Thanks!

Well, I live in South Carolina, so it isn't really an option to walk from place to place, but I can't say that there aren't parks in proximity to where I live where I can go walk.

I can't say that I am a couch-potato, I don't mind taking the stairs and stuff, but I guess I haven't had any kind of structure in my workouts so I tire of them easily. I've tried the gym thing, but I always lose interest in the atmosphere, so I'd rather do stuff at home. I can actually make it all the way through the Tae Bo tapes (not the advanced, the basic one), of course I'm letting out sighs of pain 3/4 of the way through, but I can do it! :D I looked at the exercise.about.com briefly and it looks like there is a wealth of info on there. I'll check it out more while at work tonight, I gotta go to bed! Thanks again.

Favorite excersie machine??
 

Ok, so last night at the gym, I used a funky stairclimber. It had foot pads that slide up and down on a set of rails. It was hard to maintain my balance and today my knees are achy. My family has a history of arthritis, so I try to do low or no impact cardio to preserve my joints. I can walk on treadmill for hours and feel ok, but I don't want to do the same thing every day. Does anyone have any ideas on good cardio machines?????

I think the machine that you are referring to is the elliptical trainer. You might want to check out your form and the resistance you are using on the elliptical trainer because usually it is one of the better workouts for people with bad knees. These machines are considered low impact and I like to use them at the gym as I have had knee problems in the past.

Other than the elliptical trainer I think that your pickings are slim in most gyms. You can use the rower ot the treadmill with bad knees but that's about it. Swimming is a great exercise if you have access to a pool at your gym. Dance classes can be an option since most good instructors will show you how to modify a movement if you have bad knees.

I thought the ones w/ the arms were eliptical and this is some sort of revised stairmaster????

I'm not sure, I think next week I may meet with a trainer, so I can focus my workouts, and get the msot bang for the buck.

Do exercise bikes burn a fair amount of calories?

Thanks, 1SD. That was my newest motivation.