weightlifting/resistance training

[Stan]

Hello,

I have done weightlifting/resistance training since the age of 13.  I am almost 60. I will be speaking with my surgeon, however, I would like to hear from anyone out there who has returned to this form of exercise after his or her resurfacing.  I would like to know the length of time required before returning to this exercise and the type of program one used upon return.

Thanks,
Stan

[jjiam]

Well Paul, I can tell you that I am now 14 weeks postop, and while I myself can lift, only chest, arms, back, NO LEGS, except for your own body weight.  You can feel when you overdue it, but you are getting a new lease on life, so don't mess it up.  You don't need to "lift" legs.  Do other exercises that cause hardly no impact or weight on the hip, bicycling, stair climbers, walking, and own weight squats.  Why mess this up, just change your weight program to coincide with your new hip.  I can bicycle no problem, stairs no problem, if I walk to much it gets sore, but I do squats with my own weight every day, and lunges.  But even at this length of time after surgery, it still gets sore, so you know if you overdo it.  Hope this helps.

[Pat Walter]

Hi Stan

I thought I would make the same suggestion that I made to you in an email - take it easy.  As jjiam said, you are getting a new lease on life and changing you favorite activities might be a good idea.  We all want to return to our loved sports, but if you want to keep your new hip resurfacing, you might have to adapt your weightlifing routines.  It is no fun to go thru surgery twice to get a revision.

Hip resurfacing is a fantastic surgery and many people can return to their sports like running, biking, skiing, surfing, etc.  Weightlifting might be an exception.  If you are lifting heavy weights and get off balance at all, it would be very easy to crack your femur bone - I think.  Only my personal thoughts. THis is all about weight loads and stress. How the stress is applied and at what angles could really cause problems for you.

I would be very conservative and really listen to my doctor.  You can see all the athletes I have listed that have returned to very active lives, but I don't have any weight lifters.  http://www.surfacehippy.info/athletes.php

I also posted Jim's story http://www.surfacehippy.info/jimresurfrevision07.php  as a reminder that we are human and our bodies can only take so much of a beating. He felt his running cause his revision.

I figure I am 63 now and am so glad to be out of pain and able to do normal activities - I don't care if I never play another singles game of tennis or be exceptionally competitive at this point in my life.  I had suffered for 10 years with terrible pain and inactivity - I never want to go back to that place.  So I am conservative and really respect my new hip and what it can do.  I had to give up a lot of activities and sports in my life due to the bad hip and I feel the new hip is now more important that my old activites.

I wish you great sucess with your new hip.

Pat

[Vicky]

I actually know of two people that had hip resurfacing that are back to heavy duty weight lifting, Eddie in Florida and Charles who went to Dr. Bose.  He signs his name Chawls.  I don't have the info here since I am out of town but if you go to the Yahoo message board and post with the title "Any Weightlifters here?"

I know Alan Ray also does leg presses since his hip resurfacing surgery and he plays handball several times a week.

Vicky

[james]

heavy squats and deadlifts are one reason I had resurfacing.

May I suggest www.transformetrics.com for a different and better IMO option.

Or if you prefer MA type training then www.greendragonkungfu.com has some exceedingly effective strength programs.  9 strength and power exercises is the beginning level and you could move on to the premier Stone Warrior.

both of these choices will make you stronger, probably far stronger then you can currently imagine, and not destroy your joints, ligaments and tendons.    The chance of injury is nil.

[Chawls]

Since I love "all things resurfed", I'm more than happy to respond to folks that I may be able to help.  I'm an "older dude" ... just turned 51--15 days ago.  And, just minutes ago ... one of my gifts to myself just arrived in the mail.  That would be a set of two, 70.5 lb. (32 kg) Kettlebells from performbetter.com.  As I've spent lots of money on the other Kettlebells that I own--getting these babies for the price I got was awesome!  However ... my zeal revolves around this ... yes, I do enjoy doing crazy weight-lifting exercise all the time.  My UPS man summed up my post-op progress pretty well when he said, "You ordered some of these a couple of years ago ... you need to quit getting stronger!".  And the last set of 2 that I ordered were the 53 lbs (26 kg) and that was PRE-OP!  So ...

