Boy, You’re Going to Carry That Weight

Mar 1, 2026 | Cancer, Legs!

I have had nothing but praise for the care I have received since the diagnosis of my prostate cancer, however there was one area of the preparation and recovery process where advice and guidance was scarce: exercise.

I only became attuned to the importance of exercise late in the treatment process when I watched a presentation by Prof Robert Newton (also embedded below.) The only guidance I received was to ‘listen to my body’ and keep things moderate and ‘not to overdo it.’ On checking, there are one or two sentences about exercise and hormone therapy in a booklet produced by Prostate Scotland provided in my information pack, but it was not front and centre in the medical advice I was given by clinical nurse specialists, the oncologist or the radiographers.

The Basics

Hormone treatment and radiotherapy have side effects, though they differ between patients. Some are visible such as weight gain because of the hormones, some are not. In the case of the hormones, the invisible ones are loss of muscle mass and loss of bone density. The bone issue is addressed in part by the prescription of a calcium carbonate/vitamin D daily tablet; the muscle mass loss is a bigger issue. In my case, the hormone therapy is for six months (from October 2025) and not long-term; all being well, the hormone payload should diminish from around April this year.

Exercise does not cure cancer, but there is considerable evidence from Australia and elsewhere that exercise is important to the treatment process and plays a key role in resilience against both recurrence of the cancer as well as other health benefits. As it happens, I have been active with walking and also with some limited work with dumbbells, but I haven’t really focused on it. I now think that not focusing on it was a mistake.

Rather as happened with putting my type-2 diabetes into remission in 2021/22, I have concluded that I’m going to have to take ownership of using exercise for recovery and for building resilience against recurrence for myself.

The Australian advice is as follows

(source: https://www.prostate.org.au/health-wellbeing/physical-activity)

 

Why is physical activity important in prostate cancer?

 

Physical activity is very important for maintaining or even improving your physical and psychological health. Even though at times you may not feel like it, it’s a good idea to do some physical activity most days, if not every day.

 

Exercise is a planned, structured type of physical activity. It can address specific health issues and prevent other chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and other cancers. There is extensive evidence that targeted exercise is very beneficial and safe when you have prostate cancer.

 

Current Australian recommendations state that all men should perform some exercise each week, no matter the stage of their prostate cancer or whether they are undergoing difficult treatments. Exercise is now recognised as a medicine because it’s a powerful way to improve your health before, during and after prostate cancer treatments. If you are on hormone therapy, targeted exercise is vitally important for you.

 

What are the most effective types of exercise?

 

Any physical activity you can do will be beneficial. However, the most effective forms of exercise are:

 

• • Cardiorespiratory exercise, such as fast walking, jogging, cycling and swimming
  • Resistance training exercises, such as lifting weights, stair climbing and high intensity resistance workouts

 

It’s a good idea to do a combination of both forms of these exercises regularly (cardiovascular and resistance). You can also include sports such as golf and bowling or try some gentle exercise, such as walking each day, yoga, Pilates or Tai Chi. Any movement that raises your heart rate, makes you breathe faster and deeper, and contracts your muscles forcefully is beneficial.

 

Regular exercise, in any form, is better than none. It can give you more energy and a positive outlook to help you cope with your prostate cancer treatments and enhance you recovery.

 

How often should you exercise?

 

It is best to do some form of physical activity every day if you can. If you are relatively healthy, then you can also aim to do:

 

• • 120 to 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each week
  • At least 2 resistance training sessions per week

The good news is that I have at least crossed the threshold: I was fit before the treatment started (I ran 5k less than a week after my biopsy last summer); the bad news is that I followed the general advice to take it easy and let my gym membership lapse for the duration.

What Now?

As I see it there are two stages to what I need to do The first, which with startling originality I’ll call Stage One, is to regain fitness. Aside from what I can do at home and in my neighbourhood, MacMillan Cancer Care have me on a scheme with Edinburgh Leisure for cheap access for a few months to council-run gyms and swimming pools. I don’t trust my knees to go proper running outside but I can go swimming and reacquaint myself with resistance equipment in the gym. I can pick up my walking pace from amble to brisk, and use a gym treadmill.

Stage Two is to work out a more developed programme for myself. I have Prof Newton’s book on order to help me shape that, but I think it entails going to the gym and speaking to an instructor about creating a routine focusing on core muscle mass.

Were I to formalise my thinking I would put it as,

• • Outcomes: fitness, recovery, resilience
  • Strategy: structured and phased approach to fitness, targeting problem areas
  • Tactics: building and executing routines and putting social markers around them, such as sponsored walks, runs etc. Journal the activities and my progress (and setbacks) and make the journey public here and on social media.