Need Suggestions on Non-Impact Cardio
 

I posted a few weeks ago about having right hip pain, especially after running – which pretty much left me unable to walk.

Well, turns out that I have a stress fracture of the right femoral neck (hip) :(

My doctor says I can still do “non-impact” exercises like swimming but I can only swim on the weekends. I workout during my lunch hour and need to plan a cardio routine that will work with my injury.

I’ve been running and cycling non-stop for the last 8-months and I feel so unproductive if I’m not sweating and pounding away at the cardio.

Any suggestions? I need my cardio!

How about the elliptical? I don't know if that is too much stress on your hip though.

Was your stress fracture from running?

Good luck! It must be tough to go from running and biking to having only a few things you could do!

i'm non-impact... i swim and bike only...

Thank you, guppy23. Yes, my stress fracture was most likely from running. I was told that when/if I start running again that I should not do it everyday but 3x a week instead with a long, medium and short run and any speed work should be done on the short run.

My doc said, like muscle, bones are broken down a little with each activity and that they must have time to repair themselves. This is at least, in my case which was from 0-100 in a few months. I paid the price of overdoing it.

Ladybug, I think you and I are on the same routine :) My issue is that I get bored really quickly. Plus, I work out during my lunch hour which leaves swimming out. Ugh..

Right now here's my current scheduled that I've worked up:

Monday - stationary bike 30 minutes on radom/level 9. Weights arms, shoulders, chest.

Tuesday - Spinning class (at a pace I'm comfortable with)

Wednesday - Stationary bike 30 minutes on radom/level 9. Abs, back.

Thursday - Spinning

Friday - Same as Monday

Saturday - Swimming

Sunday - Off

I need more varity...blah...

hmmm would you even consider chair aerboics?

i have an old break that never healed properly and part of the bone died. i have long term permanent chronic pain that is made worse if I do any impact work on the leg. I even have to wear an air cast for walking about 30% of the time...(6 weeks here and there during the year)... so for me it's PERMANENT...

i love my wii fit but i can't do it daily even that impact damages my leg...

I can't spin you have to stand for that. I'm not even allowed on the Arc Trainer.

I can swim daily and take water aerboics... i wish i had more advice.

I know that your pool time is limited, but a lot of runners do "pool running" as a low-impact alternative to regular running. It's a change from swimming, anyway.

For a gym-based alternative -- what about rowing? It does use legs as well as arms, so you may have to check with your doc to make sure it doesn't stress the wrong places.

I just got a new kayak so I'm out on that every weekend, you can definitely get your heart rate up when you paddle hard!! But, that probably doesn't work for everyone. :D