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Easy Does It

If you suffer from creaky hips or knees, you may need to avoid certain weight-bearing and high-impact forms of exercise, such as jogging — especially if you need to lose weight. Fortunately, there are many types of nonimpact exercise that burn plenty of calories, enabling you to shed fat pounds without taking a pounding. “One of the things that I tell my overweight clients is that I generally don’t want them jogging or running until they lose the weight,” says Marilyn Moffat, PhD, a professor of physical therapy at New York University. “When you jog, you may subject your legs knees to forces equaling over three to four times your body weight with each stride. That’s a tremendous stress if you’re overweight.” Here’s a list of exercise activities that are gentle on the hips and knees, and the number of calories each burns per half hour at three body weights and a moderate effort level.