RETURN TO RIDING

Stationary cycling appears in nearly every post-replacement and arthritis rehabilitation plan because it gives you controlled, non-impact, repeatable movement with your body weight supported. You can dose it precisely: five minutes with no resistance is a real prescription, and so is 20 minutes at 90 watts six weeks later.

• No impact, no landing, nothing to twist or catch.
• Load adjusted to the watt, and you can stop instantly.
• Encourages joint range of movement without forcing it.
• Builds the quadriceps and glutes that support the new or arthritic joint.
• Aerobic fitness returns without asking anything of the joint it cannot give.

1. Get explicit clearance from your surgeon or physiotherapist, and ask specifically about stationary cycling versus riding outdoors.
2. Ask about range limits. Many hip replacement patients are advised to avoid deep hip flexion early on, which affects saddle height and bar height.
3. Set the bike up upright: bars high and close, saddle slightly higher than usual so the knee and hip do not have to bend as far.
4. Consider shorter cranks. Going from 175mm to 165mm noticeably reduces how far the hip and knee have to bend on every stroke.
5. Start on an indoor trainer or stationary bike, not on the road. Mounting, unclipping, traffic and balance are separate skills to rebuild later.

Adjust the timings to whatever your clinical team allows. The pattern matters more than the numbers: extend duration first, add resistance last.

The principles

• Short and frequent beats long and occasional. Daily 15 minutes is better than one hour on Sunday.
• Low resistance, comfortable cadence. High force is what irritates an arthritic joint, not the movement.
• Warm up longer than you think — 10 minutes of almost nothing before anything else.
• Expect some stiffness at the start of a ride that eases as you go. That pattern is normal and usually improves with consistency.
• Accept a slightly variable baseline. Some days the joint is grumpier, and the answer is a shorter easier ride, not a rest month.

The traffic light

The same logic applies to anyone rebuilding: fitness returns faster than tendons and joints adapt. Ride at an easy, conversational effort for two to three weeks before you touch intervals, add about 10% duration a week, and put one genuinely easy week in every third week. If you have been ill, wait until you are symptom-free for a few days, then start at half your previous volume.

Set your rider profile with a conservative FTP — guess low; you can always raise it. Then use the coached ride with a recovery or easy endurance session so the target wattage stays low and visible on screen, and keep the coach on its gentlest setting so it nudges rather than shouts. Watch the timeline afterwards: the honest test of a return ride is whether the power line stayed flat and boring.

• Set a low FTP so easy zones really are easy.
• Pick the shortest recovery session and finish it rather than extending it.
• Turn the coach chattiness down, and leave swearing off.
• Skip arcade mode while you are ramping up — the prizes are designed to make you dig, which is exactly what you do not want yet.