Cardio despite injuries?

[:^)]

Hey BLers,
I certainly do miss being able to cardio. Besides that, I have some medical issues that would very much benefit from cardio, including stage 2 hypertension. The problem is both knees are in too bad a shape to do anything cardio related, even swimming. The kicker is that both my shoulders are also in bad shape (Distal Clavicular Osteolysis, bursitis, and possible impingement syndrome according to the doc and his MRI). This takes other things (those hand-crank cardio things, for instance) out of the picture. Anyone in the same boat? I have yet to be able to find a way to get a decent cardio workout in. I lift weights (hence the shoulder problems) and I know it's somewhat like cardio but..any help is appreciated.

TL;DR: How can I do cardio with shoulder AND knee injuries?

 

[flyhighk]

You can turn any exercise into cardio. Just choose an upper body exercise (seated bicep curls for example) that doesn't make your shoulder hurt. Do hundreds of reps, preferably with both arms at a time. That should get your heartbeat pretty high.
Or do the same with crunches/situps.

 

[Maya]

^ yep my heart rate goes high up with those exercises. OP maybe you can do shadow boxing and see if it works put for you.

 

[ilikestims]

You can't swim? Explain. That is, like, no impact.