There are a few exercises that are really hard or impossible to do with my knees. On level 2, the quad stretches cause me problems. For that, I just do level 3. However, for the Abs and Upper Body, I'm not sure what to do about the kneel & stretch up, kneeling lean back and kneeling side stretch. Kneel & stretch up, I can do some days when my knees are feeling okay. The other two are not possible no matter what. What I have been doing is either modify them - on the kneeling lean back, I put my hands on the floor, bottom off the ground and knees bent with feet on floor in front of me. For the kneeling side stretch, I just sit indian style (my knees aren't that bad) while I stretch - Or I just pick other exercises to do in their place.

Which is best? What exercises should I do in their place? Are the modifications I am making okay and if not, what?

Thanks.

I think what you are doing sounds fine. It's really the breathing that is most important. I will often modify positions. In fact, that's why I rarely use a tape anymore....just pick and choose the 30 positions that "feel best" for my body that day.

Hi! I agree with Kelly. Just do the positions that feel good to you, repeating your favorites until you have 30 reps done. I use different ones from magazines and other websites, since I don't have a way to watch videos, and I like a little variety.

Feel free to join us on the daily thread for support and encouragement!

Good luck!
Susanna

On the Level 1 tape, only a few positions are shown modified. For the sake of all the different people who view the tapes, I think that there should be at least one or two participants actually doing acceptable modifications of the more difficult positions (ie; kneeling, diagonal leg lift, clasping hands behind your back, etc). With me, kneeling is impossible because of my knees and because I carry extra body weight in the rump and thighs, the diagonal leg lift is also a challenge. I tend to let my foot rest on the floor and I'm not sure whether or not I'm getting any benefit out of it.