As an alternative to surgery, your Tower Orthopaedic surgeon may recommend a variety of physical therapy techniques to help strengthen muscles bones and joints.

No matter what kind of exercise you start doing, start off slow and work your way up, either in time, distance, and difficulty. You’ll feel better and you’ll feel more successful. Keeping a journal is a nice way to monitor your progress.

Walking program: Brisk walking 45 minutes per day is the ideal. If you have a hard time getting motivated, get a dog. Then you’ll be forced to go for a walk.

Swimming: great cardiovascular exercise, and easy on the joints. Not a swimmer? Then even walking in a pool, or water aerobics can be fun and effective.

Office Yoga: Simple Stretches for Busy People by Darrin Zeer, Michael Klein. Buy at Amazon. A great resource for the flexibility and time challenged. Do your stretches daily. This is the simplest (and smallest) book.

Yoga for Wimps: Poses for the Flexibility Impaired by Miriam Austin, Barry Kaplan. This is a good book from “The Wimps” series showing real people in basic yoga poses.

The Pilates Body: The Ultimate At Home Guide to Strengthening, Lengthening and Toning Your Body by Brooke Siler. This is a good resource for the person interested in a gentle Pilates workout. It shows, however, how to progress and make the exercises more challenging.

Pilates for Wimps: Total Fitness for the Partially Motivated by Jennifer Deluca, Peter Murdoch. This is a great beginner book showing real people doing the exercises. It is less intimidating, but not as detailed as the Siler book above.