Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Joint Replacements | Starting Strength Radio

[stef]

Mark Rippetoe and Dr. Owen Kelly discuss hip and knee replacements and the role of strength training in rehabilitating joint replacement patients.



Transcript & Resources

[Leo M]

I'm 63, not strong by SS standards, but stronger than most other 63 year old men I know. I'm facing a hip replacement in August, next month. I found out I needed one just as the panic over the government shutdown began over a year ago, and I've been putting it off until the hospitals returned to more normal behavior.

I lifted until I was about 40 then stopped after herniating a cervical disk, causing too much arm pain to lift. I didn't really know what I was doing and did the Weider muscle isolation lifts. I lifted more than my friends did but nobody here would have thought me strong. I did yoga for a while in my late 50s and that got rid of my neck/arm pain. When the arm pain got better I thought I was too busy at work to return to weightlifting.

When I realized I needed surgery I knew I should get as strong as possible before having the surgery. I went looking online for information on heavy weightlifting and found SS. I joined Robert Santana's gym in September 2020. I initially made fairly good progress, but around Thanksgiving 2020 I had to stop squatting due to joint pain, substituting leg presses on an inclined leg press machine. In the past month or so my deadlifts and leg presses started going down due to joint pain. I'm down to deadlifting only 178# and leg pressing 220# due to pain. I'm 5'11", about 240#.

My surgeon is well respected to the point other orthopedic surgeons here go to him for their replacements. I'm a doctor, I work with some of these surgeons, and this guy is really well respected. I told him at the appointment I wanted to keep lifting weights, and I told him I expected to do squats, deadlifts, presses, bench presses and pulldowns postop. He proposed a posterior incision for me because he says it's better for muscular people and weightlifters. In the video above Dr. Kelly says people should go with a good surgeon and not worry about where the incision is placed.

Today, a couple of weeks after the initial appointment, his PA is telling me that after the surgery he wants his patients to never squat nor deadlift again, because of the risk of posterior dislocation and incision breakdown. Also I should never press again because it's too much weight on the prosthesis. I asked her about why her boss thinks an anterior approach isn't as good for a muscular person, and whether I could deadlift and squat with an anterior incision. She said no deadlift, no squat with the anterior incision, either, because of the risk of dislocation.

I know the no pressing part is questionable, because strain on bone causes bone strengthening, and I'm unlikely ever to press enough to split the femur with the prosthetic rod.

How much weight do other guys in their 60s with a posterior incision hip replacement squat safely? Deadlift?

[rimack]

You'll know what you can do after about 2 months.
I'm 61 and Im 8 weeks (7/23) post-op from an anterior approach THR and haven't felt this good in years.
My surgeon, who I can not recommend enough!! https://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.or...ders/jasonjkim placed (ZERO) restrictions on my mobility on DAY 1 ...crossing legs, bending over, squatting down, sleeping on my side, tying my shoes etc. you name it. I understand very clearly not all Surgeons feel the same on this, I interviewed 4 of them before making my choice.
He did tell me not to do any more barbell squats and or dead-lifting, not because of possible dislocation but because they/it WILL wear out the prosthetic faster..Now do me and my new hip feel like we could squat and deadlift ? YES we do indeed but I have not done either YET. My recovery has been a 2 steps forward and 1 step back only because on the good days I end up pushing myself to hard and pay for it on the following days.... Its that good ! My rehab protocol has box squats in it and I now do them 1-2'' below parallel with kettbells and with no problem at all. I feel 85% - 90% of my normal self.... prior to having a painfully arthritic hip. AMAZING .
The broaching and fitting was all done under x-ray during surgery, I will try to add some pics.
My hip : Attention Required! | Cloudflare

Disclaimer:
Your mileage may vary.
Not having any restrictions put on you/me does NOT mean you should do it....or try it.

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