Ed Coan still squats and deadlifts heavy after having both hips replaced, but he's not your average person.
My wife has had both hips replaced, and is in her early 60s. She has always been strong and active, but her Dr. who performed the surgery told her she could never lift weights with her legs, or so she thinks she remembers. She is getting weaker and less flexible (has been several years since hip surgery), and I would like to know if there is any references I can show her that it is safe to do squats, deadlifts, etc. after hip replacement surgery. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Ed Coan still squats and deadlifts heavy after having both hips replaced, but he's not your average person.
previous threads on this topic
hip replacement site:startingstrength.com - Google Search
Last edited by threeonethree; 04-24-2017 at 10:09 PM.
I am not a "The doctor has to tell me it's OK" type in general, but since my wife has had both hips replaced, twice, (due to bad metal hips, just a year or two after first surgeries!) I understand her fears. If there is medical data or studies, or specific experience others have had I may be able to get her to try squat and deadlifts. Ed Coan notwithstanding
It depends on the type of hip hardware and how it is placed. I am 59 and have had two hip replacements. The angle of my femoral head is such that is would be virtually impossible to dislocate either of my hips. Some people's acetabulum is much more shallow, or the angle of the femoral head is different, and they can dislocate very easily. As to the weight on the prosthetic itself, I think that since I can't run or jump, the twenty or so "impacts" that my hips might get every week from lifting is negligible. Of course, when my hips fail, I may have a different story.
If I were you, I would ask the surgeon specifically which exercises she is allowed to do, which she is not allowed to do, and specifically why she is not allowed to do them. Some are self-evident.
The Society of Orthopedic Surgeons (or something like that) has guidelines for post hip replacement patients and has graded about twenty different sports related activities. This was a compilation of, I think, several hundred experienced surgeons. The guidelines say that some things are just a bad idea. Some are o.k. if you have experience with the activity, and some are fine. But along with that, you need to know the morphology of the hip. I had my x-rays put up on the light, and my surgeon and I looked at them from the standpoint of my desired activity, and he showed me how or where any problems would occur. Having seen it myself, I am very confident in the things I do, one of them being deadlifts. The other working into squats. I had debilitated hips for a decade before I had them replaced because in your early 40s, no one looks for arthritis as the cause of back or hip pain. Doh! So I have a lot of tightness and atrophy. In the meantime, I am leg pressing well over my body weight.
I hope she can lift weights, and joins this forum. We need more "girls" here.
Not sure if we are allowed to post links here, so here is a good article with some good references at the end that might be helpful to you. Replace the "dots" with "."s
www dot ncbi dot nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4223292/
YMMV
Last edited by Outstanding; 05-02-2017 at 09:15 AM.