Hey guys great page many thanks. Some advice please. I can’t run because I have dodgy knees. What other aerobic exercises can I do that will be a good substitute, is skipping or mountain biking enough. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers.

- Anonymous, Portugal

Bad knees huh? First things first, get checked out by your doctor and make sure you do not have any surgical issues in your knees such as a meniscal tear or something along those lines.  Assuming that there is nothing fixable in your knee(s) welcome to the club. There are many paddlers who are paddling because they cannot do other sports because of previous lower limb injuries or chronic osteoarthritis.

The good news is that there is probably a lot you can do. Mountain biking is great. No problem there. Your best bet is to pick a rolling, somewhat non-technical trail so that you can keep your heart rate zones at a moderate level while you are doing your cross training. Technical trails have a tendency to spike your heart rate so it can be difficult to gauge your effort. Remember, this is cross training. Save the hard stuff for your paddle workouts.

Other aerobic activities to consider are swimming, road biking, stairmaster in the gym, and biking on a bike trainer. Depending on how bad your knees are, you might (with your doctors permission of course) maybe even be able to run. Paul Huddles knees are so bad that he could not run until he bought himself a pair of Hoka’s .

Here are some other articles we previously posted on the subject

• Cross training conversions to other sports
• Getting set up to ride a bike trainer
• Cross training substitutions

Roch