Vernon senior advocates exercise before and after surgery for a speedy recovery

Exercise for the health of it

Don MacLeod is on the fast track to recovery.

A few weeks ago, the 70-year-old Vernon man had to have his right knee replaced, which is no minor surgery, and the long-time personal trainer has been making a remarkable recovery

Doctors have told him he is healing in half the time it takes most people.

MacLeod does not have any special regenerative powers, but he has been physically active for decades, something he points to for his speedy recovery.

“I would recommend for anybody to go to the gym,” said MacLeod who leads senior exercise classes at Snap Fitness. “This is for your health. You don't have to be a body builder.”

When MacLeod learned he would need to have his knee replaced, he immediately began an exercise routine that would help post surgery.

“You should be working out and getting ready for it and then you will be recovering a lot quicker,” he said.

In the years MacLeod has been a personal trainer, he has seen a huge post-surgery difference between people who exercise and people who don't.

“After their surgeries, if they have never done anything before, it's a lot of hard work and a long time to get them to recover,” he said. “When I get the people who are coming to the gym and getting a program...and they work on it from four to six months they recover so much faster.”

Since his operation, MacLeod has been doing physiotherapy exercises three days a week and is expected to make a full recovery much sooner than most.