Yesterday marked 6 months from my hip replacement. So today I celebrated by biking 29 miles (almost all hills). My hips are definitely feeling better than they have for years. All that remains is range-of-motion and even that seems to have been improving lately.
It has been quite a while since I have posted anything to this blog. I blame software limitations that have made it more difficult to post. But the real problem is that I have been very busy and also just haven’t seen any spikes in my progress worth reporting. But since it has been so long since I have written anything here, I am happy to report that I am MUCH better than a few months ago!
I have been going to the gym 1 to 3 times each week. My arms are stronger than they have ever been. But my legs are still off their peak. But mostly it is just a range-of-motion issue now. Limited range leg presses are fine, for example. My left side is no longer showing any noticeable lack of strength as compared to my right. But the flexibility disparity is still sustantial.
I have also been biking a lot. I invested in a used road bike, since my mountain bike was just slowing me down way too much on the longer distance road rides I’ve been going on. I’ve been putting in about 40-50 miles each week recently. I have a 50 mile charity bike ride in July. My goal is to do significantly better than my time last year. I am pretty sure I will. I am feeling SO much better than this time last year.
I have also been increasing my Karate training intensity and frequency. I still can’t do many kicks above hip height. But at least my form and strength are coming back. My lack of flexibility is frustrating. But I do continue to improve in almost all areas from week-to-week. Small gains; but better than nothing.