What are the best hip replacement exercises for active people? As someone who is the (self-proclaimed) most active and capable person in the world with a total hip replacement, I’d like to offer my fellow man some hip replacement exercises that I’ve found highly beneficial in my journey of having a THR. Here’s my advice on hip replacement exercises:
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I do my best to provide day to day workouts that I do that show the expansion of limitations that can be achieved with a total hip replacement. I’m not always consistent with posting, but I do my best to add value and inspiration to our community because I know the time I take to do this is helping the world, even if just a little bit. I wish I’d found a hip replacement dude when I was 19 because I feel like it would have helped me in my path even more.
Start with a “pre-hab” mindset.
If you have not yet gotten your surgery and you are set to get it in the near or even distant future, begin creating you mindset around “pre-habilitation” rather than rehabilitation. Do whatever you can do to get your body prepared. Much of this is going to be in your diet. If you fix and optimize your diet first, your physical work will become much easier and your hip replacement success will be much greater. You can learn more about this by taking a look at my post about the best diet to prepare for a hip replacement.
Here are the three best total hip replacement exercises for active people:
- Stretching! It may be hard and even discouraging to stretch at times, but you must stretch EVEryday! Something is always better than nothing, so if you find yourself getting ready for bed and realize that you haven’t done any stretching all day, then stop and touch your toes for 10 seconds. Remember, SOMETHING IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN NOTHING. So do something! Ideally, you will want to roll out of bed in the morning and begin a stretching routine as soon as you wake up. I do not always do this(I try my best!) but sometimes I don’t. What I make sure I do is get some stretching in at some point through out the day. I’ve continued to refine my routine day after day over the past 12 years and it gets better EVEryday(MINDSET) but I still miss my morning stretch sometimes. To me though, stretching is like food. I can’t live without it. You can read more about stretching and yoga in my post about the best hip replacement advice for active people as well.
- Leg lifts. Side leg lifts, front leg lifts, back leg lifts. Just do reps of leg lifts! Mix it up. As soon as you wake up and are laying in your bed, start doing some leg lifts! Turn on your side and do more leg lifts! You really can not do enough leg lifts. These will not only get your hip moving and the blood flowing around the ball and socket, but it will also start strengthening your core. Experiment and see how it feels!
- Pull ups and push ups. Now, you might be asking “How will that help my hip!?” Welp, it will. It will help your everything actually. I encourage everyone to do push ups and pull ups because they strengthen not only your arms, back, and core, but they also strengthen your psyche. If you have a pull up bar hanging in the threshold of your doorway, you will ALWAYS have the option of doing at least one pull up every single time you walk through your doorway. It is a visual reminder that you always have the option of choosing to improve your situation. Plus, as you keep getting stronger and increasing the amount of pull ups and push ups you can do, you feel stronger in many other ways. Its so money.
So, these are the best total hip replacement exercises for active people. I hope this helps you!
One love,
Isaac
