Episode 28 – Transcendent Recovery and the New Hip Recovery Challenge
Welcome to The Hip Replacement Podcast, where recovery meets motivation and healing leads to a whole new lifestyle.
I'm Chris Bystriansky, your host. I'm an author, athlete, and double hip replacement patient. I've been through the surgeries, the setbacks, and the comebacks. And I'm here to help you do the same.
Each week, I'll bring you tips, tools, expert advice, and inspiring stories to help you take back your life one step at a time.
Thanks for joining The Hip Replacement Podcast. New hips, new you. Let's go.
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Welcome back to The Hip Replacement Podcast. I'm Chris Bystriansky, your host. I'm also a two-time hip replacement patient. One more than 10 years ago and the other one more than 12 years ago. And I'm here to share my experiences with you.
And I'm also an endurance athlete, avid golfer, and living proof that recovery doesn't end when your surgeon gives you the thumbs up. That's really just the initial recovery. Real recovery begins when you decide to take control and that your life is worth leveling up because mediocrity is no longer the standard. Being passive in life and in your long-term recovery is no longer good enough.
Today's episode really has a mission. It's bigger than exercises. It's bigger than range of motion. It's about renewal. It's about outliving the doubts that surgery can leave behind. The fear, the loneliness, the loss of confidence, and stepping into what I call a transcendent recovery. And I'll explain what that is shortly.
And in this type of recovery, it's one that doesn't return you to your old life, but launches you into an even better one.
And near the end, I'm going to invite you into something I'm very excited about, and we'll get to that. I think it's going to help a lot of people. I'll make you an offer, but only if you want to see it.
You can stop listening or watching this podcast at any time and go about your day. But if you want to hear about the offer and if the offer makes sense to you, then you're going to want to take advantage of the offer. And on the other hand, if the offer does not make sense to you, then you won't want to take advantage of it. And that's okay, too.
But first, you came for real talk, real guidance, and real value. So, that's exactly what we're going to do today.
So, let's jump in. Let's get going.
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I want you to imagine yourself six months after surgery. Or maybe you're past that already. And if you're past that, think about where you are right now.
The scars may be healed. The X-rays look clean. The physical therapist has signed off and maybe the surgeon, too.
And yet there may be a voice that remains inside your head that says, "What now?"
Maybe that voice sounds like fear. Will my hip hold up?
Or insecurity. Am I too old to do something meaningful?
Or isolation. Nobody around me really gets this.
Or exhaustion. I don't have the time or energy to chase fitness or health anymore.
Or even sadness. I feel stuck. My best years might be behind me. I'm just going to live my life as is.
If you're nodding your head right now, because I was, I've answered all of those questions after my recovery, during the first several months and years after my replacement surgeries.
So, if you're nodding your head right now or if you're having any doubts about your future, I want you to take a breath, just pause and hear me clearly.
Those voices in your head, they're not wisdom. Those voices are not reality.
That voice is simply the echo of the trauma and the surprise that you went through, the anesthesia, the pain, the loss of mobility, the uncertainty, a body that felt foreign for a while.
Even when the body begins to recover, the mind sometimes stays in protection mode too long. And it takes something external like a shock or some type of an experience to pull you out of that resignation that your life at your age and your condition is on a downward trend. We have to pull you out of that.
After surgery, many patients share the same quiet fears. I've had all of these.
The patients are scared to reinjure the new hip, feeling like they can't keep up anymore, losing motivation, lacking confidence, feeling alone in the process, uncertain about how far they can realistically push themselves and not get injured, feeling not motivated or simply I'm not good enough.
Or the best one yet I've heard it sucks to get old.
And the irony is most people never even say these things out loud, but they're buried deep in their subconscious.
They just shrink their lives. They pull back.
One canceled walk. One outing with friends missed. One skipped game of golf. One avoided flight. One reluctance to travel. One missed special event with family. One forgotten dream at a time.
It goes on and on and on and people spiral and they're not living the life that they can possibly live after a hip replacement surgery.
And this is the worst unspoken feeling or emotion is this.
I'm not worth getting strong, healthy, and active. I'm simply not worth it.
Or I didn't want to get healthy or do something big and meaningful anyway with my life, so I'll just live the way I am.
Well, I'm here to tell you that you are definitely worth it. We are all worth it. And we all have contributions to make to ourselves, to those around us, and to the world.
So instead of feeling like that, feeling down, feeling worthless, feeling like you're never going to get back, what if instead of shrinking your life, maybe to protect your hip, maybe to mask some low confidence in yourself, maybe instead you grew a life big enough to honor your survival and the rest of your potential for the rest of your life.
