exercising before surgery
It is important to be as fit as possible before undergoing a total joint replacement. This will make your recovery much faster. Eight exercises are shown below that you should start doing now and continue until your surgery. You should be able to do them in 15-20 minutes, and it is recommended that you do all of them twice a day. It is not harmful for you to do more. Consider this as a minimum amount of exercise prior to your surgery.
Also, remember that you need to strengthen your entire body, not just your leg. It is very important that you strengthen your arms by doing the arm chair push-ups because you will be relying on your arms to help you get in and out of bed, in and out of a chair, walk, and to do your exercises post-operatively. Stop any exercises that are too painful.
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Pre-op Exercise Plan |
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|
Exercise |
Duration |
Frequency |
|
Ankle pumps
|
20 reps. |
2 times/day |
|
Quad sets (knee push-downs) |
10 reps. |
2 times/day |
|
Gluteal sets (butt squeezes) |
10 reps. |
2 times day |
|
Hip abduction and
adduction |
10 reps. |
2 times/day |
|
Heel slides |
20 reps. |
2 times/day |
|
Short arc quads |
10 reps. |
2 times/day |
|
Long arc quads
|
10 reps. |
2 times/day |
|
Arm chair push-ups
|
5-10 reps. |
2 times/day |
