Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Research Report: Aquatic Exercise Aids Recovery After Knee Replacement
If you've had knee replacement surgery, a pool-based resistance-training program for rehabilitation may help increase your muscle power.
Researchers studied the effects of an aquatic resistance training program in 50 men and women, age 55 to 75 years, who had had one knee replaced four to 18 months earlier. Twenty six participants exercised twice weekly for 12 weeks, performing an eight-minute warm-up, 30 to 40 minutes of resistance training and a five-minute cool down. The others were encouraged to maintain their normal level of physical activity. At the start of the study, there were no differences between the groups in terms of habitual walking time and stair climbing time.
At the end of the study, habitual walking time was 9 percent faster and stair-climbing time was 15 percent faster for those in the aquatic program. Significant improvements in knee extensor power and knee flexor power also were reported for the aquatics group.
Even if it's been a while since your knee replacement surgery, you may benefit from an aquatic resistance training program like this one, and water is an ideal place to exercise because it reduces stress on the joints.
Reported in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Volume 91, page 833)
Posted in Arthritis on October 24, 2011
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