Q: What kind of cardio can I do to lose weight without hurting my joints? I have bad knee's and hips, and want to lose weight, but I'm kind of scared to do anything because I'm afraid to hurt my knees.

A: Ahh, yes, it is tough when we are plagued with bodily ailments that may hinder our exercise routines and activities of choice. Being a runner myself this is something you are always sort of riding a fine line along; you have to do enough training to increase fitness but at the same time you don't want to do too much and wind up hurt. Running in particular is very hard on the body and for every footstep the amount of pressure put on your joints is multiple times that of your body weight (don't quote me but I've heard studies say it is upwards of four times your weight) so that is quite a toll on the old knees, shins, ankles, etc. Still, that by no means dictates that you still can't get in an effective workout even if you are predisposed to achy knees or joints who put up a fight; you just need to reduce the amount impact of your fitness fix of choice.

Swimming is perhaps the lowest impact activity around due to the near lack of gravity; this is why swimming or aqua aerobics is often the go to of choice for people as they age, are just starting on a fitness routine, and even those who have an injury that disables them from land activities but they still want to retain fitness. Don't think that traditional swimming strokes are your only pool options either as more and more places are offering various aqua aerobics classes which can incorporated different apparatuses such as ankle weights, kick boards, paddles, etc. With weights you can add more resistance to strengthen your muscles and make the exercises more difficult. Runners will often take to the pool if they are injured, or for cross training, for what it known as aqua-jogging and there are specific aqua-jogging vests and belts for just that. Running in the water will then eliminate the majority of the impact and you just cycle through the same motions you would outside but in the pool; you try to keep your upperbody tall (the vest helps with this) and aim to get a full stride motion with your legs.

If you aren't a fan of the pool there are other low impact cardio activities such as biking, the rowing machine, as well as the elliptical machine. Biking is generally fairly easy on the joints...perhaps not your bum though! Impact sports are not necessarily bad; in fact to a certain degree they do in fact attribute to building strong bone health but at the same time there is a point of too much of a good thing. For that, you should vary your activities not only to stave off injuries but also because different stressors on your muscles and cardiovascular system will progress your fitness level. If you were to continually do the same thing, over time your body actually adapts so that it isn't working as hard and you will get stuck in a fitness rut.

So for those with knees, ankles, hips, and other points of your body who start to scream when you walk, run, or are out on the court you can still get fit with cardio activities that reduce the stress and the impact on these regions. You can then apply the same interval training methods there and blast calories and get yourself in great shape.