I am a 66 YO female who has been strength training for 3 months. I recently had an accident (not gym related) and had a total hip replacement.

Any suggestions on how to restart my lower body strength training without injury. I get conflicting answers from physical therapy and the ortho physician. I know my precautions but am concerned about the amount of weight. 6 weeks ago I was 131 lbs and squatting 135 lbs with no problem. I have lost 10-12 lbs since surgery (probably mostly muscle mass)
Does anyone have any experience with someone who has had a total hip replacement?

Ask your physical therapist to assess the range of motion appropriate now and how much you can expect to improve.

First off is to regain mobility of the hip which you can do on an upright stationary bike. Begin easy just rocking back and forth without going all the way around in a full cycle until you can comfortably progress to that level.

Also, if you're cleared by your doc to begin weight bearing exercise then start doing body weight based movements in standing positions such as 1/4 depth static squat holds for 30 sec progressing to sets of 10 reps at that depth, bent over cable rows at 1/4 depth squat and even standing press patterns.

It's important to avoid putting too much stress on your hip right now. So, I would be careful about loading exercises and exceeding your range of motion.

Right now you just want to re-condition the muscles of your hips and lower body and prepare those muscle for progressive work as you regain your hip mobility.

As you do so you should be able to progress to deeper squats over time. Always keep your doc updated on which exercises are appropriate and not appropriate and how you're progressing.

I hope this helps,

Kevin Yates

http://www.functionaltrainingcoach.com

<a href="http://www.yatesperformancetraining.com">YatesPerformanceTraining.com</a>