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Let me tell you something personal.
12 years ago when I got my first hip replaced and then 10 years ago when I had my second hip replaced, there was no podcast for me. I didn't listen to anything. It wasn't available.
There was no community. There was no blueprint of something for me to follow. All I had was the simple guidance of the surgeon and a physical therapist.
So basically there was just uncertainty and a big question mark for my future.
I wanted an exceptional life but thought that was no longer possible. So I was aiming low in life and that was totally foreign for me. I was giving up and I was resigning to my new reality so to speak.
It was terrible when I was entertaining the idea of having a hip replacement surgery. Not because I wanted to, but because I was sick and tired of the pain and not being able to walk even a short distance. And I was really afraid of the top of my femur just crumbling at the wrong time and place as if there were a right time and place for that to happen.
When all of that was going on, I went to see three different surgeons because I wanted different opinions. I didn't believe what I was hearing.
And I asked them all the same question. I asked them a lot of questions, but this one question stood out to me that I remember asking all of them.
And here's the question.
Will I be able to be active again and do things like running or golfing or just living a full life?
One of the surgeons said limited activity with no running.
Another surgeon said moderate activity with limited running.
And the third surgeon said, you have no restrictions.
And I was like, what the hell?
How can three surgeons give me three different answers?
What was I supposed to do with those three very different answers?
Where was I supposed to put my trust?
Which one of you is telling me the truth?
Or which one of you was the most accurate?
Can I or can I not do these things?
I didn't know what to do.
But I moved forward because I figured whatever the answer was, it was better than how I was living at the time.
And don't get me wrong, the doctors and the therapists are heroes, but heroes of early or initial recovery only, not of long-term recovery.
But at that moment when I heard those surgeons say those words that I definitely needed a hip replacement, what I was really hearing was that there was a boundary put around my life that I did not want to accept.
I wanted an active life. I had kids. I had young kids. I wanted to be active and I wanted a life where I wouldn't feel embarrassed and broken as a human being, as a person, as a husband, as a father, as a friend.
But you know what I did with that desire for an active life?
I buried it. Yeah, I buried it.
I thought, well, as long as I can walk around and not be a burden to my family, to my wife, to my family, to my kids, eventually that would be good enough. I can live with that.
I would say that that was the low point of my life, giving up on the things that I hope to do with my life because of this damn hip replacement or the need for a hip replacement.
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But after several months of physical therapy in a clinic and at home every day, I finally started to see some results.
I started to sense a smidge of confidence and some potential.
And as soon as I started to see some results, I started asking, "What if?"
What if I could walk farther?
What if I could golf again?
What if I could eliminate this limp and all signs of my hip replacement?
What if I could be a better version of myself than I was before this damn pain derailed me?
I didn't ask those questions out of arrogance, but out of self-respect.
The surgeon and physical therapists put me back to normal. All I had to do was follow their instructions and do what they told me to do. And I did that.
But then I decided that just getting back to normal was not the goal anymore. It wasn't good enough.
As I was progressing, I wanted more.
I didn't just want to be put back to where I was before the pain derailed me.
You know, early in life, my mom told me a long time ago when I was just a little boy that I was very, very difficult to satisfy, that nothing was good enough for me.
And I have to tell you something that I have to agree with her.
And that trait maybe helped me to recover in a way that gave me back or put me in a position for the life that I wanted to have eventually after a hip replacement surgery for the rest of my life.
So maybe something that was a negative when I was a kid was a very big positive later in my
life. And maybe it saved me. Maybe my attitude saved me. I don't know.
Anyway, I scrapped this concept of getting back to normal and I wanted to put myself and my life into the exceptional category. A renewal was the new goal.
And look, I wasn't special. I was just stubborn in the right direction.
And I wanted to really stick it to the normal people. Normal people. All the people who were on paper more physically capable with more potential than I had, but who were failing to live full lives.
It looked to me that these normal people were throwing away their potential, having two perfectly good hips, doing nothing special with them.
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Fast forward to now after hip replacements, after physical therapy, after living the life, after having a different mindset, after being around people who I wanted to emulate.
I've completed two iron man triathlons and other endurance events.
I regularly play golf and walk the whole round.
I cycle. I travel without fear. I live actively.
And my new normal would embarrass my old normal because normal is not the standard anymore.
I've opened my eyes because of the surgery. But I have to earn it. It's not easy.
By learning and doing different things over the past 12 years to help keep my hips and body healthy so I can live a great life and do whatever I want.
I have to earn it every day.
I didn't just recover from hip replacement.
I outshined a version of myself that never even had surgery.
And that's what's possible for you too. That's what's possible for everybody if they just get around people and get people to help you and be active in your recovery.
