but I agree with others that I'd recommend you just let the legs rest and work out your upper body or do other stuff until you're recuperated. If your knees have been f'd up, then there's a huge potential to F them up further or delay the time it takes to recover. Lay off the lower body for a while and focus elsewhere. We're not talking a year here, just a couple of weeks.

It does very much depend on what is wrong with your knees. Some things respond better to an active treatment. Rest may alleviate the acute symptoms of tendonitis, but it does not addess the underlying cause at all and it will be an issue until that cause is fixed, it doesn't go away on its own.