Prostate Cancer Surgery & Exercise

Prostate cancer affects the male prostate gland, and surgery is one of the most common options that doctors use to treat this type of cancer. Like other major surgeries, initial recovery from prostate-cancer surgery requires rest and reduced activity. However, as you begin to heal, a certain amount of exercise is essential to your recovery. Talk to your doctor about any specific exercises or physical regimens that you hope to resume after surgery for prostate cancer.

Light Exercise

• After you leave the hospital, take walks around your neighborhood or a park several times a day for roughly 10 minutes at a time. In your second week after surgery, increase your walking sessions to 20 minutes at a time---or a total of 90 minutes a day. If you do not have access to the outdoors, walk on a treadmill set at "0" elevation. Do not walk too fast, especially as you will have a catheter inserted during your first two weeks of recovery.

  You may begin to increase your exercise output three weeks following surgery, walking up to 90 minutes a day and then increasing your total walking time to up to two hours a day by weeks 5 and 6. After six weeks, your doctor will probably allow you to walk without restrictions. Avoid jogging until your sixth week and do not ride a bike until at least week 8. You may begin to swim with a kick board for up to 15 minutes during your fifth week and return to your regular swimming routine after six weeks.

  After six weeks, you may resume most casual sporting activities such as bowling, basketball and tennis as long as your doctor approves. However, do not jump right back into sports after a six-week absence; gradually resume your regular athletic routines.

Heavy Exercise

• Refrain from strenuous exercise for some time after prostate-cancer surgery. Do not lift heavy weights---those above 20 lbs.---for at least six weeks, and build up gradually. Avoid contact sports until your doctor gives you permission to resume them. The same goes for golf. While you will probably be able to handle putting and chipping after six weeks, avoid full-speed golf swings (such as drives) until your doctor signs off on this activity. Likewise, use a golf cart until your doctor allows you to resume heavy lifting.

Exercise and Incontinence

• According to the American Cancer Society, certain exercises may help to decrease the time during which patients who have undergone prostate-cancer surgery suffer from incontinence (reduced bladder control). One particular set of exercises, known as the Kegel exercises, focuses on alternately tensing and relaxing the muscles in your pelvic region. In a 2003 Kaiser Permanente Medical Center study cited by the American Cancer Society, men who performed these exercises before and after prostate surgery regained continence one month sooner on average than did control patients. Ask your doctor about the benefits of Kegel exercises and the best ways to perform them before you undergo prostate-cancer surgery.