P90X and Hip Replacement Recovery: a Highly Unscientific Study

We just got back from a week's ski vacation in Sunday River, Maine. I took a week's hiatus from P09X, meaning I suspended the program for a week after Sunday's X-Stretch. I counted the day's skiing as a workout from Monday-Friday, did an extra Yoga-X on Saturday after our drive home, and then completed the AMW run tonight before supper. Tomorrow morning I'll start Week 7 of the program, picking up where I left off. I'm looking forward to it!

The week of family skiing was marred by a fairly serious accident, as my mother was injured on the slopes during a lesson on Monday morning. She ended up being evacuated by the ski patrol and taken by ambulance to the hospital in Norway, Maine. She was diagnosed with a broken hip, and on Tuesday morning she had a full hip replacement.

By Tuesday afternoon she was already feeling infinitely better. Thursday she was discharged from the hospital and had dinner with us in our condominium. Friday and Saturday my dad drove her and her newly installed hardware back to Nova Scotia, where she is now recovering at home.

This is somewhat faster than a normal recovery time from a hip replacement. My mother will be 64 in July, and has suffered from aggressive rheumatoid arthritis since she was in her 30s. There is no doubt that both of those factors contributed to the severity of the break. But the doctors agree that what facilitated her recovery was her exceptional fitness. She has remained very active througout her life, in spite of her arthritis, and has spent the last few months doing P90X with my dad in their basement gym. She has much stronger muscles than the average hip replacement patient, and that's allowed her to get back on her feet in record time.

So if you are collecting reasons for keeping up this challenge — and for continuing the committment way beyond these 224 days — you can add that to the list.

Here's hoping that metal joint doesn't slow you down too much, mom!

Week Five Recap

The home gym can get a little steamed up on a cold morning.

The CKC New Years Fitness Challenge continues, and we're still going strong. It's not too late to join in! From my perspective, there was a lot to feel good about this week.

Week 5 of P90X brings the return of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, a result of what the creators call "muscle confusion." In essence, the program introduces a whole collection of unfamiliar exercises in week 5. It's not nearly as painful as week one, but it hurts ... "in a good way," as Tony Horton likes to say. Monday was one-arm pushup day. Wednesday was corn-cob pull up day (also known as "pterodactyl day" for those who haven't put Tony on mute just yet). It was the first week I did all the workouts in my home "gym" instead of a hotel, the first week I could more or less match Tony's crew on Ab Ripper X, and the first week I did more than 100 pull ups during the Legs & Back routine. I see from the CKC challenge page that Kim Crumpton is looking for a chin-up challenge … not sure that is a fair fight Kim, but I'll put that marker out there for now :-)

This week also felt like the first week of "real winter" in Nova Scotia. Saturdays are running days for me (I always skip the P90X Kenpo routine) and this weekend we were all in the New Glasgow area for a hockey tournament. I did get out at 7 a.m. for a slow 10k in bitter, snow-covered conditions. I've put the route on the map. By the way, I want to encourage challengers to use the map — especially those of you who don't live in the Halifax area, or those of you who are working out and travelling. Let's represent the geography of CKC's fitness more accurately! If you want to do it but don't know how, leave a comment!