How Exercises After Hip Replacement Surgery Can Speed Your Recovery

Your recovery from a hip replacement doesn’t end when you leave the hospital. Every movement you make in the initial hours, days, and weeks after you get out of the hospital bed plays a role in your recovery from a hip replacement. Your prescribed exercises will improve balance, restore strength in the muscles that support your hip, and extend the range of motion in your new hip.

Many patients don’t even need a walker within the first week and can transition to a cane, says Elie Mansour, MD, a Yale Medicine orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in hip and knee replacement and reconstruction. “You can be walking without any assistive devices by two weeks after surgery, though this can vary by individual.”

Hip replacement surgery is a medical procedure that involves replacing a damaged or worn hip joint with an artificial one, usually made of metal, ceramic, or plastic. The goal of this surgery is to alleviate pain, improve mobility, and enhance the quality of life for those suffering from hip joint disorders, injuries, arthritis, or a combination of all three.

Current research shows that you can put weight on your new hip as soon as you feel up for it. But your first time walking should be supervised by a physical therapy team or nursing staff to make sure you’re steady and safe.

You’ll have regular sessions with your therapist throughout your hospital stay, and you’ll continue with PT for at least a few weeks to a couple of months or more after discharge. The setting for your physical therapy depends on a few different factors. The most important one is whether you’re mobile and stable enough to go home on your own or with a family member.

Before discharge, you’ll decide with your care team which type of physical therapy is best for you. Your options, depending on insurance coverage, may include:

• An inpatient rehabilitation facility, where you’ll have physical therapy every day to help accelerate your recovery and get you ready to move on your own at home.

• Physical therapy at home with a therapist who comes to you.

• Physical therapy at an outpatient center that you go to for each session.

All of these methods will help get you where you need to be physically, Dr. Mansour notes, but if you have a choice, he reminds patients that they’ll have access to the best equipment at an outpatient facility, not in their home.

Whether you have PT at home or at a physical therapy center, expect about three sessions a week that last a half-hour to an hour. On your “off days,” you’ll do exercises on your own or with a caregiver at home.

Depending on how your recovery goes, Dr. Mansour says patients should expect to be in PT for 6 to 12weeks.

After that time frame, your physical therapist may tell you that you can drop down to fewer sessions per week, or you may even be cleared to stop formal sessions and simply continue the exercises on your own at home.

After a hip replacement, every exercise you do in your PT sessions will target one or more of the following objectives:

• Regaining your balance on your new hip
• Strengthening the muscles around your hip, including the flexors for lifting your leg, the extensors for pushing it back, and the abuductors for moving it to the side
• Reaching the full range of motion in your new hip

Regaining balance

You might be unsteady after surgery. Balance is critical to getting you back home and resuming your life. So balance will be the first order of business with your physical therapist.

When you’re ready, your therapist might have you stand on one leg (usually starting with 20 to 30 seconds to a minute and progressing to longer periods) near a counter so that you can grab it if you need support.

You may also try what’s called a three-way stance: You hold onto a counter or your walker, then extend the leg behind you, to the side, and then to the front. With your therapist’s supervision, you might march in place or do mini-squats.

“Recent evidence supports substantially reducing restrictions for most primary total hip replacement,” Dr. Mansour says.

Strengthening your glutes

Your glutes—the group of muscles that form your buttocks—are the main muscles that support your hips and the movements that come from them. You’ll need to strengthen them in order to be stable on your new hip and use it to its fullest potential.

“Your glutes are the most crucial muscle group to strengthen after total hip replacement as they improve pelvic stability and gait balance,” Dr. Mansour says.

Your physical therapist will provide specific glute-strengthening exercises that are safe and appropriate for you. One option may be to lie on the floor and squeeze, hold, and release your glutes several times.

Increasing range of motion

Range of motion, which can be active or passive, refers to the full movement potential of a joint; it’s the angle in a specific direction a joint can move. After a hip replacement, the range of motion you use will increase gradually over the first few weeks. It’s important to do only the prescribed range-of-motion exercises while your hip is still healing to reduce the risk of dislocation.

Make sure you understand what you should and should not do as part of your at-home exercises and day-to-day activities. Also check with your physical therapist to make sure you have the proper form when you do your exercises.

After primary total hip replacement, you can expect your range of motion to return to a normal, functional level within three to six months. Your walking speed and stride should feel like they’re back to their baseline by the three-month mark, Dr. Mansour says.

“Most people can return to low-impact activities such as cycling, walking, and swimming within three months of surgery,” Dr. Mansour says. “Moderate-impact activities like hiking and doubles tennis will take three to six months, and high-impact activities like singles tennis, jogging, or skiing are recommended after six months of surgery.”

This article was originally published on December 3, 2024. It was updated on April 21, 2026.