Is there a way to get cardio exercise without using legs?

Post Reply New Topic

I have bad knees and the doctor says I need to lay off the leg exercises and let it heel. I've been doing it for a while now and laying it off, but just when I think I can try leg exercises again the knees go too sore again.

I feel really out of shape because I have been putting it off though. The doctor says try to get cardio exercise without having to do leg exercises. But is there a way to do that? In order to work out my heart in the past, I have had to do running, biking, elyptical machine, etc. But all those heart exercises means I have to use my legs. Is there any way to exercise the heart and get just as good of a cardio exercise as running for example, without having to use my legs to do it?

Would hitting a speed bag be an option? That won't use too much leg strength even if they will have some involvement.

Your arms are big enough that swinging them around will raise your heart rate.

Swimming might work too if you've got access.

It's hard to fit a speed bag in my place right now but I will see what I can do. I wanted to avoid swimming because of covid right now, but thanks. I can try to the speed bag. Would a speedbag be better than a punching bag?

It's higher tempo so it should raise your heart rate more. A heavy bag is good for building strength and form, but a speed bag is better for cardio and accuracy.

A speed bag will put less strain on whatever is supporting it, my parents used to complain that the whole house shook when I hit my heavy bag. Of course it was only a 50 lb one so I had no trouble putting it into motion.

When I was working I'd also bring home cardboard boxes and hit them while they were empty and sitting on something, the idea being to consistently punch holes through them instead of just knocking them back.

Oh okay thanks. So for the speedbag you would just have to keep punching it really fast then?

Yeah, that's what's gonna raise your heart rate enough to provide the cardio benefits you're after.

If you have are able to do it, swimming is good low impact cardio. If not, there's always portable arm bikes. Those things are pretty small and can be tucked away someplace when not in use. When using, put it on a coffee table or something and pedal away using your arms. It'll get your heart rate up. I'm not sure how much they cost though, I've never bought one.

Oh okay thanks. I can try the bike, thanks. I've tried swimming, but it doesn't get my heart up that much. I think it's because you have to move really fast to get your heart up, and the water slows down my movement, unless I am doing it wrong?

What about this speedbag, is this a good one?

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07HKVW7B9/ref ... 2438371011

I don't know, I have two left feet but love dancing, so I dance with the top of my body, it might release energy but doesn't raise heart beat. I don't like fast heart beat. Should we be doing exercises which raise heart rate?

You do not have to move really fast to get your heart up. If you do have to move really fast to get your heart up, you're not using enough resistance. Reducing the resistance is what makes you have to move faster to get the same effect. You can't just "move fast". You have to put EFFORT into it. The idea of swimming is the need to move faster AGAINST the resistance of the water. Moving slower works fine to increase heart rate, so long as you're actually exerting effort. Riding a bike on low gear so it's easy to pedal but makes you pedal fast is useless compared to putting it in a higher gear that takes more work to pedal, even if it's at a slower rate. It may be "easier" to lower the weight and move faster, but it's not better. If the weight makes it "hard", that's the point. Easy work doesn't yield results.

Oh okay but the problem with moving fast against the resistance is that I tire myself out too fast though and cannot continue for long enough to get the heart going near as far compared to moving fast without resistance like I was able to with jogging, before my knees got bad. So how do you keep the resistance from tiring you out too soon, before you can get the heart up near as a effectively, compared to moving fast with less resistance?

The fact that it tires you out so soon shows you lack stamina. You lack stamina from not working against resistance. You gain stamina by keeping doing the thing you can't do. Reduce the weight SOME, but not ENTRIELY. It HAS to be work or isn't not doing anything.

The reason jogging works isn't just cos "you're moving fast" - and frankly, jogging isn't all that "fast", which further demonstrates a lack of stamina - jogging works because your body IS the weight. Your legs are supporting you, and moving you up and down, and forwards as you jog - you are moving weight - your own weight. On a bicycle or floating in a pool, you are NOT supporting your own weight - the bike is, your buoyancy is - so you re NOT getting the resistance benefit out of it. The reason working out in a pool is good is cos it puts resistance on EVERYthing.

Moving fast might get the heart moving faster, but that's just what the body does when you move fast. Improvement comes from overcoming the difficulty, not from avoiding it.

Oh okay, I can try that then. But the pool is not open very much on my time off because of covid so is I was thinking of getting a speed bag. But which type of speed bag would be better for cardio if anyone knows, between this kind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFJG-lcKSM8

And this kind:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKCZy8DYAus

No idea, I'm not an expert in the slightest, I just hit the punching bag my parents bought my brother 23 years ago.

It's a 50lb bag so when someone my size hits it it moves around a lot. I hit a lot harder at 215lbs than I did at 150lbs.