Do you train clients with Hip or Knee Arthritis? What about Hip & Knee Replacements?
Training clients with hip and knee arthritis or joint replacements is very different from creating exercise programs for other clients. First off, people with knee and hip arthritis are dealing with pain on a daily basis along with inflammation and joint detioration causing instability. Second, weight bearing on their joint whether it be hip or knee may be causing them pain which means weight bearing exercises will also cause pain limiting the exercises you can give them. Thirdly, the very nature of their osteoarthritis is creating changes in the joint which include a decrease in range of motion, declining strength, and therefore a decrease in overall function. All of these add up to major changes the fitness professional needs to keep in mind including the following: decreased cardiovascular conditioning, postural changes, balance issues, gait changes, and many muscular imbalances. These clients are dealing with a lot of body changes and as trainers we need to know how to deal with them and design exercise programs to help them.
What do Personal Trainers Need to Know About Joint Replacement Clients?
Your entire exercise program design will change dependent on whether your client is pre or post knee or hip replacement surgery. You see prior to surgery, people with arthritis are dealing with a lot of pain managed by pain killers. Weight bearing on their joint causes pain and therefore pre surgery, you will need to focus your strength program on non weight bearing strength exercises. Also prior to surgery they will be experiencing decreases in range of motion and stiffness in the joint. Your goal will be to maintain or prevent further loss of range and to oil their knee and hip joint with gentle range of motion exercises. Since pain is present, you will also need to use pain as the guide and only ever work through their pain free range of motion.
Post Hip & Knee Replacement Surgery Exercise Changes
After hip and knee replacement surgery, the exercise guidelines change due to the presence of a new implant, pain is generally decreased or gone, and now your client is able to weight bear without pain. You will still need to begin your clients with non weight bearing exercises to build up their strength, but now you will be able to gradually add in functional exercises.There are a few very strict range of motion restrictions and guidelines that must be adhered to for both the hip and knee replacement and we as trainers need to assign exercises with these in mind. These restrictions are in place to prevent hip dislocation and for the knee to minimize pain or complications.
Exercise Program Design & Exercise Training Principles for the Joint Replacement Client
Why is it we need to even train this niche group differently? With every client we train they come to us with their own set of health concerns, body aches, and current level of conditioning. After training hip and knee replacement clients for 15 years and developing exercise programs for hundreds of people pre and post joint replacement surgery, a consistent set of training principles emerged that really helped our client recover strong. Here are some of those training principles to help you with your own joint replacement clients:
- Touch Training
- Isometrics
- Closed Chain Exercises
- Unilateral Limb Training
- Muscle Isolation (Single Joint progress to Multi Joint Movement)
- Muscular Endurance
- Functional Training
- Myofascial Release
- Motor Pattern Retraining
Joint Replacement Course
Would you like to learn how to design safe, effective exercise programs for your hip and knee replacement clients? Discover the exact exercises your clients need to be doing pre and post surgery for both hip and knee replacement. You will learn how to design complete exercise programs for this niche group including exercises for the following: strength, range of motion, cardiovascular conditioning, gait, balance, core, function, and posture. Have you thought about or would you like to develop your own joint replacement group class? You will also learn everything you need to know as a template to set up your own group class for people pre and post knee and hip replacement.
To learn more about the Joint Replacement Course for Personal Trainers click here.
If you are someone with knee or hip arthritis or a joint replacement and want to learn more about exercises, you can visit us at Knee Replacement Exercises or Hip Replacement Exercises by clicking each link.
Jody Kennett has over 15 years experience training Joint Replacement clients and has a diploma in Kinesiology from Simon Fraser University along with being a certified ACE Medical Exercise Specialist. She is the creator of a 1 day workshop that includes a 100 page manual for Trainers on Training the Joint Replacement Client. In addition, she has developed an online exercise program for both knee and hip replacement pre and post operation.
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