Lifting After Broken Hip

[Kelli Nielson]

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I posted this to my Facebook page and was encouraged to post it here as well by the owner of the gym I attend who is also a Starting Strength Coach (Peter Nathan).

This is my mom. She'll be 70 in just over a month. Almost two years ago she fell and broke her hip. To be exact, she fractured the head of her femur off the shaft. She underwent a half hip replacement and a couple months of gentle physical therapy. It was determined that it had been an osteoporotic fracture. Due to lowered bone density she had been on Actonel for a couple years prior to her injury which resulted in her bones becoming brittle. She was angry as she had spent the last 30+ years regularly walking to try and avoid the osteoporosis that had plagued her own mother in her later years. After the surgery and therapy she was very afraid of doing things that contributed to her everyday life - climbing stairs, going for a walk etc. She was terrified of the possibility of another fall and more fractures. After all, falls are the first step in the down hill health slide in the vast majority of older adults. After many months of conversations and many articles expressing the science behind weightlifting and how it relates to bone health she decided to 'try out' strength training. In January of this year (2014) she walked into Gardiner Athletics for the very first time. She committed to a month and hated it. It was hard and it was something she had to work at. By the end of the first month she was doing half squats without support and no longer needed many of the assistance implements given to her in the hospital to 'make life easier'. This photo was taken two weeks ago. She dead lifts, presses and squats at weights that she NEVER deemed a possibility. Last week I convinced her she could do pull ups - and she did. Yesterday she bench pressed for the first time. Today I witnessed her literally JUMP out of the kiddie pool and chase down my crazy two-year-old who made a bee line for the deep pool during our morning outing. She did so without thought and WITH confidence that she could. She brags to her friends about the things she can do now - things like getting up off the ground just using her legs and having the stamina and strength to weed the entirety of her flower beds in one go. Grocery bags are no longer 'too heavy'. She is at the gym twice a week without fail and LOVES every second of it. She calls as soon as she gets home to tell me how great she feels and what she accomplished that day. I couldn't be more proud or impressed.

[Mark Rippetoe]

The most amazing thins is that your mom can deadlift with her body parallel to the ground. I can't do that.

Tell her we're proud of her, and proud of PJ.

[Kelli Nielson]

I found that quite impressive as well. I'm not well versed in forum use and could not figure out how to rotate it.