I do enjoy lifting weights.  I kept doing upper body weight training immediately before and after my surgery in The Residency Towers gym (the hotel I stayed in) for my upper body.  I designed personal programs using Escalating Density Training by Charles Staley.  This kept my upper body from deteriorating and my cardio output high.  I returned to weight training for my legs about 90 days post-op.  In the meantime after returning home I did my daily walks with arm-crutches and TEDs on (during 110 degree heat in Tulsa, OK. August), did swim-kicking drills, and swimming at the gym; and, continued my EDT upper body training 3 times per week.  The biggest thing is ...

That you shall immediately notice post-op that the surgery causes changes in your leg that are new and somewhat surprising.  That's why you'll be grateful that you have an elevated toilet the first time you "arm-crutch" yourself into the bathroom.  Your operated side will have virtually no strength at all when squatting down from an upright position.  I mean such that you'll realize that there is only a small angle of motion and then it's total synapse failure and the result would be falling down--not a good thing.  However ... this condition improves a little every single day.  It's amazing.  I had parts of my leg that had lost total feeling, etc.  That, too changed quickly.  This is just what happens when a gifted surgeon opens up your tissues ... pulls out of socket your trochanter and puts the power tools to it.  What a miracle compared to THR!  That's why I call Dr. Bose the "Miracle Man".  So ...

Each day progresses and before long you notice that you can squat a little bit lower everyday.  I was doing full butt-to-calves barbell squats probably 5-6 months post-op and after a couple of weeks my hip said, "Hey ... we got some more healing to do."  No problem ... just back off and do other things that you can do.  I was able to do Step-ups onto 14" wooden boxes with dumbbells, weighted lunges, recumbent bike, swimming, within about 90 days post-op.  Now ... at about 18 months I'm ready for everything.  Believe me ... months ago I was doing double kettlebell front squats with my butt-to-calves here at home!  I will start doing Pistols--one legged squats soon (and that is with you butt-to-ground with the other leg extended)! 

I have rehabilitated to the point that I am going to put myself through an austere training and nutrition program ... document it ... before-n-afters ... video too ... and write a book for teaching people how to get extremely fit after the age 50.  I will be using bodyweight exercises, resistance-rubber-bands, free weights, kettlebells ... andthing I can show folks how to do at home.  Does that sound like something someone would open up their passions for ... if they couldn't "do it" anymore?!  My future brutha Stan ...

Go forth and prosper with Dr. Bose ... and the world will then again ... become your oyster!

Ever Thine,

Chawls

RBHR, Dr. Bose 7/31/06

[Pat Walter]

Hi Chawls

Great to have you aboard.  Thanks so much for posting.  I have had several weight lifters write to me personally and as a 63 year old female with a BHR -  I don't know anything about weight lifting.

I am so happy to have your help to respond to questions about the sport.

At 63, I can lift my 29 pound accordion to play once again - but that is all I can lift.

Thanks again for joining Hip Talk and helping out.

Good Luck with your lifting and new hip.

Pat  Owner/Webmaster of Surface Hippy

[Pat Walter]

James

Welcome to Hip Talk.

I also have to thank you for posting about your sport of weight lifting.  I know nothing about it as a 63 year old female and truley appreciate you taking time to post for other weight lifters.

Thanks again for sharing information.

I know others will appreciate it.

Pat - Owner/Webmaster of Surface Hippy

[james]

Hi Stan

I thought I would make the same suggestion that I made to you in an email - take it easy.  As jjiam said, you are getting a new lease on life and changing you favorite activities might be a good idea.  We all want to return to our loved sports, but if you want to keep your new hip resurfacing, you might have to adapt your weightlifing routines.  It is no fun to go thru surgery twice to get a revision.

  Only my personal thoughts. THis is all about weight loads and stress.

