For all you Experts at weights!

I have the knees of an 85 year old. For reals. :P

I've torn my ACL and MCL in my right leg, and my left knee is missing cartiledge (sp?) from overcompensating. In high school I was immensely proud of my toned thighs and calves, and I spent many hours in the weight room doing leg presses and squats. Now, both of those exercises are virtually impossible. I literally can't make my knees bend into a perfect squat. I can sort of do them, but i know that the wrong way could just make my knees worse. And it hurts like no other.

Any toning/strengthening exercises you guys know of that may be possible besides those two? I have access to almost any equipment in my university's rec center, and I love trying new stuff!

Peace! 

Hmm - that's.. beyond my competence level I think. Best advice I can give you is to go see a physical theraphist and work out a routine that won't exerbate your problems. 

I guess melkor beat me to the punch -- go see a physical therapist or physiologist or other specialist.  right off the bat I can only say bicycling is good.  My mom and my sister both have fake knees and after their surgeries they were told to ride the bicycle.

straight leg raises, stiff leg dead lifts will keep your knee from bending and will help to build the muscle up. I have a few clients with the same problem, and this has helped. Also if you can, ride the bike at the highest resistance level you can, that will help to lubricate the knee and strengthen the legs,

I agree with bodyscience... stick with leg exercises that will not have your knees taking the brunt of the stress.  I personally think you'd be better off seeing a kinesiologist- they should be able to set you up a work out plan that is appropriate for you limitations.

 As for Cardio- bike riding and swiming would both be good choices for burning calories and working the large leg muscles with limited stress on the knees.

Good luck!

I have very similar knees Id just say be careful of the swimming and only do front crawl, the sideways movement in breast stroke can really damage the car tilage. The bike is great and I also find that the elliptical  trainer is good and once you get used to it you can try the stepper as well. I also take glucosamine supplements w hich seem to help  and ice it after a session if sore. Good luck!

 

 

Have you looked into doing body weight or light weight exericses on the BOSU ball or Swiss ball? those are two other ways to get complete or isolated areas of the body worked out with out all of the machines or free weights.

 

Just a thought.....