I outshine myself not because of IRONMAN triathlons having special standards for people with hip replacements. They don't.
There's one standard.
Everyone, regardless of whatever they bring to the table, good or bad, has the same standard.
I love that about the triathlons because you cannot take the easy way out. You cannot strive for something less or a lower bar. You strive for the same as everyone else who is at that high level.
Did IRONMAN lower the bar for me because I had artificial hips? Nope.
They cared about only a few very simple things.
Show up and get to the start line.
Progress.
No exceptions. No excuses.
Get to the finish line.
There's one standard.
And do you think that the cyclists and the triathletes who inspired me back then five years ago plus five, six, seven years ago, cared about any excuses I had about my hips? Nope.
And now that's my standard for you, too. That's my standard for everybody who's had a hip replacement surgery.
You can do more.
It's a standard for everyone listening or watching this can have for themselves.
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So, over the past 12 years, I developed tricks or things I do to address the aches and pains. And I've talked about them in different podcast episodes, and I do those things to stay strong and flexible and stay also mentally strong and positive because the mindset is a major thing.
It is a major thing that drives success and the yearning for something better and that it's a possibility for me or for you or for anyone because life sometimes can be hard and having hips replaced. This ain't easy.
If you think recovery is over once the surgeon and physical therapist sign off on you a few months or even a year after surgery, that's not the case at all.
And you're in for a huge shock if you think they sign off and then you go about your merry way for the rest of your life.
I had a great team of doctors and therapists. And if I don't do what I do on a regular basis, even today, I would have been in and out of the doctor's office and physical therapist clinics wondering what's wrong with me, what went wrong with the surgery, and I'd be experiencing pain and loss of control and confidence.
So, here it is, the framework that carried me from doubt to dominance and keeps me there.
I call this the fundamentals of a transcendent recovery.
The fundamentals of a transcendent recovery.
And transcendent means emerging from something difficult with a better quality of life than before.
Not just a return to where you were before, but a rise beyond where you were before.
So, here's four simple steps.
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Number one, get a coach or a mentor.
Find someone who has actually walked the path ahead of you. Someone who has been where you are now, survived it, and achieved something meaningful afterward.
When I started with the physical therapist, my early coaches were the physical therapists.
So when I started right after surgery or a couple weeks after surgery of being at home and then I went into the physical therapy clinics, my early coaches were the physical therapists and they were amazing.
But eventually when I was done with them, eventually my coaches were serious cyclists and IRONMAN triathletes.
And let me tell you that shift matters.
Not because they knew anything about hips, but because they knew how to extract greatness despite discomfort or pain or sacrifice or weather or this excuse or that excuse.
A coach doesn't lower expectations because the journey gets hard.
A coach tells you something like this.
I don't care why you think you can't or you won't. I care that you can, and I will guide you.
The best coaches show up when it gets the hardest. When things aren't going great, when you really need guidance and maybe you don't even know you need guidance, that is when great coaches show up.
I remember when I hired my first triathlon coach, and this is to get ready for an Iron Man, and she asked me if I could be in the pool at 5:30 a.m. for our first session.
And I laughed over the phone, thinking back as embarrassing now.
I laughed thinking that it was a joke because it sounded so absurd.
5:30 in the water.
That means I got to be up by like 4:30 or 4:45, leave by 5, drive to the pool, change, get in the water by 5:30.
But guess where I was at 5:30 for our first session.
And that was the new standard.
Show up and do the work because it will help you achieve your end goal.
The coach showed me the way and reframed my mindset. Something that would not have happened if it weren't for her.
Get a coach or a mentor. If it's me, great. If it's not me, that's great, too. Just get somebody.
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Step two, surround yourself with exceptionable exceptional people.
Recovery gets easier when you're standing next to people doing harder things than you are.
Years ago, I joined groups where people were participating at a high level, much higher than I was at the time.
This one Saturday morning, I was driving away from my house on the way to the golf course, and I came upon a group of about 20 cyclists riding down the road in a tight, organized formation.
We all had to stop at a traffic light and I had my windows down on the car and I asked them where they started, what time they started, and if I could join them someday.
They said they do a ride every Saturday morning starting at 7:00 a.m. and they started about one mile from my house at a newly opened or a recently opened bicycle shop.
I didn't know why I didn't see them before, but this was the first time I ever saw them.
I started riding with them a few weeks later, and the rides were between 60 and 70 miles each week.
I got crushed most of the time because they were good, and some of them were even former professionals.
I rode with them for years.
I was a decent cyclist to start with, but I got better.
My technique improved. I learned some skills. I got stronger. I grew as a cyclist.
