In this instructional video, Victoria S. Dorsano addresses a common concern: how to maintain effective cardio while dealing with knee injuries or post‑surgery recovery. She explains why traditional running isn’t the only option and highlights four low‑impact cardio modalities that are safe for compromised knees and can even promote joint health. Drawing from her own ACL‑recovery experience, she details each exercise—battle ropes (or med‑ball slams), biking (stationary or outdoor), swimming (any water‑based movement), and sled pushes/pulls—describing how they raise heart rate, engage upper‑body and core muscles, and support knee joint nutrition through controlled flexion/extension and synovial fluid circulation. She also briefly promotes Freak Athlete equipment that aids joint health. The video concludes with encouragement to stay creative, maintain fitness, and share additional knee‑friendly cardio ideas in the comments, followed by standard YouTube calls to action.
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So one question I get asked a ton is, how do you get good cardio in when you have bad or injured knees? And I definitely understand where this question is coming from, because when we think of getting good cardio, we often think of running. But running isn't the only good source of cardio. There are so many other good sources of cardio, which I'm going to talk about today, that are safe for the knees. And some of them are going to even improve your knee health and knee condition in the long run. And I gotta admit, I remember asking myself this question too before going into my ACL surgery and remembering like, oh gosh, wait, how am I gonna stay in shape? What am I gonna do? What kind of cardio can I incorporate when I get out of surgery? And it was pretty cool to see how creative I was able to get with some different exercises and how I was able to get some good solid cardio in. And a lot of those things I'm gonna share with you guys today. But please do not fret if you're worried about losing your fitness gains or your strength gains during the rehab process. There are definitely some amazing ways to keep up with that. But today we're just gonna talk about those cardio exercises because cardio is great for heart health, it's It's great for boosting those endorphins. And let me tell you, when you are in pain and recovering from surgery or your knees are hurting, having some good endorphins going is really awesome. It's like the body's natural painkiller. I mean, it is the body's natural painkiller. So I often highly encourage you trying to get out and move if your knees are hurting and to try to incorporate some of these exercises I'm going to talk about, because it really, really does help from an entire physical standpoint. And emotional well-being. All the good things. But let's dive into what these exercises actually are. But one last thing before we dive in, a few words from today's sponsor. Freak Athlete has been creating some of the highest quality equipment out there on the market for those of us that not only are doing the ATG style training but also just want to improve our joint health and just perform better as athletes. Whether you're an athlete or not, Freak Athlete has a piece of equipment that I'm confident will change how you move and feel for the better. Some of their trademark pieces such as the Nordic Mini and the TriFlexor have helped me to drastically improve my knee pain and continue all of my ATG style training from the comfort of my own home, or even at the gym too, as a lot of their equipment is modular and can be broken down really, really easily and tucked into your gym bag and brought with you to the gym. And the folks at Freak Athlete believe in their products so much that they even have a lifetime warranty and a 100-day money-back guarantee. So if you're looking to get out of pain and become a freak athlete yourself, I highly, highly recommend you guys checking out their equipment. You absolutely won't regret it. And if you click the link below in my description and use code Victoria S. Dorsano at checkout, you will get 10% off your entire purchase. Again, that's discount code Victoria S. Dorsano at checkout. And thanks again to Freak Athlete for sponsoring today's video. So one of my favorite go-to exercises for a good source of cardio if your knees are injured or just out of commission for a little bit, or just feeling a little achy and you're not feeling like pounding the pavement or really running or anything like that, is doing battle ropes. And if you don't know what battle ropes are, they're basically these kind of heavy ropes that you hold on to and you just wail them in the air all different ways. Um, there's a lot of different exercises you can do with battle ropes, but let me tell you that will get your heart rate up so fast. So yeah, I remember like after ACL surgery, I would just go to town for those first like 2 to 3 weeks after the surgery where I couldn't really do much with my knees. They were out of commission. I had to be careful. I was just using battle ropes like crazy, taking out all my frustration into those ropes. And it was really great because I was not only getting a great source of cardio, um, I was also being very safe with my knees, and I was getting a great upper body and core workout at the same time. So it's kind of like a win-win-win across the board for that source of cardio, and I recommend it. If you don't have battle ropes accessible, like at a gym or anywhere