Cardio workouts (patella tendon issues)

[rruchti]

I’m currently coming off some patella tendon pain and am looking for good cardio workouts that will rest my knees. I plan on doing stair climbing/hiking 2x a week and gradually increasing intensity as not to re stress my knee. I feel like my legs are strong, but my cardio feels lacking. I’d like some exercises that will rest my tendon but give me a good cardio workout. I’ve tried the elyptical but can’t seem to make it intense enough to get me really working hard. Any suggestions?

 

[fightthenoise]

I went through the patellar tendonosis thing and what cured it was eccentric one legged squats on a decline. Just body weight. I did both legs just for balance and prehab. I didn’t do anything that would pound it like running but squats, deads, cycling, all that was doable to an extent. But it was the negatives on a declined piece of plywood on a 45 lb bumper plate that eventually got it cured. It wasn’t fast, but it worked. There was a period where I went to a parking garage and took the elevator up and went down the stairs and took the elevator back up over and over for half an hour to get that eccentric movement in before I discovered the decline board thing. That worked pretty good too. Good luck. You’ll get it kicked. Exercise will speed the healing up if you’re smart about it.

 

[Gorp2007]

I’ve been most successful managing patella pain when I focus on hip mobility exercises. Along with the decline squats mentioned above, single leg raises and clamshells help me out a ton.

 

[*zap*]

Swim....with your head under water 90% of the time it is a good aerobic workout.

 

[jbranski]

If cycling doesn’t bother it use that for cardio. You can vary the resistance, intensity and duration to hit the goal your looking for in the training session. Assault bike or areodyne bike are great substitutes. Also if available heart rate monitor for training zones

Sprints- 30s work/ 30s rest
Long Slow - 30 minutes - 1 hour

As for rehab
Mentioned by someone else eccentric single squats, also eccentric knee extension are great rehab choice. Make the lowering phase 5-10s.


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[rruchti]

Going to give this stuff a try guys! I appreciate the help!