Using Total Gym Before, During, and After Hip-Replacement Surgery

Hi Total Gym Team,

I would like you all to benefit from my recent experience working to regain my quality of life. On June 15th of this year, at age 49, I had a full, left hip replacement.

A recent article on WebMD revealed that the number of hip replacements performed in the United States has increased substantially, and the procedure has become more common in younger people, new government statistics show. The article went on to report that the number of these procedures grew 205% from 2000 to 2010 for people between ages 45 to 54.

Regardless of your age or current fitness level, please read on to see how you could prevent this procedure. In addition, I will share how my Total Gym helped me prepare for the surgery, and thrive through my post-surgery full recovery.

How To Keep Your Hips Joints Healthy to Prevent or Prolong Hip Replacement

My surgeon and therapists told me that my hip issue was due to simple overuse.
If you want to keep your hips and knees healthy and away from the knife, ensure that you balance your high-impact activities with low impact activities. This is why fitness professionals recommend cross-training.

In high school I played competitive hockey, football, and golf. When I got to college I turned to running and loved it. For 10 years I ran almost every day for at least 5 miles regardless of how my body felt. Next, I started teaching fitness and loved it even more. Each week I would teach more than 20 high-impact classes. I thoroughly enjoyed all these activities but retrospectively, I might have avoided wearing out my hip if I would have cross-trained with low impact activities like biking, swimming, the elliptical machine, etc.

Stretching

Give yourself the gift of stretching!

When you do an activity repeatedly, it causes muscle imbalances. Certain muscles get too tight from over activity, and tend to pull on the bones and joints they are connected to and cause problems. By stretching these overused muscles, you keep the body in balance. See the attached video for some great stretches on your Total Gym.

Open those Hips!

Unless you do Pilates or yoga, you may not be moving your hip joint in its full range of motion. Think about all the activities you do that are linear and don’t open the hips. Sitting in chairs, walking, running, biking, etc. Then consider this; the majority of the people in the world sit on the floor so their hips stay open their whole lives. One of my favorite accessories for the Total Gym is the Leg Pulleys. The attached video demonstrates some of my favorite, simple moves using the Leg Pulleys that feel great and will keep those hip joints lubricated for a lifetime.

How My Total Gym Helped Me Prepare for Surgery

Knowing I would be immobile for several weeks, I needed to build up some leg muscle and increase my endurance. I could barely walk at this point so the Total Gym was an invaluable machine to help me accomplish these goals. As the video shows, when you are able to do leg squats while your body is fully supported, it allows you to focus on your form and allows you great range of motion.

How My Total Gym Helped Me Quickly Recover

The first two weeks post-surgery I was extremely limited in my lower body movements. Because the Total Gym is so easy to get on and off of, I was able to work my upper body, get my heart rate up, and keep my body moving. Week number three, my in-home physical therapist agreed that one-legged squats on my Total Gym would be the perfect exercise to regain strength and stabilize my hip joint. The versatility of the Total Gym allowed me to work with a low percentage of my body weight so I could regain movement and feel confident with my new joint. She urged me to listen to my body and let pain be the gauge.

I am so grateful for the advancement in medical technology and products but equally grateful for my Total Gym to allow me to get back to mobility and regain my quality of life. I have no regrets! I would not trade in my lifetime of activities for anything but I can only hope that by sharing my experience, it might help someone avoid the big price of joint replacement.