You can't even look at it that way.
Just take the hit- get the surgery over with, and work on hitting 100% strength and fitness as you are able.
How much of a hit are you taking by training with a nagging injury? Probably plenty? Are you doing more damage? Likely-

yes, you can return to your previous level of fitness, most likely. Just be patient; this will be a journey for you, with unexpected turns. count your blessings (you CAN be surgically repaired, and recover, etc), and use this time to work around your rehab'ing area. This can be a productive time for you, in ways other than simply training. at 56, yes, you can recover and do what you love again. Best wishes to you. I'm your age, see you out there in time. keep us posted.

How much was the hip limiting you and for how long?

I would recommend that you rebuild the house from the ground up and do some significant strength and flexibility work and taper in the bike if that is ultimately your primary goal. You may be surprised of what you have been neglecting for years and the benefits.

The bike will come back easy as you are describing yourself as a racer I will assume that is accurate description of your training history on the bike. I think at later ages and extended time-off in conjunction with a surgery like yours ends up taking a piece of running potential first, but the bike assuming no restrictive pain or motion should be no problem.

Thanks for the feedback. Surgery-wise, I expect to make a full recovery. What bothers me, and there's no getting around it, is the "don't use it, lose it" concept of 6 months off of serious training. Will I see a permanent VO2 Max drop (something I can't get back with training)? In other words, what "permanent" consequences, if any, are there with 6 months of detraining for a 56 year-old? This is a rhetorical question in that I'm going to have the surgery regardless of the answer, but I just want to know what I'm getting myself into. The risk of not having the surgery is pain and it's affects on training and racing, and the "possibility" of making the hip joint worse, and thus increasing the risk of arthritis and the need for a total hip replacement sooner than later. Weighing these risks, and knowing I'm a good candidate for labral surgery (no signs of arthritis) despite my age, the surgery will likely result in a better long-term outcome than waiting or foregoing the surgery.

Michael

Aside from a normal age related change for a half a year in the 6th decade of life (1/2%)...none.

Seriously, though the point of the question without knowing your training history is there could be some upside with better mechanics/pain relief, opportunity to rebuild from time off... that could net you to be in better performance condition, say a year from surgery.

Good Luck!

I lacerated my kidney a few years aback in my early 50's. I had to do zero exercise for 6 months. It took a while to get back into shape but it's part of the journey as we get older.

The mistake I made was being in a rush, I felt like my time was running out and I hurried back into racing. If I had it to do over I'd have taken the better part of a year with minimal racing and lots of strength and mobility work.

As we get older, the question is not can we get back the fitness we had when we were younger, but being happy to even being out there at all.

I see many who no longer race, or get upset, because they cannot do what they used to when they were younger. I set a new PR for my age at every race. I could care less how is compares to the past.

Enjoy the down time. Put some focus on the family. I know when I dealt with issues when I was hit by a car in the vineman race, it was a time I spent doing lots of stuff with the wife.

Good luck.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

The big positive is that I can focus on strength and mobility work; that will be good for me.

Michael

Thanks. I don't morn the fact that I'm getting older, and I realize performance drops with time. That doesn't bother me. However, does a sedentary lifestyle exacerbates that performance drop (even a short 6 month timeframe), especially for older folk? So, I'm wanting to know if a 6 month layoff from aerobic intensity results in a bigger drop in performance, say in 3-4 years, than would be had if that 6 month layoff didn't happen? In other words, after training and getting back into shape after my layoff, will the effect of my layoff have a permanent hit to my performance, physiologically, than if I hadn't had the layoff? Will my performance drop be greater 3 years from now, all else being equal, than if I hadn't had the layoff?

This is more of an academic and informative question than one of practicality, since I'm having the surgery. I am looking long term. My goal is to continue to train and race well into my 80's and beyond. Yes. I won't be as fast as I am today, but I'd like to stay competitive with my age peers. And yes. My wife will probably appreciate the less time I'll be on the bike.

Michael

I hate to be a buzz-kill, but I crashed and compressed a vertebrae (maybe two, based on later X-rays) when I was about your age. Total time away from any regular exercise was not quite 4 mo. It's now 3 y later, and my fitness (FTP, estimated VO2max) is still down >20% from where it was before crashing, despite training just as much (and similarly) as before. Still, I have not yet given up on my bucket list goal of "60 at age 60" (which was well within reach before).

Hello Michael,

I have a partially torn rotator cuff and partially torn bicep and like you am very concerned about taking the time off and subsequently attempting to regain fitness. I can still swim although not as well as I formerly could. I have put off having the surgery and have been trying to strengthen my shoulder with exercise.

Several years ago when I was 61 I underwent heart bypass surgery. I recovered and continue to race but have never recovered to where I was prior to the surgery. I often wonder why. . . is it ineffective training? Is it aging? Or is it the result of the surgery? These are the academic questions with which I struggle. I have not found nor am I sure if there are any reliable answers. Everyone is different, and our bodies respond differently.

If I decide to have shoulder surgery, I'll go in in good physical condition. In rehab, I'll work with a PT and rehab as well as I can. I might not be able to use my shoulder but there are many ways to work on cardiovascular and strengthening other parts of my body. And when my shoulder heals to the point I can swim again, I'll work hard at strengthening it.

I don't think you need to be sedentary as you recover. I think that if you work with what is possible for you, you will return to fitness or nearly as good fitness in a relatively short time.