I would be very conservative and really listen to my doctor.  You can see all the athletes I have listed that have returned to very active lives, but I don't have any weight lifters.  http://www.surfacehippy.info/athletes.php

I also posted Jim's story http://www.surfacehippy.info/jimresurfrevision07.php  as a reminder that we are human and our bodies can only take so much of a beating. He felt his running cause his revision.

I figure I am 63 now and am so glad to be out of pain and able to do normal activities - I don't care if I never play another singles game of tennis or be exceptionally competitive at this point in my life.  I had suffered for 10 years with terrible pain and inactivity - I never want to go back to that place.  So I am conservative and really respect my new hip and what it can do.  I had to give up a lot of activities and sports in my life due to the bad hip and I feel the new hip is now more important that my old activites.

Pat

I am 56 and I absolutely agree. I am conservative and respect my two new hips.

I don't think there is a training modality that I didn't do, except for olympic lifting. Which brought me to the point of my previous post.

I would urge caution unless you want a revision.

And thanks Pat for your site.

[muzza]

I am sixty five and have just had my second hip resurfaced. Two weeks past the operation and going along OK.

When in my twenties I was a competitive weightlifter and subsequently kept training with weights right up to my first  hip resurfacing at the age of sixty three.  At the time, I was doing full squats working up to 200 pound for 8 reps; I was also doing heavy deadlifts.  After each workout my hips would flare up and it was painful to walk. Stupidly, I kept training until my right hip got so bad that I had the Birmingham resurfacing operation October 2007, at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne. Australia. I don't know whether weightlifting contributed to my osteoarthritis but it did aggravate things in the later stages.

Recovery after my first resurfacing went well but I missed being able to do my favourite exercises - full squats and deadlifts - for thigh and gluteus strength.  I still train the upper body with weights but really only walk and stair climb for the legs. Although I have read of people doing leg work with weights after a resurfacing, I didn't feel it wise to push things in my case. I want the hip to last the rest of my life if possible.

After eighteen months recovery, I did start doing free half squats down to a bench and back up. That felt pretty good, so I  started to very cautiously add  a light weight across the shoulders. Then my left hip flared up and I couldn't do any leg work other than short walks. After seeing the surgeon again, I had my left hip resurfaced a fortnight ago.

Since the first op. my thighs and behind have lost quite a bit of muscle mass. I'll probably lose more until I've recovered from this latest op. The losses could be a combination of lack of resistance exercise and ageing related wasting; but I hope I can eventually  get back to some sort of leg resistance training to regain a bit of muscle.

Great site here. Lots of valuable information not available elsewhere.

regards,
Neil Murray
Phillip Island, Australia
 

[sroberts]

Hey Neil,

Hang in there I think deadlifts, front squats and back squats are key to recovery and getting the glutes and hips strong.Just go slowly and start light when you get the ok from your doc. I had my right hip resurfaced last June and now am squatting 100kg, deadlifting 150kg, and front squatting 78kg.
As a side note, I recently went to the Tour de France with an  Aussie group (Bike Style Tours). Great bunch of folks from all over Oz.


take care,

spencer

[muzza]

Hi Spencer,

Thanks for the encouraging remarks. Impressive progress you are making with the weights, well done.  It will be some time before I can do much but I do want to build some strength back in the old legs.

I watched some of the Tour on TV.  Must have been a great experience to see it.

best wishes,
Neil

[sroberts]

Neil,

Take your time and let your body dictate how much you can do, along with your doc's
advice. Do you know who Dave Mackenzie is? He announced the first ten days of the tour for SBS. He was one of our guides. Him and a recently retired Nick Gates (former leadout man for Robbie McEwan on Lotto) led us on some great rides including MT Ventoux. Take care of yourself and good luck!


spencer

[muzza]

