Is Cross Trainer Bad For Your Knees?

Are you a gym enthusiast? If yes, then chances are that you have spent most of your time on the cross trainer, or the elliptical machine. It is a cardio machine that for the first time gained traction in the 90s and is commonly used even today!

All thanks to its low-impact cardio exercise which can increase heart rate, burn calories and also aid in weight loss without much pain or injury related with running or jogging, that the cross trainer got its fame among people. Despite all this, one concern that looms over is safety, especially for those with weak knees.

Before we delve into how it affects weak knees, let's first figure out how a cross trainer works?

It engages the entire body on a vertical plane by combining the movements of running, stair climbing and skiing. The major difference is that the involved joints do not reach their full range of motion since the feet are planted firmly on the platform instead of being lifted from the ground. This also happens due to artificial movement that changes your natural gait and leads to knee pain because it is inconsistent with body's natural joint motion.

What Could Contribute To Knee Pain?

Improper Alignment: It forces your body to be in a fixed position against proper alignment. This is what leads to strain on your knees, especially if you are not properly positioned while using the elliptical machine.

What could be wrong with your posture? Your hips could be wider than the food pedals. Or, your knees may bow inward and place stress on the joint. Cross trainer also requires you to exercise on the balls of your feet, which engages the quadriceps muscles. This can also pull on the patella or kneecap and cause sharp or shooting pains across the knee.

Intensity: Lack of muscular strength is also a leading cause of knee pain and injury. This is because weak muscles do not absorb enough of the stress exerted on the joint and the knee pain thus continues. Identify if this is happening with you and see if it is because of the low intensity exercise from cross trainer that is not giving you enough challenge to build the necessary muscles to protect your knee.

Many experts have also pointed it that that low intensity machines could further overuse injuries in the knee and hip joints as those who are using do not realize that they are able to do more. This means it can make healthy knee joints weak.

Using Improper Force: Your body is strong and if you use improper force to do a certain exercise it can cause issues. Those with knee pain usually have a load tolerance equal to less than their body weight. So if you tolerance is equivalent to only 50% body weight, then it would mean that you are putting way too much pressure than required, which may keep your joint pain consistent.

Not Having Enough Rest: Whether or not cross training, after any exercise and before any exercise, it is important that you cool down and warm up! Taking rest days are also important as it helps you recover in case there is any muscle injury.