how did it go? how are you feeling?
Great, thanks. I was back on my commuter bike (a GT Karakoram with flat pedals) within 5 weeks of the surgery and back clipped in on my Evo another 3 weeks after that. I’ve had 5 weeks of slowly building up to a few hours at a time, doing loads of strength and flexibility as well, and even with some tenderness from the operation, I feel better on the bike than I did when super fit but with the arthritis. It’s a bit frustrating having to go quite slowly for now, but boy do I love being back on my bike!!!
And the thing I’m really noticing is my sleep and recovery and general energy levels are better than ever before (according to my Whoop). Hopefully starting to train a bit more consistently in the next few weeks!
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Resurrecting this thread for my own purposes….. 
I had right total hip replacement 16 days ago following a bad fracture, and I’m told things are healing well. I’m on two crutches outside, 1-2 inside, and walking moderately each day; I’ve just reduced the outside walking today after sensing I’d overdone it a bit on the 3 days prior. I have a simple physio routine to follow 3x/day, plus a front hip stretch when needed that I found myself which helps relieve the incessant hip “tightness” I feel. I managed to find a way to safely climb onto my turbo today, flat pedals newly installed, and spent a few minutes just back pedalling. This felt fine, and I’ll repeat tomorrow for a bit longer and begin building this up before switching to forward pedalling at zero resistance.
My plan is to take things super steady and not push too hard on the recovery. From past experience with a different surgery, it’s very easy for fit & usually active people to overdo it and suffer a setback. Been there and done that 
, so hoping for a smoother journey this time…
Any input welcomed, especially from those who’ve gone before, of course!
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Appreciate the update as I’m getting total left hip replacement tomorrow. Please keep us posted on your continuing recovery.
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Likewise @rswagler1 - the very best of luck to you! 
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Hi everyone!
I’m now 9months in and feel better than I’ve ever felt. If you want specific details on what I’ve done to aid recovery, or a week by week breakdown of how my recovery went, please don’t hesitate to ask. But, to cut a long story short, you have every reason to be very optimistic!
All the best,
Rhys
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Hi Rhys, this is me asking… 
I understand everyone’s journey will be different, and that this journey may well resemble a random walk rather than a straight line progression, especially when viewed up-close, but nonetheless I’m interested in hearing how things went for you. Thanks!
Right, let’s go!
First off, I went hard on the protein supplements. I’ve used Whey for a while anyway, but added collagen to that, too. I also kept my diet free of white wheat and red meat to prevent extra inflammation.
Week 1: I was in bed (and it was pretty horrendous with pain). I as tripping out on the morphine and codeine so ditched them and relied on over the counter meds and ice packs.
Week 2: I was on crutches and slowly venturing out for a little bit each day on those, but mainly trying to do as little as possible aside from eat well, rest, and making sure to do those basic bum-squeezy / leg lifty exercises. It was still pretty rough.
Week 3: The was a quite miraculous improvement, and I was able to venture out much further on my crutches, and I was even going into work on the bus for an hour or so (I’m an artist, so ‘work’ then meant sitting and drawing). That typically left me exhausted.
Week 4 : This saw me walking around the house fine without help and even doing some very short walks outside, but still taking my crutches as back up, and even doing some very slow bike rides on my commuter bike (with flat pedals and seat slammed forward) to and from the studio. It was around then I noticed my hip flexors start to come back to life with leg raises.
Week 5: This was when I took another big leap and started to feel genuinely good and I was commuting slowly to work most days on my bike, but still pretty tired a lot.
Week 6: I was going out and doing hour long detours as part of my commute and getting stronger and more flexible.
Week 7: I got assessed by my surgeon who gave me the green light to clip in and get back on my Evo, and start to push my flexibility and hip strengthening routine.
From there I started doing two 1.5hour zone 1.5 rides a week with a small amount of indoor workouts, before building to two 2hour Z2 rides a week, and by week 12 I was back on a TR programme with VO2max intervals.
16 weeks later I bike-packed 250km in two days on my own and felt great.
22 weeks later and I could keep up with the As in the morning group ride.
I’m now on week 45 and I’m still seeing improvements week on week. I’m working hard on my range of motion and single leg strength, and generally feeling strong. I’m excited to see how this summer goes.
And the best of luck to you and your recovery!!!
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Good to hear a very positive anecdote and a great recovery 
I’m into week 3, and a miraculous improvement would be very welcome…
Very slow going at the mo, but today I managed to sit on the turbo for 10 mins: rocked pedals back & forth for a few mins, 5 minutes backpedalling, then 2 mins forward pedalling in a TR freeride at 22w.
Taking each day as it comes……
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i had written in my hip replacement experience above, i add that about 13 months after the surgery i had significant range of motion improvements and am now able to hold a lower position and be more aero on the bike. my walking still has issues, but i can now walk. before the surgery i could only walk about 0.5 miles at a time (with a cane) and my total walking within a day was limited, this past december, about 13 months after the surgery i was able to go on vacation with a lot of tourist walking. my leg still was uncomfortable at times, but i was able to do all the walking that i wanted, doing about 8-10 miles a day (broken up throughout the day.). i did not want to have this surgery and am not actually happy about having to have it, but my life is better and i am in less pain. my biking was better after the surgery than before.
