Exercises for After a Hip Arthroscopy

Finding exercises that don’t include your hip feels impossible. At least in my experience. All abdominal exercises and even some arm exercises include the hip. Now I’m not a personal trainer or a physical therapist. I have absolutely no qualifications to tell you how you should or shouldn’t exercise. I’m simply putting this out there because it took around ten hours of google and youtube searching to find exercises. I wanted to recondition my body without involving my hip.

• Crunches

Crunches are a great exercise when you want to work on your abs. It’s the only exercise that I’ve found to be applicable to my situation. I tried a sit up and let me tell you….that was painful. I don’t know how it’s possible for a hip to be involved in so much but it is. If you don’t know, a crunch is much like a sit up but it doesn’t involve going all the way up. An easy google search can give you a lot of pictures and tutorials. Some people get fancy with their crunches. Their legs are up in the air or their twisting from side to side. That’s probably not going to work for you but you can always try. 

• Running Arms

That’s not a proper name but it’s a good description of what the exercise is. Again, I have no qualifications. None. At. All. All you do is use dumbbells and motion with your arms as if you’re running. I use this because my end goal is to be able to run and it’s a good way to train for that. It can seem easy if you’re not tensing the right part of your muscle but it gives the shoulders and arms a good burn.

• Lift Weights Over Head

If you have other health conditions be careful with this. I tend to pass out when I lift weights, which I don’t understand. That’s a separate issue. Lifting weights over your head can be a great way to engage your core. I wanted to focus on my abs but core strengthening was where we ended up. Pop sugar or Love Sweat Fitness on Youtube have great videos. They will help guide these exercises, as there are lots of ways to go about this.

• Throw Punches

This is one I like for mental health purposes. I’ve always loved the idea of boxing. Again, I would look up videos for proper guidance on how to go about this. I find it helpful to get your shoulders burning. 

I need to say it one more time. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m writing this article because I was desperate to find exercises and it seemed impossible. Every workout video on youtube I’ve found includes an exercise that involves the hip. Reconditioning is something that is very important for my mental and physical health. Where I’m at in my surgery recovery, I try to bike ten minutes and then do these exercises for twenty to thirty minutes. This gets my heart rate up and I can sweat and feel like I had a legitimate workout. I hope this is helpful and you’re doing well on your hip arthroscopy journey.