Total Hip Replacement Exercises

Home Exercise Program after Total Hip Replacement

This blog post will cover the 9 basic exercises you can do after you’ve had a total hip replacement. These exercises should start the day that you have surgery and beyond. If it’s been about 8-12 weeks and you still haven’t achieved your full recovery, please give us a call and we can help you get there.

Watch as Kristen, our Registered Kinesiologist demonstrates some exercises to enhance flexibility, rebuild strength, and restore your hip’s range of motion.

Ankle Pumps

• Sitting up on a bed or sofa with your legs in front of you 
• Bring your toes towards you and then away from you
• Repeat this 10 times 

Heel Slide

• Start by lying down on your back with your feet flat on the bed
• 1 leg at a time, you’re going to slide your heel out as far as you can
• Then bring your heel back to the starting position
• Aim for 8-10 reps for each leg

Glute Squeeze

• Start by lying on your back
• Try to activate your glute muscles by squeezing your bum, you will feel your hips raise up
• Hold for 3-5 seconds and then relax

Hip Abductions

• Start by lying down with both legs straight 
• Slide out one leg, away from your body and then bring it back to starting position
• Repeat this with the same leg for 8-10 repetitions, then switch to the other leg

Quad Activation

• Start by sitting up straight on the bed with your legs in front of you
• Straighten one of your legs as much as you can, feeling your quad turn on, your heel should lift up slightly, hold for 3-5 seconds and then relax
• You can also think of it as wanting to press the back of your knee into the bed
• If you’re having trouble with this, you can place a small towel under your knee and try pressing your knee into the towel, that should help lift up your heel a bit more

Straight Leg Raises

• Start with both legs straight out while lying on your back on your bed
• While keeping your leg straight, lift one leg up and then lower it back down
• You should be feeling the top of your leg work
• Repeat this 8-10 times on each leg

Standing Knee Raise

• Stand beside a wall, holding on with one hand for support
• Lift one knee up at a time as high as you can to your chest and then back down
• Alternate each leg, aiming for 8-10 repetitions on each side

Standing Hip Abduction

• Stand beside a wall, using an arm against the wall for support
• Balance on one leg as you lift your leg that’s furthest away from the wall away from your body
• Bring it back to starting position
• Repeat this 8-10 times, and then switch legs by moving around and using the other arm for support against the wall

Standing Hip Extensions

• Stand in front of wall with your hands resting on it for support
• One leg at a time, kick your foot out behind your body and then bring it back in
• Make sure your leg is straight, repeat this 8-10 times on each leg

Check out the video below to follow along with the exercises in real time.

Exercises