Whether you’re stepping onto the elliptical for the first or hundredth time, you may have very little concern about your knees. However, the elliptical can easily cause pain in your knees or exacerbate the knee pain that you may already have. Learning how to protect your knees on the elliptical is essential to avoid injury.
Keep reading below to get tips for protecting your knees during your elliptical workout.
Symptoms of Knee Pain
If you’re using the elliptical frequently and doing intense sessions, you’ll likely feel soreness in your knees now and then. However, you likely feel soreness in your entire leg if you work out intensely. If your knee pain only occurs occasionally, fades rapidly, and doesn’t disrupt your daily movement, you likely have nothing to worry about.
But you may need to address knee pain if you experience any of the following symptoms:
- Constant ache
- Swelling and redness
- Sharp and unbearable pain
- Touch-sensitivity
- Weakness
- Stiffness
- Inability to move
Remember that these symptoms could occur during your workout, immediately after, or next week. Because you use your knees all day, you could experience a minor injury, but everyday walking can make it a significant injury.
Why Your Knees Can Hurt on Elliptical
The cause of knee pain on the elliptical can be tricky to narrow down. There are many reasons why your knee may start to act up, and, unfortunately, you may have to play detective to figure out the source of your knee pain.
Some of the most common causes of knee pain on the elliptical are:
- Aging
- Extra weight or obesity
- Previous injury
- Poor muscle flexibility
- Bad form
- Medical condition
You may be able to tell immediately from this list which causes applies to you. Some of these can be helped, such as bad form. Others aren’t in your control, like aging or a medical condition. If your knee pain stems from a medical condition or previous injury, consult with your doctor before continuing on the elliptical.
How to Protect Knees on Elliptical
There are multiple ways that you can protect your knees on the elliptical. Some are adjustments you can make during your session, and some involve exercises done off the elliptical. You can mix and match the adjustments that work best for your knees.
Keep Using the Elliptical
Knowing when you should exercise to treat knee pain and when to abstain is a little tricky. The elliptical is commonly used to treat knee pain because it’s a low-impact machine. The oval-like movement helps to stretch the knee tendons to the correct degree so that you can build knee strength quickly.
The high calorie burn on the elliptical is also a great way to lose weight, which can also alleviate knee pain by removing pressure. The elliptical can also help you gain more knee flexibility, relieve tightness or lessen difficulty bending.
It’s good to push through discomfort while exercising to improve your fitness. However, you never want to push through the pain. Discomfort is an indicator that you’re working hard enough. But as you move into extreme discomfort or pain, you may want to dial back your intensity.
Exercising through pain is the best way to injure yourself, possibly very seriously.
Cross-Training to Help Your Elliptical Session
Many people believe that more is best when it comes to cardio, but this isn’t always the case. While it’s tempting to hop on the elliptical daily to get that high calorie burn, this can cause problems. You can experience burnout, injury, or physical exhaustion.
This is where cross-training becomes your friend. Knee pain on the elliptical can stem from inflexible muscles and tendons in and around the knee. When not on the elliptical, you should work on flexibility. This can be done with any exercise involving stretching, including yoga.
You can also use resistance bands or a simple stretch routine. Any of these will help prevent knee pain by increasing flexibility.
Use a Knee Brace on the Elliptical
A knee brace is one of the best ways to stabilize a knee and prevent injury. You can use a knee brace to help with pain from injuries, prevent further injuries, and help provide the proper knee movement. A knee brace while on the elliptical can prevent knee pain or help recover from it.
Warm-Up and Cool Down
Always do a warm-up and cool down with each workout. These are the easiest things to skip, especially when pressed for time. Ignoring them could be disastrous for your knee, however.
A good warm-up adequately prepares your knee to work hard. Meanwhile, cool-down stretches help keep muscles and tendons from tightening up due to the stress of exercise. They’ll be a little looser, recover better, and be less likely to experience stress during your next session.
Maintain Posture
Maintaining good posture is the best way to prevent knee pain on the elliptical. This can be especially difficult to do once you start getting tired. However, this is when you need that excellent posture the most. You’re far more likely to injure your knee when your body is tired than when you’re not.
Proper elliptical posture includes the following:
- Straight back
- Shoulders back
- Head up
- Tight abdominal muscles
- Feet close to the inside edge of pedals
- Weight on heels
- Easy grip on handlebars
- Relaxed arms
While this seems like a lot to remember, this posture should feel natural to you. The elliptical uses the same stance you should be using while walking. If your posture on the elliptical needs work, try practicing when not in the gym.
Common Elliptical Mistakes
The easiest way to hurt your knees is to get too comfortable on the machine. This is easy to do since improper positioning often feels like it makes the movement easier or gives you better results. This is generally not the case.
Going Too Fast
You can go way too fast on the elliptical. If you find that your legs are flying on the pedals, you need to add resistance to the machine. Not only will going too fast offer little benefit, but you also have little control of the machine. Your legs may need to slow down while the pedals keep going. You can easily hurt your knees this way.
Moving Your Torso
Many people move their torso while on the elliptical. You’ll most commonly see people moving their bodies with the handlebars, trying to force the machine to move. This indicates that the machine’s resistance is way too high.
Your torso shouldn’t be moving on the elliptical—only your legs and arms. If you’re moving your torso, it’s incredibly easy for your hips and then legs to start twisting. If your leg twists, your knee is sure to follow.
On Your Toes
Standing on your toes will place too much pressure on your knees. You will also find that your toes and feet start to go numb and tingly if your weight is on your toes. The proper form is to keep your weight on your heels.
Leaning on the Handlebars
It’s tempting to lean on the handlebars as you get tired. You may find yourself relying on them even if the elliptical isn’t at too high of a resistance level. It would help if you fought this temptation, however. Your torso, hips, and legs will fall out of alignment as you lean on the handlebars.
Keeping Your Knees Protected on the Elliptical
Knowing how to protect your knees on the elliptical is essential to avoid injury. Make sure to keep your posture correct and know when to take a break. Remember that if you feel pain, stop your elliptical workout, and consult your doctor.
Often, the best thing you can do for pain is to rest. When it’s time to come back from pain or injury, the elliptical is the best machine in the gym to help get you back up to speed.