I did pivot to cycling. But once my knee is already shit, even cycling often makes it worse. So I pivoted to swimming. Swimming was fine so far, but just now, my knee started hurting after a few laps, which inspired me to vent my frustration through this meme.
You can go very far with calisthenics, but I found it's much harder to get into. There's an additional skill level required to perform the exercises, and the progression is much more visual (for example "cannot do pull-ups -> can do pull-ups"). That can be a bit disheartening while still in the "can't" period. You have to start with easier variations of moves and change them up as you progress towards the "real" exercises. With weight training the only thing that really drastically changes as you progress is the number on the plates. But calisthenics definitely are the way to go IMO, it's much better for you, gives you a nicer looking body, more mobility and flexibility and more real world uses. Maybe just add a bit of weight stuff early on just because it's easier.
Calisthenics can definitely help build muscle, especially if you're a beginner. And while gyms can be expensive, you can get more than your money's worth from a planet fitness. It's 10 bucks a month and 30 bucks once a year. Pretty reasonable if you actually use it.
Lol just throwing this out there, I have a terrible shoulder from swimming. If you feel any weird popping or discomfort REST and see a PT or swimming coach to work on form.
Even just walking at a Brisk pace is better. In fact if you're not actually sprinting there's no real Health difference between jogging and walking quickly other than the aforementioned less pressure on the knees
Throw in some pull ups/pushups/squats and you’ll love what you see + have very functional muscles across the board. You don’t even need to do a bunch of weights when you do squats. Just squat the bar every time you go work out. Great way to just keep your legs and such tuned