The best exercises after hip surgery are not necessarily the hardest ones. Early recovery is about restoring safe movement – getting out of bed, standing from a chair, walking through the home, and using the bathroom without feeling unsteady. The right routine supports healing while gradually rebuilding the leg strength, balance, and confidence needed for everyday life.
Your surgeon’s instructions always come first. A total hip replacement, hip fracture repair, resurfacing procedure, and arthroscopic hip surgery can each have different timelines and movement precautions. A physical therapist can help match exercises to your procedure, pain level, weight-bearing status, and home setup so you are progressing without overdoing it.
Start With Your Hip Precautions
Before beginning any exercise, confirm what movements your surgeon wants you to avoid. Some people are told not to bend the hip past 90 degrees, cross their legs, or turn the operated leg inward. These precautions are more common after certain hip replacement approaches, but recommendations vary by surgeon and procedure.
If you had a fracture repair, you may also have specific limits on how much weight you can place through the leg. Do not assume that an exercise is safe simply because it was helpful for someone else. Your recovery plan should reflect your surgical instructions and the way you move in your own home.
A mild pulling sensation, muscle fatigue, or temporary soreness can be normal as activity increases. Sharp pain, increasing swelling, a feeling that the hip is slipping, new numbness, calf pain, chest pain, shortness of breath, fever, or drainage from the incision should be reported promptly to your surgeon or medical team.
Best Exercises After Hip Surgery for Early Mobility
In the first days and weeks, many exercises are performed lying down or sitting in a sturdy chair. These movements help circulation, reduce stiffness, and wake up the muscles that support your hip and knee. Move slowly, breathe normally, and stop if pain becomes sharp or significantly worsens.
Ankle Pumps
While lying down or sitting with your legs supported, point your toes away from you and then pull them back toward your shins. This simple movement encourages circulation in the lower legs and is often useful after periods of sitting or resting. Aim for a comfortable, steady rhythm rather than forcing a large range of motion.
Quad Sets
Lie with the operated leg straight and gently tighten the muscles on the front of your thigh, as though you are trying to press the back of your knee into the bed. Hold for a few seconds, then relax. Strong quadriceps muscles make standing, walking, and climbing steps easier.
Glute Sets
With your legs resting comfortably, gently squeeze your buttock muscles together and release. This activates muscles that help stabilize the hip when you stand and walk. It is a small movement, but it can be especially helpful when the hip feels weak after surgery.
Heel Slides
While lying on your back, slide the heel of your operated leg toward your buttocks, bending the knee only as far as your surgeon or therapist has allowed. Then slowly slide it back out. Keep the leg in line with your body rather than letting the knee roll inward or outward.
Supported Hip Abduction
Lie on your back with your legs straight. Keeping your kneecap pointed toward the ceiling, slowly slide the operated leg out to the side and back to center. Do not cross the midline of your body. This exercise targets the muscles on the outside of the hip, which are essential for steady walking.
Building Strength for Standing and Walking
As pain, swelling, and surgical restrictions allow, recovery shifts toward movements that resemble daily activities. These are often the exercises that make the biggest difference when someone wants to move safely around the kitchen, get up from a favorite chair, or walk to the mailbox.
Seated Knee Extensions
Sit in a firm chair with your feet supported. Slowly straighten one knee, pause briefly, and lower the foot with control. Begin with the operated side if it is comfortable, then complete the other side as instructed. Avoid slamming the foot down or leaning far back in the chair.
Sit-to-Stands
Practice standing up from a stable chair with armrests, following any hip precautions you have been given. Scoot forward without bending beyond your allowed range, place your feet securely, and push up through the armrests as needed. At first, a walker or caregiver may be nearby for safety.
This exercise is highly practical because standing from a chair is required throughout the day. The goal is not to eliminate arm support immediately. The goal is to perform the transfer safely and with increasing control.
Standing Marches
Hold a sturdy counter or walker and slowly lift one foot a few inches from the floor, then return it with control. Alternate legs. Keep your trunk upright rather than leaning heavily to one side. Marching can help improve hip flexor strength and prepare you for smoother stepping during walking.
Mini Squats at the Counter
With both hands on a stable counter, bend your knees and hips slightly as if beginning to sit down, then straighten back up. Keep the movement small and within your precautions. Your knees should track in the same direction as your toes, without collapsing inward.
Side Steps
When cleared by your therapist, stand at a counter and take small steps sideways, one direction at a time. Keep your toes facing forward and avoid crossing one foot in front of the other. Side stepping strengthens the muscles that stabilize the pelvis, which can reduce the tendency to limp or sway while walking.
Walking Is an Exercise Too
Short, frequent walks are often more useful than one long walk that leaves you exhausted. Follow your prescribed weight-bearing instructions and use your walker, cane, or other device exactly as recommended. Trying to walk without a device before you are ready can increase the risk of a fall and reinforce poor movement patterns.
In the home, walking practice should include real situations: turning near the bathroom door, navigating a narrow hallway, getting around a bed, and carrying out safe transitions from room to room. These details matter because recovery is not only about walking farther. It is about walking safely where you live.
A physical therapist may adjust the height of your walker, teach the correct sequence for stepping, and identify rugs, cords, pets, poor lighting, or low furniture that could create a fall risk. For many older adults, that home-based guidance is just as valuable as the exercises themselves.
How Much Exercise Is Enough?
The right amount depends on the procedure, your strength before surgery, and how your hip responds afterward. Many early exercises are prescribed in small sets several times a day, while walking is built up gradually. More is not always better. A session that causes significant pain, limping that lasts for hours, or increased swelling later that day may mean the activity level needs to be adjusted.
Keep an eye on your overall response. Are you moving more easily from bed to chair? Is walking becoming smoother? Are you needing less help with dressing, meals, or bathroom trips? Functional progress is often a better measure than trying to reach a certain number of repetitions quickly.
Why One-on-One Therapy at Home Helps
After hip surgery, the safest exercise may look different in a ranch home than in a second-floor apartment, and different again for someone managing Parkinson’s disease, prior stroke symptoms, arthritis, or a history of falls. A personalized plan accounts for all of it.
At Evolution Home Physical Therapy, one-on-one visits allow a therapist to evaluate your walking path, transfers, stairs, assistive device use, and daily routines in the place where recovery is happening. Portable equipment can be brought to the home, and treatment can be coordinated with your physician as your needs change.
For family caregivers, this approach can provide practical reassurance. You can see how your loved one should get in and out of a chair, move through the bathroom, manage steps, and use a walker safely. That clear guidance can reduce uncertainty during a demanding recovery period.
The strongest recovery plan is one you can follow consistently without feeling frightened or overwhelmed. Start with the movements you have been cleared to do, protect the healing hip, and let steady improvements in everyday tasks guide the next step forward.