If you’ve had a hip replacement and still haven’t regained your confidence – in your strength, your steadiness, your ability to just get on with your life – you’re not alone.

And if you’ve thought about doing something to change that, but quietly talked yourself out of it, you’re not alone in that either.

In 39 years of teaching movement, and working specifically with women through hip replacement recovery, I’ve heard the same doubts again and again. The same secret beliefs that keep women stuck at exactly the stage where the right support would make all the difference.

These aren’t silly worries. They feel completely real – because they sound so reasonable.

But not one of them is quite true.

Here are the seven myths I hear most often – and why I’d gently like to challenge every single one.

Myth 1: “Once physio ends, there’s nothing more I can do”

Physio is brilliant – but it was never designed to take you all the way to fully recovered. It was designed to get you safe. And safe and confident are two very different things.

Here’s what nobody tells you. Physio has a finishing line, and that finishing line isn’t the same as fully recovered. It’s the point at which you’re safe to manage on your own – not the point at which you feel strong, steady and confident in your body again.

That gap – between safe and confident – is where most women get stuck. Not because they’ve done anything wrong. But because nobody has told them what comes next.

That gap is exactly what the right support is designed to address. Not to replace physio – but to pick up where it left off.

Myth 2: “You must be fit to start a programme”

You don’t need to be fit to start BRIO! – that’s actually the point. You just need to be ready to begin.

BRIO! isn’t a fitness class. There are no burpees or kettlebells, no lycra, no keeping up with anyone else. It’s gentle yet effective, purposeful movement designed specifically for women at every stage of hip replacement recovery – which means it starts exactly where you are, not where someone else thinks you should be.

The fact that you’re reading this suggests you’re already ready.

Myth 3: “Online exercise after hip replacement is risky”

Online exercise after hip replacement is only risky if it’s the wrong kind of exercise – and BRIO! was built specifically to be the right kind.

Based on NHS guidelines BRIO! is built around a principle I call Challenge versus Struggle. It’s one of Joseph Pilates principles which focuses n keeping a balance between a challenge and a struggle. Every movement is taught with clear guidance on what you should feel, what you shouldn’t feel, and when to stop. There’s no guessing, no pushing through discomfort, and no pressure to do more than your body is ready for.

In over 39 years of teaching movement, I’ve never met a woman who was too careful. But I’ve met plenty who wished someone had told them earlier that slow and precise is always more effective than fast and forceful.

Myth 4: “If it hasn’t worked before, it won’t work now”

If something hasn’t worked before, it almost certainly wasn’t designed for where you actually are in your recovery …right now.

Past experience is a powerful thing – and if you’ve tried following along with generic exercise classes or videos and it hasn’t quite delivered what you hoped for, it’s completely understandable to wonder why this would be any different.

But here’s what I’ve learned in 39 years of teaching movement. Failed attempts rarely mean the person failed. They usually mean the approach wasn’t right.

Generic exercise – however well-intentioned – is built on a follow-my-leader model. Copy what you see, keep up with the pace, hope for the best. It doesn’t account for where you specifically are in your recovery, the muscles that need rebuilding, the movements that need relearning, or the alignment that surgery and months of compensation have knocked out of kilter.

The right approach works differently. Every session should be built around understanding your movement – not just copying it. Because when your alignment is right and you understand what you’re doing and why, the results are completely different.

Myth 5: “Everyone else will be fitter and further ahead – I won’t be able to keep up”

There is no keeping up in BRIO! – because there is no one to keep up with.

BRIO! is not a class. There is no group moving in unison, no instructor counting you down, no one watching and no one judging whether or not you’re keeping up. Every woman works at her own pace, in her own home, on her own terms.

The women inside my Online Mobility & Movement Hub – BRIO! are at every stage of recovery – some are just weeks post-surgery, others are years on and still rebuilding. What they have in common isn’t where they are – it’s that they’ve decided they’re ready to do something about it.

There is no ahead and behind in BRIO!. There’s only where you are today, and where you want to get to. And that’s exactly what we work with.

Myth 6: “Spending more money on recovery is just throwing good money aft

This is only true if what you’re spending it on is the wrong thing.

If you’ve spent money on your recovery before and still don’t feel the way you hoped, this is a completely reasonable conclusion to reach. Why would this be any different?

The answer comes back to something I’ve already mentioned – the right approach at the right time changes everything.

Most of the money women spend on recovery goes on things that were never designed for every stage of recovery – general fitness classes, well-meaning but generic programmes, or treatments that address the symptom rather than the cause.

BRIO! is different because it was built specifically for women at every stage of hip replacement recovery, around principles that address alignment, strength, steadiness and confidence in the right order. Not a generic programme dressed up in different packaging.

At £25 a month with no contract, the cost is clear. The value – feeling strong, steady and confident in your own body again – far exceeds it.

Myth 7: “You need to be tech-savvy to follow an online programme”

BRIO! has nothing in common with the Zoom experience that gave online a bad name – and here’s why.

For many women, online has become synonymous with Zoom. Sitting in a small box on someone else’s screen, fumbling for the link at the last minute, accidentally staying on mute for ten minutes, staring at someone’s bookshelf wondering if they arranged it specially. It wasn’t exactly inspiring.

BRIO! has nothing in common with that experience. There are no screens to be seen on, no technology to wrestle with, no pressure to show up at a set time. Everything is available whenever you’re ready – on your phone, tablet or laptop, in your own home, at a time that suits you.

If you can watch a video, you can follow a BRIO! session. That’s genuinely all it takes. And if you do get stuck, help is always there – you won’t be left to figure it out on your own.

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If any of this sounds familiar…

Most of the women who join BRIO! have talked themselves out of it at least once before they finally said yes. If you recognise yourself in any of these myths, I’d love to help.

BRIO! Online Mobility & Movement Hub is a warm, supportive community of women at every stage of hip replacement recovery. Expert-led movement sessions you can follow from home, at your own pace, with no pressure to keep up.

£25 a month, no contract, cancel anytime. Your membership starts the day you join – so there’s never a wrong time to begin.

Not quite ready? Start with the free guide.

Strong & Steady After Hip Replacement is a short guide to three foundational movements that gently rebuild the strength, steadiness and confidence that physio sometimes leaves unfinished. It’s written for women who are past the physio stage and ready for what comes next.

Download your free copy here.