Every once in a while I get about a month's worth of really bad bursitis in my knees (sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes both), because of a rheumatic autoimmune condition, and the pain gets so bad that it hurts to rest them, hurts to move them, hurts to touch them or apply heat or ice. Climbing stairs, kneeling and crouching are go-to unless I absolutely must. Because I'm so afraid of the short-term pain, I'm not motivated to push myself anymore, even though I know in the long term that the strength training and cardio will give me long term benefits.
Wanted to do a 2k walk today and wound up downgrading to only 1, and even still I was in so much pain I just about cried. I couldn't bring myself to do any strength training because I was so afraid of more pain, and now I'm not only in pain but disappointed with myself for bailing on my workout. Need to find some kind of low-power yet effective cardio and strength training routines for my lower body that will make me feel less worried about pain (I've been doing more upper body workouts hoping that my knees would heal sooner, but now that it's been almost a week and a half with them worsening instead of improving, I need to come up with leg workouts again). If any one has any recommendations, I would love to hear them