Just an update on my progress since posting last September.  It's now nearly seven months since my second(left) hip  was resurfaced. It has healed very well indeed. Now, with both hips done and my dickie knee also healed up, I feel better than I have for three years.
I had a bit of a set back last November when I was shifting furniture. I lifted a TV set awkwardly, holding it too far in front of me - I should have known better.  Anyway, something seemed to tear/pull in my right hip, which was then two years post BHR. It wasn't severe but the hip got quite sore the next day. It affected the sciatic nerve and I had pain right in middle of the buttock and tingling down my right leg and under my foot.  The pain was worse at rest, when standing and lying down.  It went away when walking.  I did a lot of piriformis stretching, which helped a bit, but the problem persisted for two months.  Eventually, I went to a myotherapist who located the problem area, and manipulated the exact spot in the joint where the pain was emanating from.  Also, she put some acupuncture needles in the area.  Lo and behold I have not had a problem since.  

I'm back training with the weights three times a week and carefully doing half squats with a light barbell across the shoulders.  I'm taking it very easy but it feels good and I'm adding 10 pound to the bar every week.  My chicken legs have now put on a bit of beef and are getting back to looking pretty normal.

Am I glad I got both hips resurfaced? You betcha!

Neil

[Jed]

Neil, fascinating for me to read your story in that it has almost exactly paralleled mine. I too have traditionally done quite a bit of weight training. And like you I hurt my new hip (ASR Feb 2009) carrying a really heavy TV downstairs into my basement. No immediate pain, but hip flexors sore next day. Then after it settled down it was provoked again and that pattern of settling and provocation has ben repeated countless times over the last 5 frustrating months. And each time it is provoked (at least once a week), it sinks to a new, deeper low. Have tried accupuncture, PT, rest, arthrotec and can't seem to lick it. The thigh is now full of painful trigger points, and the other thigh is getting them too in sympathy. Massage seems to help a bit but I just feel caught in a rut I can't get out of. My surgeon says the actual device is fine, though my GP is ordering a bone scan just to double check. I'm still convinced it is a muscle thing, as I've heard those hip flexors can be incredibly stubborn. Anyway it was good to hear your story and its happy outcome - gives me a bit of a lift.
John

[muzza]

John,
That is coincidental that we both injured something lifting TV sets.  The myotherapist who fixed me also mentioned a trigger point as she was treating my condition.  But it was localized, in one particular spot, and very painful as she worked on it it. I could tell at the time it was the exact location of the problem. I think that what she did there fixed the problem rather than the needles. The improvement was immediate and dramatic. My theory was that the sciatic nerve had got pinched or entrapped somehow when I lifted the TV and that what she did somehow released the nerve from the tension.

I know how frustrated you must be that your own problem persists.  I was starting to think that I would have mine as a chronic condition or that it would only get worse. I'm very relieved that it was fixed.  I hope your own resolves or you find someone who can get you on the road to eliminating it.
Best wishes,
Neil

[Bionic]

I'm about 13 months post-op and started doing light squats 1 year out.  Over the past month, I've worked my way up to about 225#.  I don't go super-deep and I always stay in good control with much attention to balance.

So far, so good.  The squats have been easier than expected.  I was a bit worried about edge loading, but I think I've convinced myself that even going deep shouldn't put any excessive edge wear on my implants

I don't know how heavy I want to go.  Since I don't want to have to buy all new pants, I'll probably keep it under 300#.

Running still gives me some trouble.  I just don't trust the new hip to take the pounding.  I may ease into a bit more aggressive running as the warm weather rolls in.

[Buster]

Finally some weightlifting talk.  I'm 15 weeks since having a RBHR and can't wait to get back under the bar.  I've still a long way to go until 1yr per doctors order.  I've been benching for quite a while and walk, swim and elliptical for lower body.

[moe]

No weight training for one year? That seems really conservative. Did your doc say why?

[Buster]

No heavy squatting or running for 1yr.  I see him at 4 months and want to ask about doing leg machines.  I have been benching being careful with leg drive during the press.  I do bodyweight squat and go really deep without a problem.  I guess he is worried about the femur fracturing.  I can wait as it shouldn't take too long to get back into it.