While it is true that a good mix of aerobic exercise and resistance training with weights give you the best results, there has to be some common sense when it comes to exercise. If you have bad knees, for example, you should consider LOW impact activities like swimming, bicycling, a shock absorbing treadmill, or an elliptical machine. Running can really aggravate arthritis of the hips, knees and back. Any extra body weight no matter where it is distributed, will increase the force across the joint by a factor of 3. So if you are say... 200 pounds, the force across your left knee just from simple walking is 600 pounds. When you impact your joint as in running, this increases significantly. Even normal joints can rebel when there is too much running or not enough time to repair the body with periods (days) of rest. Arthritic joints contain a very poor lubricant and not much cushion inside the joint. Heat builds up and this is felt as pain and inflammation. It might cause you to "give up."The moral of the story is DON'T run if you have arthritis in your knees or "both hands". Stick with the low impact activities, and get fit without pain.
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