What is Pre-Surgical Personal Training?

Building strength, increasing your mobility, and becoming physically more stable prior to any orthopedic surgery makes for an easier recovery. The more strength you build before an operation, the better your body can adapt and heal. If you go into surgery lacking strength around the affected joint or muscle, you are at a higher risk for reinjury during your recovery. With the help of Holly Gatto, a top personal trainer in Pittsburgh, we’re going to be learning about the benefits of building strength and managing your weight prior to surgery. Let’s get started!

Getting Started with Pre-Surgical or Post-Surgical Personal Training

Find out from experienced personal trainer in Pittsburgh, Holly Gatto, how to begin pre-surgical personal training

Holly works with clients with any type of joint surgery, either pre or post-operation. To get started as a new client, you must provide clear guidelines from your surgeon or physical therapist. When you seek personal training services after a surgery, the first step is to check with your doctor and obtain a medical clearance. This clearance establishes a baseline and a framework from which your trainer can develop a strength training program. Your medical clearance helps your personal trainer in Pittsburgh keep you safe and establishes any contraindications. In some instances, you may need a medical clearance to work with a personal trainer before surgery, as well. Just in case, you should ask your surgeon or physical therapist for a clearance before you begin surgery-related personal training.

How Can Personal Training Pre-Surgery Help Recovery?

Undergoing surgery is hard on your body. Working with a personal trainer in Pittsburgh can make the recovery process faster and easier

Any type of surgery is invasive and will affect your strength until completely healed. In the case of orthopedic surgeries, there are different ways muscles, tendons, and ligaments are reattached. These types of operations affect the strength, mobility, and the stability of the joint. 

When you opt for pre-surgery training, you can get on top of your recovery before surgery by building strength around the affected muscles or tendons. Your personal trainer will develop your strength training program around this. Then, after surgery, you can continue personal training and as you regain complete mobility. As you attend further follow up visits with your surgeon, you can eventually begin exercising without restrictions. When you train with Holly Gatto, she can develop a continuous program that is progressive and results oriented.  

Why is it Beneficial to Lose Weight Before Certain Surgeries?

When it comes to procedures like knee replacements, losing weight before surgery can assist your recovery and mobility

Many people seek out personal trainers to get help with weight loss prior to surgery or to help prevent a surgery. For example, it is beneficial to lose eight before a surgery like a bilateral knee replacement. Bilateral, meaning that both knees need to be replaced. This is major surgery that takes a long time to recover from and is often complicated. 

Some surgeons will require an individual to lose a specific amount of weight before a bilateral knee replacement surgery. A joint replacement involves removing all or part of a joint that is damaged. Then the replacement, called a prosthesis, is installed. The prosthesis allows movement and helps with limitations in function, effectively “replacing” your joint. Since the materials used in the prosthetic can wear out over time, some surgeons specify a requirement for body weight before the surgery can begin.

If you need to lose weight for a possible surgery, it is beneficial to work with a personal trainer on a weight loss program involving strength, flexibility, and stability training.  When you work with Holly Gatto, a top Pittsburgh personal trainer, your programming will also involve dietary changes and lifestyle modifications to encourage weight loss.

Sometimes, when people decide to pursue pre-surgical personal training, they begin to feel better without the need for surgery. Some realize that their joints are feeling better or that they can stand for longer periods of time. In certain cases, these individuals end up making the decision to delay surgery since their activity and range of motion has already increased.

How Does Getting Fit Pre-Surgery Prevent Future Injuries?

With the help of a Holly Gatto, a personal trainer in Pittsburgh, you can build strength and avoid injury

Some people seek out a personal trainer in Pittsburgh because they have a surgery scheduled and they want to be back to normal activity as quickly as possible. They’re correct! By increasing your strength before surgery, you can recover more quickly. Let’s take a look at an example from Holly Gatto on how critical pre-surgery personal training can be for recovery:

“I recently had a conversation with a physical therapist about total hip replacements. The physical therapist commented that physical therapy isn’t always prescribed postoperatively. When postoperative physical therapy isn’t prescribed, these individuals have two choices. They either pay for a trained physical therapist to treat them out of pocket, which can get expensive. Or, they go about their daily lives without any strength, mobility, or stability training. People who are not given any postoperative training or physical therapy are at a high risk for reinjury. Once these individuals are cleared to exercise by their physician without any limitations, I can work with them on an effective strength training program.”

• Holly Gatto

As you can see, losing weight and strength training before and after surgery can be essential to a fast recovery. With a personal trainer in Pittsburgh like Holly Gatto, you can start building strength, losing weight, and making lifestyle changes before or after surgery. Ready to get started? Get in touch with Holly Gatto Fitness or download the free Health Habits Guideline to start working towards your fitness goals today!