Steve

I had 3 months of almost complete inactivity at age 42, and there was a time I had the same concern, that I had permanently lost something that I would never get back. However, I did eventually exceed my pre-accident performance, the first time that happened was approx 18 months after resuming training. But 56 is very different to 42, I know that because I know that 46 is very different to 42!

However... could you retain cardiovascular fitness with upper body exercise, e.g. swimming with a pull buoy and being careful when turning?

 I know a bike racer who had the same surgery at age 57 or 58 and this fall became multiple world champion on the velodrome (again). DidnÂ’t affect him. And another +50 yo female bike racer also had the surgery and is back racing just as fast as ever.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

One reason I try to never stop training since I believe, with no data, as we get older, it goes quicker, and comes back more slowly, if at all, and if one can stop from being hurt.

BUT, racing and slow at age is better than the folks I see that cannot even walk up a flight of stairs.

But there is a point in life where times, speed, etc. really mean nothing. It is just being out moving forward and that is all that really matters.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

My background is cycling and I discovered triathlon late in life at 59 with a couple of HIMs and several Olys under my belt prior to a scary illness at the age of 62. Before my life altering "event" I had competed reasonably well in my AG and would describe myself as a MOP.

I had a complete 6 month layoff due to a severe nervous condition which left me in pretty rough shape. I didn't think I would ever return to a normal life let alone to the competitive lifestyle I had enjoyed previously. Fortunately I made a complete recovery thanks to a smart doctor and a simple operation.

To make a long story short I am now 66 and stronger than I was prior to my layoff. Like the OP I was concerned I would never make it back to where I was. The return to my former fitness level took about 6 months. It was frustrating and tedious at times but it happened. Since my condition was nerve related (as opposed to joint or muscular) there were no "body parts" that needed to heal which may have slowed the process. In my case it was strictly regaining my strength and aerobic fitness.

I guess it's a crap shoot as to how I will fair with extended downtime. Perhaps I'll be able to circumvent that downtime with cross-training (e.g., swimming), where I may be able to get in some intensity, albeit at a minimum of 8 weeks post-surgery. After 12 weeks I should be able to put in some long, slow miles on a trainer (not much fun), but I'll at least be able to rack up a lot of base miles and develop mitochondria cellular growth.

Michael

Are you referring to a sub-60 minute 40K TT when you say "60 at age 60"?

No. My goal since my post-doc days has been to have a VO2max of 60 mL/min/kg at age 60. I did a 51:52 40 km at age 50, so to break the hour wouldn't be much of a goal unless it were at sea level on a Merckx-era road bike.

As some other's have suggested, and I hope I'm not being rude - this is the wrong way to look at it.

You need to get your hip healthy - that is priority #1. Focus on that first, then worry about what the down-stream ramifications are.

The good news, is that if you have been a life-long endurance sports athlete ie - 20+ years of training, you have this massive base of fitness that takes a very long time to go away. Yes - you will loose some with the down-time for the surgery and the rehab, but assuming you will be able to get back to "normal" riding/training, and you get a full green-light to do whatever you want, you may be surprised at how quickly it all comes back.

I'm 56, and my fitness goes up and down. I have a bad back, and sometimes, when the back is bad, I'll have to take a month or more off from riding. However, when I do ramp it up and all is going good - I do surprise myself, at how quickly I can get back into a good level of fitness. Not win-races-fitness, but hang in there on a fast 100K with the boys level of fitness. And these days, that's all that really matters to me!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Good to know - I was thinking a 60 minute 40K wouldn't be too hard to accomplish. Now, a 60mL/min/kg VO2max at age 60 would be quite an accomplishment. I'm afraid to think what's going to happen to my age 55 62.6mL/min/kg VO2max (sea level; 56mL/min/kg at 7000ft elevation; from a UCCS study of VO2 max and altitude) after I recover from surgery. I'd be thrilled with a "60 at age 60"!

Michael

First things first. Get the surgery and do ALL of the recovery. Second, don't set a timetable on return to "fitness". I did and it hurt me, and often. I would try to go back and do things just like I never missed a beat and found that I started experiencing all kinds of other types of injuries, including torn calf muscles that were not ready for the levels of work I asked of them. I spent quite a few years trying to hurry back into fitness, and stayed injured. And before my crash in 2009, I was NEVER injured, so I had this bad idea that I could keep doing things the way I always did them. If I could run a mile, then 10 or 15 sounded fine. Except they weren't after 9 months of surgery and rehab. My surgery was in 2012. It was really just a year ago that I finally put together enough real, injury-free training to run a fast marathon, and then this year returned to multisport training. Mine is a cautionary tale. Get the surgery. Do ALL of the rehab and recovery. And reset your brain (or hire someone else's to manage yours) to start simple, easy, and well back on the scale of training. I've seen people do it the right way and be back at a good level within 2 years. I've seen others try to rush like me and it has ended up similar to mine. We're not getting younger, eh?

That said...I'm now running and riding very near my old levels, plus a bit of age, particularly on the bike. I've lost a step running, but that's more due to age than any lingering effects of injury and/or surgery.

It's a journey. Take time to enjoy the process...

I had my rotator cuff repaired in July of this year. The bicep was completely torn and thus not re-attached at the shoulder. That being said, my recovery is going very well. My only regret is that I received some bad advice from a sports medicine doc, and I didnÂ’t pursue a second opinion quickly enough. I would have done this much sooner and avoided the complete tear of the bicep tendon.
PM me if you have any questions.