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How to Train Cardio With an Injured Knee

Since tearing my ACL on September the 24th of this year I have needed to find a way to keep training.

Lifting is no problem as evidenced by my Can You Squat With a Torn ACL article.

I lift 3 days per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). And I do cardio twice per week (Tuesday and Thursday).

Cardio can be tricky because it hurts to bend my knee all the way and I don’t want to do any running or jumping on it.

Here is what I have been doing:

Cardio with Knee Injury Exercise #1 – Hitting the Heavy Bag

Cardio with injured knee exercise #1 – punching intervals. 30 sec of work. 30 sec rest. Repeat 5-10x

A video posted by Mike Bak (@mikebak) on

Nothing is more fun that punching. I usually just pick a combination and repeat it for 50-100 reps. Then I pick another combination.

I can’t rotate too much on my right leg but I still get a good sweat and I feel much better after this workout. If you have an injured knee, make sure you try some boxing to relieve your stress.

When I can’t get in the gym to box I go outside to do:

Cardio with Knee Injury Exercise #2 – Medicine Ball Slams or Band Slams

Tie a band around a playground bar and pull it. Make sure the band is thick or it will rip. They are super cheap. I use the thickest of the bands below:

You can also do medicine ball slams with a medicine ball. They are a lot of fun. They don’t require a lot of knee movement.

Another exercise that I have been doing most often are:

Cardio with Knee Injury Exercise #3 – Intervals on the Stationary Bike

I go hard for 60 seconds then I rest 60 seconds. I repeat it 5x. Then I do 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of rest 5 times.

I really crank up the resistance during these work sets. After I get off the bike I am walking funny for 5 minutes.

Those are some great cardio exercises to help you stay in shape if you have a knee injury.

If you have any questions or if you have your own exercises you do, please post them below!

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