That was the cycling experience and group I needed to cement the idea that I could ultimately do an IRONMAN Triathlon.
Environment beats self-talk.
Excellence is contagious.
Surround yourself with exceptional people.
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Number three, do the fundamentals.
Too many times, people focus on big things, aspirational things. They get ahead of themselves. They get over their skis. They want to be at level 10, forgetting that levels one through nine are required first because these are the foundations to get to level 10.
You've seen stuff on social media, I'll bet, about people going out, running, doing these massive things shortly after surgery.
That's something that they had to work up to and they were probably working up to that way before surgery. They probably had a history of doing those things.
They've already done the fundamentals.
Therapy, movement, stretching, walking, strength exercises, sleep, nutrition, hydration, consistency.
These are the unsexy things that unbreak your body and build you back up healthy, flexible, and strong and allow you to do the sexy things later.
These are the fundamentals.
Small hinges can swing big doors.
If you want to run a marathon or something longer, hike up a mountain, or experience that once in a-lifetime vacation or trip, you probably should be doing the little things to take care of yourself and your hip when you're all alone and no one is holding you accountable.
The fundamentals will make or break your success over time.
Not doing these things will come back to haunt you.
Do the fundamentals.
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Step four, do the extras.
Here's where transcendence lives, where back to normal becomes exceptional.
The way to get faster is to practice moving faster.
The way to get stronger is to stress your muscles beyond basic load.
The way to gain confidence is to do something that scares you.
Not reckless, just progressive pressure increasing.
A 10-kilometer goal, walking or running, for example, is not about doing the distance.
It's about proving that you are not behind, that you are in the process of becoming a better version of yourself, that you can accomplish.
You don't need to match my 10K or my iron man triathlon distances.
You need to challenge your current identity because your current identity is different than it was yesterday and it's different than it will be tomorrow.
Ordinary people just have a recovery.
Exceptional people have a renewal.
Build yourself a comeback story worth telling.
Do the extras for a transcendent recovery.
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I decided long ago surgery didn't happen to me. It happened for me.
It gave me urgency, purpose, and structure, and the right to demand more from the rest of my life.
Now, let's talk about time, shall we?
The most valuable asset in life is not money, gold, or the titanium or ceramic hip you may have. It's the years that hip replacement gives back to you.
Most hip patients I talk to are in their 40s, 50s, or 60s. And by the way, the age for hip replacement patients is trending younger, and it has for a long time.
Let's run the math emotionally and not numerically.
You likely have 20, 30, or even 40 years left to live, maybe more.
You have decades.
What can go on during those decades?
Weddings, adventures, vacations, hikes, long airport walks, golf rounds, pickle ball games, dancing, romance, you name it.
So the question is not can you recover from hip replacement.
The question is can you recover into the strongest era of your life?
Because some of you listening are walking around healed but not renewed or not at peace with what happened.
Physically better maybe but not great and maybe even a little mentally stalled in your life.
When the surgeons and physical therapists are done with you, you're not done. You're just unsupervised.
And unsupervised can either mean a slow decay by chance, if you do nothing and are passive about recovery, or intentional renewal by challenge and being active in your development.
You decide what it means.
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This is the space that my new program was created to fill.
I want to invite you to learn more about my new program. It's called the New Hip Recovery Challenge.
It's a path, a framework, and an expectation that your recovery is not about survival or getting back to normal.
It's about elevating your life so you can live and experience everything more fully during the time you have left.
It's about doing the fundamentals with consistency and the extras with intention.
It's about pulling your life forward and the belief that you can become, yes, become the healthiest, most mobile, most energized person in your circle, the beacon, not the patient.
You won't be known as the person who had the surgery.
You'll be known as the person who refused to disappear afterward, the one who stepped into mastery.
The hip replacement will be known as your renewal point, not your ending point or the starting point of your downward trend in life.
And some of you will want to walk step by step with me down the path for a transcendent recovery.
That is exactly why I created the new hip recovery challenge.
So, I invite you to stay with me for a few more minutes to hear about this offer.
The new hip recovery challenge is a 2 week structured experience specifically designed for people who are more than six months postsurgery, healed, but not yet fulfilled or convinced about their potential, who are craving guidance, momentum, community, and a goal that pulls them forward.
The experience includes six video sessions, each about 30 minutes, covering strength, mindset, nutrition, recovery strategy, walking, and running form, plus an endurance success blueprint that I put together over the years that you can use for recovery, fitness, and life's many other challenges beyond the hip.
See, it just doesn't apply to endurance events. It applies to hip recovery as well as any other challenge you face in life because it's all the same. The concepts of overcoming a challenge or achieving something exceptional are the same.
