Exercises to Avoid After Hip Replacement: A Gentle Guide

Recovering from hip surgery comes with real do-nots, so it makes sense to look up which exercises to avoid after hip replacement before you move much at all. The most important thing to understand first is that your specific precautions depend on your surgical approach, your implant, and your surgeon, so the instructions your own team gives you always come before any general guidance, including this page. What follows is general information to help you ask better questions, paired with a small, in-range lesson to clear with your physical therapist. Gentle, attentive movement of this kind sits at the heart of the Feldenkrais Method®, but after surgery it belongs firmly under your team's direction.

Hip replacement is common and increasingly so. StatPearls reports that more than 193,000 total hip arthroplasties are performed each year in the United States, with a projected growth of 170 percent by 2030 (StatPearls, 2023). With that many people recovering, clear, cautious guidance on what to ease off matters a great deal.

Why exercises to avoid after hip replacement vary by approach

There is no single universal list, and that surprises many people. Surgeons reach the hip through different approaches, and each leaves a different position vulnerable while the tissues heal. After a common posterior approach, teams often restrict bending the hip past roughly 90 degrees, crossing the operated leg over the midline, and turning the leg inward, because that combination is the one most likely to stress the new joint. After an anterior approach, the cautions can instead center on extending the hip back and turning the leg outward. Some modern techniques come with fewer restrictions altogether.

This is exactly why a generic checklist can mislead. The movement that is fine for one person may be the very one another person must avoid. The safe path is to follow the precise precautions and timeline your surgeon and physical therapist hand you, and to treat anything you read online, this page included, as background rather than instruction.

Movements commonly cautioned in early recovery

With that caveat front and center, a few movements show up often in early precautions, depending on approach. Deep hip flexion past about 90 degrees, such as deep squats, low chairs, or pulling the knee high toward the chest, is frequently limited. Crossing the legs or letting the knees drift together across the midline is commonly restricted. Certain rotations, inward or outward depending on approach, are often cautioned, which is why twisting on the planted leg is usually discouraged early. High-impact and heavy-loading exercise generally waits until later in recovery. Again, which of these applies to you is your team's call, not a website's.

This careful, in-range mindset is also the foundation of the Feldy program, where slow, small movement helps stiff or recovering areas rediscover comfort without strain. You can read more in our Feldypedia guide to the Feldenkrais Method, and once you are well clear of your surgical precautions, the program for knee or hip pain offers a gentle path for ongoing comfort alongside your clinician.

A gentle, in-range lesson to clear with your team

It keeps the operated hip well within typical safe ranges, asks nothing near deep flexion, and never lets the legs cross. Even so, please show it to your physical therapist and let them confirm it suits your approach and your stage of recovery before you try it. Move slowly, stay comfortably below any pain, and stop at once if anything pinches, pulls, or aches. The aim is not range or repetitions. It is to give a recovering hip friendly, low-pressure practice within the limits your team has set. If you would like a related companion for later, once you are well past your precautions, our exercises for pain in hip joint explore the same slow, attentive style. Throughout your recovery, your surgical team is the guide, and any movement you add stays in conversation with them.

Common Questions about exercises to avoid after hip replacement (FAQ)

What exercises should I avoid after a hip replacement?

Common early precautions include avoiding bending the hip past about 90 degrees, crossing the operated leg over the midline, and certain rotations, with the exact movements depending on your surgical approach. That usually rules out deep squats, full forward bends, sitting in low chairs, and twisting on the leg early on. Your surgical team sets your specific limits, and those come first.

Why do precautions differ from one person to another?

Precautions vary by surgical approach, implant type, and surgeon preference. A posterior approach often restricts deep flexion, crossing the leg, and inward rotation, while an anterior approach may restrict extension and outward rotation instead. Because the risky positions differ, you should follow the exact precautions your own team gives you rather than a general list.

When can I start moving again after hip replacement surgery?

Most teams have you moving gently within days, with specific precautions in place, and many ease restrictions after around six weeks as healing progresses. The timeline is set by your surgeon and physical therapist, not by a website. Always ask them before adding any new movement, including the gentle floor lesson here.

Are these gentle floor exercises safe after hip replacement?

Only if your surgical team clears them and you stay strictly within the range and rotations they allow. Show it to your physical therapist first and let them confirm it suits your approach and stage of recovery.

How is gentle movement different from a structured rehab program?

Your prescribed rehab from a physical therapist is tailored to your surgery and is the priority. Gentle, attentive movement like this can sit alongside it once cleared, helping you rebuild comfort and body awareness, but it never replaces the specific exercises and milestones your rehab team gives you.

When should I call my surgeon after a hip replacement?

Call your surgical team promptly if you have increasing pain, swelling, redness or warmth, fever, a wound that opens or drains, a sudden change in leg length or the leg turning outward, or a feeling that the hip has slipped or clunked. These can signal a problem that needs prompt attention rather than home movement.