Breathe Magazine

Broken toe, strained knees, pulled muscles, surgeries: tons of things can keep you from using your legs, which is a scary thing when you are an avid runner, or trying to lose weight.

The good thing is, you can still get in a great cardio session without your legs. The bigger the muscles you use, the your more heart rate is going to rise, which means the more calories you burn. Your legs contain the biggest muscles (quads, hamstrings, glutes) so running, walking, biking and ellipticalling (I’m not sure that’s a word) are usually the cardio modes of choice.

When you can’t use your legs, there are still some options to get your heart rate up.

Swimming is always easiest, but still requires some use of your legs, so this works for some people, but not all. Some people also don’t have access to a pool, but if you do, it’s a great all over toning and cardiovascular workout.

There is one machine that is awesome to get your heart rate up and only uses your arms. They go by different names: crank bike, arm bike, Upper Body Ergometer, but they are like exercise bikes for your arms.

These used to just be in rehab centers, but you’ll find them more and more in regular gyms. You sit at the bike and crank to the pedals with your hands, just like you would your feet. Even though your arms contain smaller muscles than your legs, your arms are closer to your heart, causing your heart rate to rise to levels equivalent to that of regular cardio machines.

Boxing with a heavy bag, or just punching air, is a great way to get the heart rate up, as well. You can do this standing or sitting in a chair depending on your injury.

Rowing machines and ellipticals are low impact, but these aren’t advised for everyone, so ask your doctor if they are ok.

Strength training can also really get the heart rate up, if you use lower weights and high reps, and don’t rest for too long in between. If you can’t stand, you can perform all of your exercises sitting on a stability ball to take the pressure off of your lower body and to engage your core while doing upper body exercises.

Whichever mode you choose, just make sure the intensity level is the same as your regualr workout. This is one situation you may want to use a heart rate monitor.

REMEMBER: injuries never mean you need to stop training, unless advised to. I get clients that come in a ll time upset because they are hurt and think they have to stall their results, but the truth is, with any situation, there are always ways to train around it.

But again, check with your doctor to make sure what you are planning to do is ok for your situation. Aggravating your injury can lay you up for even longer.