When you are about to have surgery, and you won’t be able to exercise for a while, sometimes people stop exercising before they even have the surgery because they think there is no point to it. If you are on bed rest for a few months and doing no exercise, you will lose strength and get weak because our bodies are made to move. You shouldn’t quit exercising before you have surgery unless your doctor tells you to do so, because exercising is not completely pointless, and I highly recommend people stay in shape and continue their exercise routine up until the day they have to stop. I am not currently expecting to have surgery, but I have had more than I can count, and if I were, I would continue exercising as long as possible. There are so many benefits to exercising prior to surgery, and if you don’t exercise prior to surgery, it could make your recovery harder than it has to be. Why do I continue exercising before I have a surgery, even if I know I am going to lose my progress? In this post, I am going to talk about why you shouldn’t give up on fitness before having a procedure.
It will decrease your risk for complications– If you are expecting to have surgery, it is so important that you get your health as good as it can be because it will lower the risk for complications. Regular exercise helps lower your resting heart rate and blood pressure, which is so important if you’re going under the knife because it puts less stress on your body, and it won’t have to work as hard. Fit people can have complications during surgery, but people who take care of themselves have a lower risk for complications than someone who never exercises and eats healthy. Bad things can happen during surgery to anyone, but a strong body doesn’t have to work as hard, which lowers your risk for life-threatening complications. It doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have complications because fit people can die during surgery, but it does lower the chances of that happening. Don’t quit exercising before having a procedure unless your doctor told you to, because the stronger your body is the less likely you will be to have life-threatening complications.
It will make your recovery easier- Before I had the original hip replacement surgery, I stopped exercising months before I had the surgery because my hip hurt and moving was painful. Hip replacement surgery is a hard and painful recovery, and I think it was a little harder than it would have been because I stopped exercising and was a little weaker. It would not have been an easy recovery if I continued to exercise, but it would have been a little easier. Before you have surgery, you want to get your body as strong as you possibly can because a weak body will make transfers twice as difficult. If I ever needed a second hip replacement, depending on my level of pain, I may have to modify some exercises, but I will not quit entirely. I know why I quit my leg exercises, but I have no idea why I stopped doing my upper body training, because I need my arms the most, and not exercising was my biggest regret. Don’t make your recovery harder than it has to be by letting your fitness go. Transfers are already hard enough with a physical disability, and you are not only making it hard on yourself when you let yourself get weak, but also making it more difficult for the person helping nurse you back to health, because you have to depend on them more.
You will be able to bounce back quicker- When I had hip replacement surgery I was not able to lift weights but a few weeks into my recovery, I started doing body weight arm exercises to maintain my strength. Exercise made a huge difference, because although I was probably not gaining as much strength as I would if I were lifting, but I was maintaining the strength I had. Walking after hip replacement surgery was hard at first because I was stuck in bed for three months and was weak, but I didn’t have a lot of setbacks with my upper-body strength because I continued to exercise even though it wasn’t at the same intensity. I am lifting heavier than I was before surgery, and I think it’s because I never stopped arm exercises. Exercise helps improve your metabolism, and you will be able to bounce back from illness or surgery a lot quicker when you make it a priority to take care of yourself before you become ill. I have had surgeries that I have recovered from a lot quicker than I thought I would, and am convinced it’s because I exercise and eat healthy before actually having the procedure.
It helps you have less pain- If you had a surgery and have an incision, exercising won’t necessarily eliminate the pain from that surgery, and only time does that. Regular exercise can help prevent joint pain that is unrelated to the surgery and is caused by weakness. Some people stop exercising because it is often believed people in pain shouldn’t exercise, but that is only true for some people, and sometimes your lack of movement is the reason you are in pain. Exercising prior to surgery can help prevent more pain because it keeps your body strong and is one of the most overlooked ways to improve pain. I don’t know about you, but I will do anything to not have more pain in addition to what I am already experiencing.
When you are expecting to have a surgery, sometimes people think that there is no point in exercising because you are just going to lose your progress anyway. It is true that you will lose some progress when you stop exercising, but you still shouldn’t quit because strength is not lost forever, and you can always get it back. When you lose fitness progress, it is frustrating because you work so hard to improve your strength but giving up on fitness will only make recovery time last twice as long. You can’t think about all the strength you are losing, but instead use that as motivation to push yourself hard when you recover. Exercising prior to a surgery seems pointless if you aren’t going to be able to exercise, but I promise you it’s not, and you will regret it if you don’t take care of yourself. It is so important to take care of yourself before having any procedure because you will have more positive health outcomes when you are healthier. Do you exercise before having a procedure, and why do you do it? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
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