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Thanks. Rading your report above, this part particularly stood out as relevant to me currently…
I’m experiencing quite a bit of knee pain on the injury side. My post-op swelling around the hip moved down my leg (under gravity) in the couple of weeks post-op, but the knee seems swollen again recently, with a lot of tightness when attempting to bend the knee.
As you helpfully reminded me in your anecdote, everyone’s healing journey differs (and you can’t “force it” else risk setbacks). I’ve definitely entered the miserable period where the medical attention and activity is diminishing but recovery progress seems glacial, with each day feeling Groundhog Day-like (appropriately ;). I realise this phase will pass, and at least we’re headed into spring and longer days rather than into winter!
I appreciate the input and tales from others who’ve been here before, and I’m pleased you’ve recovered well.
I am 65 and had a total hip replacement in August 2022. I was back on the turbo 7/8 weeks later. Just looked and I did 15 mins and averaged 86W.
I completed a full Masters race season in 2023 and participated in the UCI GF World Champs in Scotland. Hoping to reassure you that there is usually a good recovery and future.
I also know several very good Masters racers my age who have had Hip replacement.
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at the time that i wrote my first letter, i believed that the knee pain was related to the quad injury from the surgery. however, i eventually realized that, like you, the knee pain and restriction in movement was due to swelling behind the knee. the swelling was slow to abate. the knee had almost normal range of motion at 6 months out and it was back to normal range of motion 8 months out. at 6 months, i was pretty happy with the knee, but it continued to improved. when i had a minor hernia surgery years ago, the swelling didn’t completely resolve for about 6 months and that surgery was a big nothing compared to the hip replacement, so i should not have been surprised at how long the swelling to to subside. hope you feel better soon.
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Great to hear - this positivity is very welcome 
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I’m beginning to use the turbo daily-ish now, using Free Ride w/o’s in Resistance mode to permit really low wattages, slowly increasing duration and wattage across sessions…
….it all feels OK and easy. I’ve loosely pencilled in moving onto some TR AI Endurance w/o’s in a week’s time, should the current progress be maintained…
TR’s AIFTP and AIFTP Prediction are coming into their own now in providing me with some interesting insights as to the impact of a sudden stop in exercise for someone formerly very active. I just did an AIFTP prediction today, showing a drop from 250W 3-weeks ago to 210W today. Obviously, it’s purely academic currently as “mechanically”, and wisely, I’m not functioning anywhere remotely near that level at present! With no workouts in my Calendar for the next 4 weeks it modelled a drop to 150W - a 40% decrease from pre-surgery - which seems reasonable. Placing a not-unrealistic looking 3-week set of AI Endurance w/o’s onto my Calendar, commencing in 1 week’s time, and ranging from 30mins initially, up to a 1:15 sesh in the 4th week of the sim window, has the model forecasting in the 190-200W range. So a very big impact on stemming the decline that would otherwise occur.
I can’t stress enough that I’m not focusing on this number; the focus is sensible rehab and recovery, and I’ll be guided entirely by what feels the right thing to be doing. I had a surgery a number of years ago where, encouraged by the surgeon to go for it (he had no idea what folks like us are like! ), I ended up overdoing it, which set my recovery back quite a bit, and I’ve no intention of repeating that mistake again.
I’ve mentally pencilled in full mobility recovery 6 months post-surgery, and full fitness recovery in 12-months. I’m old enough that maintaining FTP from year-to-year is a challenge, so if in 12 months time I can be back in the ballpark of my pre-surgery fitness level I’d be very happy with that.
At present, pedalling is a lot easier than (crutch-assisted) walking, and for rehab purposes it seems very beneficial having a home trainer setup that will, fairly quickly, allow me to start doing sessions that provide an easy cardio workout to help me retain half-decent fitness (vs. normal punters), despite the injury and surgery. That’s got to aid recovery, not least by boosting mood and helping stay a bit more positive during this glacially slow journey of returning to normal life…
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One of the advantages of anterior is less likely to dislocate the new hip. More blood loss though. I had both hips replaced, one in 2015 and the other in 2019. I felt ten years younger after the surgery, no more limpimg around. No physical therapy required, doctor knew I was pretty active. Might need a shim for your cleats afterwards, the length can change a few mm.
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An update 9 days post op (anterior). Feeling pretty good and walking without a cane or crutches. Still having trouble sleeping. PT 3x a week that now includes leg press, leg extensions, and 10 minutes on the recumbent bike. My quad is still very sore and was tender to the touch for days after the surgery. Slowly getting better. (For reference I’m 63 and was doing 12 hrs/week of zone 2 for the month before the surgery.)
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Amazing to hear! - well done - and a much faster recovery than mine! Keep posting updates…
I’m now managing ~30mins on the turbo at ~20% of my pre-surgery FTP, but still on the crutches: 1 around home, 2 outside. Slow progress on the walking front, but hopefully it speeds up at some point. On the turbo, looking to progress to 45mins-1hr sometime next week. Each day as it comes.
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Which Hip Replacement method cuts the big muscle?
I can’t recall the name of it but it is the type I had. The Consultant said initial recovery was slower but long term it was usually better.
One factor for me is that my surgery arose because of an accident, in which the hip was fractured, so there’s additional trauma in the area relating to the incident that someone who’s had “planned” surgery won’t have had to deal with.
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