at home, then you can do something where you are, you know, taking a weighted ball and going up and down, slamming that overhead, like med ball slams, right? So that's another version of that where you can still get some of that motion in, where you're incorporating the upper body enough to get a heart rate boost and to start to work that cardio. My other favorite exercise for a great source of cardio if your knees are not feeling so hot, or if you just had an injury or surgery or something on them and they're just out of commission, is doing biking. Now, if you're somebody that is fresh out of surgery, I'd recommend a stationary bike. Oftentimes it's already included as part of your PT or rehab protocol. But if you're somebody that just has some like aches and pains in your knee and running just doesn't feel good, or anything that's high impact is like a no-go for you, then biking can be a phenomenal source of cardio for you. You know, out in nature, out on the streets, you know, wherever you want to bike. And if you're not an outdoor bike person, indoor is fine too. In either scenario, it's going to get your heart rate up and you're getting some good flexion and extension into the knee, which is great I've talked about this in other videos, how, you know, really when you are bending the knee, straightening the knee, you're getting some good synovial fluid, which really helps to nourish the joint itself. The cartilage is getting all that good synovial fluid. It's basically like nourishment for producing new cartilage cells and all that good stuff. Not to mention the circulation you're getting through the muscles too. All right, so another great source of cardio that is easy on the knees is swimming. I kind of feel like swimming is one of those things like onions or olives or tuna where you like love it or you hate it. But even if you're one of those people that hates it, it still might be a really great source of cardio for you if you feel like your knees can't tolerate a lot of impact. And no, it doesn't have to be like traditional swimming. You don't have to do like freestyle or butterfly or any of those strokes or anything like that. You can just simply kick on a flutterboard. Anything to really get your body moving in water is going to elevate your heart rate, and it's going to be really nice and low impact on the joints, on the knees. So it's still going to get you that good cardio without the pain afterwards. I actually remember that I did do some swimming after ACL surgery, and I was not too happy about having to put on a swim cap all over again because I didn't want my hair to get messed up. All right, so last but not least, my favorite, favorite, favorite cardio exercise of all time if your knees are not feeling great, if they can't tolerate impact, or if you've just come out of surgery and are worried about doing some stuff like running is the sled push and pull. Sledding is so great for your cardiovascular health, let me tell you. It gets your heart rate up there, and not only is your heart rate elevated, but you're actually engaging a lot of the muscles, similar to doing the battle ropes, right, where I said you're engaging your upper body and your core. You're very much so doing that with the sledding, and you're also gaining mobility in the ankles and a lot of good movement into the knees at the same time in a very low-impact way, because you are directing the sled, the sled's not directing you. I've actually made an entire video on the benefits of using a sled for your knee health and how it was just so instrumental in my ACL recovery process and how it helped me get a lot of good cardio in and actually nourish my knees while I was healing throughout the process. So I will link that down in the description again if you want to dig more into that, but highly recommend checking that out because the sled has been such a great source of cardio for me, such a great way to continue to strengthen my knees and my lower body, as well as keep my core and upper body strong at the same time. It's just, it's a great like overall exercise. If I had to give an award for like the exercise of the year, it would be to the sled. Now, if you're looking for a great option for a sled that you can use outside on the grass, inside, or on concrete, like on your sidewalk or driveway, I'll link one down below too that you can check out that I really have loved using. So those are just 4 cardio exercises that I have personally found to be really helpful in my knee injury and recovery journey, um, and things that I've incorporated in my process. But there are plenty more out there, you guys, and I'd love to hear from you if you have some good cardio exercises that you have incorporated while your knees have been injured or been not feeling so great. I'd love to hear what those exercises are. If you want to drop them down below in the comments, that would be great. But just to summarize, if your knees are injured or if they're just not feeling good, do not lose hope. You can still get fit. You can still work on other areas of your health. You can still maintain your cardio. It is possible. You just have to be creative and look outside of your traditional box of what you may have been doing, which is a good skill to acquire anyways. So you guys, I hope you felt that this video was helpful. And if you did, go ahead and give this video a thumbs up, subscribe to my channel. I would so, so, so appreciate it. And until next time, I will see you guys later. Bye!
