Life after a knee replacement does not mean you cannot live an active life. Sure you may not be snow boarding down the alps or, jumping from an airplane though I am sure you will find some people that have had a knee replaced may have tried it. It will not be recommended however. Your goal will be to live life again pain free and, to have your new knee replicate your original knee as much as possible. To get the knee to feel more like your own you also want to develop speed and coordination into the joint during your rehabilitation process. That can be done in three easy steps that is pain free and effective.
1. Marching In Place: During your rehabilitation process you will want to get some work in this area. You simply stand by the kitchen counter or somewhere were there is a stable structure and begin marching in place. You start out slowly then progress to a faster pace then, revert back to a slower pace again. Constantly changing marching speeds builds the speed and coordination in your knee and also helps you build endurance as well in the joint.
2. Power Walking: Once you have the ability to walk without an assistive device outdoors, it's good idea to start power walking. Stepping up your pace by taking smaller steps then follow with larger steps on a even surface like a sidewalk or outdoor track, you instill more coordination and proprioception in the knee itself. Power walking will not only build more flexibility, speed and coordination but, it will also develop more power in the surrounding muscles that encompass the knee. The larger steps are more for strength building, the smaller steps for speed.
3. Stationary Biking or Bicycle: The stationary bike in my opinion is the best exercise tool for a knee replacement on the market today. A bicycle also is great tool as well. Younger adults will benefit more from the bicycle as their balance will not be impaired as much as someone elderly for instance. The biking motion builds speed, coordination, and stamina in the quadriceps. Also the benefit of increasing the range of motion in your knee from the movement will pay dividends as well.
As a younger adult you plan on getting back to enjoying your life as soon as you can. By building the strength and coordination in your new knee or knee's, you improve your quality of life, get more out of the knee in regards to stamina, and, it will give you more of a natural feeling as if the knee never had been replaced.
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