Any advice for strengthening my quads without putting undue stress on my knees? I have pretty bad knees and can't handle lunges or squats yet. Hope to be able to eventually.

pre-surgery weight 325; surgery date 2/28/2013; surgery weight 307; 8 weeks past-op weight 281.4

Chelenka, I'm right there with you. I'm still pre-op, but I have started to lift some light weights for my upper body. My knees prevent me from doing much aerobic exercise or weights on my lower body. My ortho surgeon recommended those rubber resistance bands for my quads. You hold the band around your foot & flex the foot against the resistance. It's supposed to isolate & work your quads. Congrats on your progress so far!

I am 64 and ever conscious of my knees. They are in much less jeopardy since losing 114 pounds but I am still careful. I do squats but at first just went down a little bit and very slowly. They were more like 1/4 squats. If even that is too much you can go down a bit and just hold it as long as possible, making it into an isometric exercise.

I am doing full squats now but still very slow going down. I like full squats because they hit the butt muscles which are the largest in the body. Big muscles burn fat.

My wife has a gazelle:

It does your quads good if you bend your knees a bit while using it.

I too have knee issues - been working with a Physical Therapist& a trainer to strengthen the muscles around the knee. I do squats with an exercise ball against the wall. It keeps me in perfect form with my knees over my heels and only go down until right before pain. I also sit on a chair and lift my leg slowly up til my leg is straight and slowly lower it to the floor. I do 10 reps 3x on each leg.

I also do straight leg raises - lie on the floor with one leg bent and foot on the floor. tighten the top of my thigh on the straight leg & Slowly raise the other leg about 10 inches off the floor keeping the thigh muscle tight, then slowly lower it to the floor. I do those 10 reps 3 x each leg.

I do Quad sets - lie on the floor, bend one knee, foot on the floor other leg straight. tighten the straight leg, sort of pushing the back of the knee to the floor , hold for 5 seconds and release. I do those 10 reps 3x each leg.

After doing all these I do quad stretches. These have helped SO much that I can now walk 4-5 miles without having knee pain. I still can't run without knee pain - and that's OK with me, walking at a fast pace is fine. Good luck.

Wow! Thanks everybody for the good info.! I will start incorporating as much as I can into my routine.

pre-surgery weight 325; surgery date 2/28/2013; surgery weight 307; 8 weeks past-op weight 281.4