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Health knowledge made personal
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Health knowledge made personal
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Hey,
It's great that you're helping out your mom. I actually have a knee injury (hyperextension) that requires a brace for long periods of walking or standing, so I sympathize. I also remember how much more my knees hurt when I weighed more.
First, take heart in knowing that as she loses weight, her knee pain will likely decrease. If she needs to go to physical therapy, then they will be able to give her exercises to strengthen the muscles around her knee -- that is very important. If she is not in physical therapy, send me a message and I can recommend some strength exercises (I'm also a certified personal trainer).
Back to your question about cardio. Charles is right in pointing out that swimming is an excellent alternative to running and walking. That also includes other forms of aqua aerobics that she might like. Your mother may also want to try the elliptical machine at the gym (if she can go to a gym). That is probably the best cardio machine for people who want/need low impact on their joints. The good thing is that she can still get a great cardio workout on the elliptical. Try starting out with 5-10 minutes 3 days per week. As she gets stronger, take the time up steadily until she can go for 30 minutes.
As always, if she experiences any pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath, then she should stop immediately.
I hope this helps.
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Posted by Luwella R.
My mother was recently diagnosed with hypertension at age 53. We know that the best way for her to manage her blood pressure is definitely to exercise or do cardio workouts but the problem is that she had injured her knee last year (bursitis) and still has much pain even when having short walks. She's overweight and has to lose at least half of the excess weight to prevent future complications. She's been dieting but cutting out on calorie intake does not guarantee any improvement on her general health/condition. So we'd love to learn what options she has given the said limitations.