You also get a two week step-by-step plan to build stamina and confidence toward completing a 10 kilometer walk or run.
And if a 10k is too long or too short, then you select whatever personalized distance pushes you without breaking you.
There are also options to go deeper if that fits your personality and goals.
And there are three options to experience the new hip recovery challenge depending upon your preference or how you like to learn or engage.
Option one is a self-guided option.
All six lessons are video lessons. Guide books and daily inspirations are included.
You go at your own pace. You take your time. It's your challenge and you have access for 30 days.
This self-guided option is option one and the cost is $97 US.
Option number two, this is the VIP access option.
And with VIP access, you get everything in option one, plus you get six live group calls with me and full access to our private online community of other participants for 30 days.
During the live group calls, you can ask questions and interact with me and others who selected this option.
This VIP access option is $497 US.
And then there's option three.
This is one-on-one with me for 30 days. This is the highest level and has the most access to me.
If you're someone who always wants the best seats, the biggest hotel room, the most premium premium thing available, this is it.
The one-on-one option includes everything in options one and two and also up to 30 personal calls with me, video or audio calls with me.
I'll show you exactly what I do each day for a month and explain why I do those things.
You can sync your activities with me, ask questions, and get answers about hips, recovery, stretches, exercises, endurance, all the things for an exceptional recovery and lifestyle.
With up to 30 calls of 30 minutes each, that's 15 hours of one-on-one time with me.
Your recovery synced to your life, what fits you best.
This sets you up for total accountability and total mastery in 30 days.
And listen, if you're thinking, "Look, only elite athletes need coaching like this."
That's not entirely true because elite coaching helps ordinary people do extraordinary things, exceptional things. That's the point.
This one-on-one coaching option with 15 hours of access to me is $9,997 US.
Some of you will want this level of guidance and support. That's why I made it available.
These options are not just to help you recover or walk again. That's the role of the surgeon and the physical therapists.
The options in the new hip recovery challenge are available to you to propel your life higher and further than before.
Not just recover, but excel.
Whatever you decide to do, don't lower the standards for the rest of your life because of your hip replacement.
The standards should be and can be upgraded or higher than before because life is being renewed.
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So do this for me. No pressure, just direction.
If today's episode lit a spark in you, even a small one, that whisper that says, "Maybe there's something more for me," then honor that.
Click the link in this podcast episode description in the show notes below, or you can go to chrisbystransky.com and go to the programs page to find out more info on the New Hip Recovery Challenge and sign up there.
Just read the details and if it resonates with you, then I invite you to join me in the new hip recovery challenge.
Not because you need me to get back to normal or help you get back to your old normal, but because some part of you knows you're not done becoming who you could be.
You know there's more in life for you.
We kick off in less than one week and the doors close soon because this is a live cohort moving together through the first two weeks of the program.
You'll have access for a full 30 days, but we move forward together during the first two weeks and then you can use the rest of the time to review the materials as you wish.
It all starts by showing up.
One standard, one community, one finish.
So here's the truth.
You walked into this episode needing even if you didn't know it, you still have so much life left to live.
Don't let your recovery story end at painfree or back to normal.
Don't let that be the end or the best you have.
Don't settle in life. There's no need for that.
Allow your best to expand to be limitree.
Let the new hip recovery challenge become the era you talk about 10 years from now.
The moment you stepped into your renewal.
I'm offering you the opportunity to claim something today.
Your comeback, your mastery.
You're 20 plus years ahead of you and even more.
You are meant for more than just a recovery.
And think about this. If you don't maximize your new hip and your health and your life from here going forward, not only will your life be impacted, but those around you will be impacted as well.
Think about who you can show up better for if you're at your best.
Maybe your family, your friends, maybe even your pets.
It might not feel like life or death, but your life and your level of success ripples to those around you forever.
I beg you, if you don't maximize with me, if this program isn't for you, and that's okay.
I'll be here with more podcast episodes.
But if I'm not the right person to help you reach your higher level, then get with someone else who is.
Get around others who inspire you, who guide you, and who make you better than you were yesterday.
Don't go it alone.
It's okay if I'm not the right person for you. I'm not going to take it personally, but get with someone.
Lace up, step outside, and choose the challenging path.
Take that next step forward.
I hope to see you soon at the starting line of the new hip recovery challenge.
Be inspired, be renewed, and be exceptional.
Thanks so much for tuning in to The Hip Replacement Podcast, and until next time, I wish you the best recovery possible.
Keep moving, keep strengthening, keep showing up because your hip may be new, but the quality of life ahead of it, that part is up to you.
Take care.
