You probably already know the impact and importance of physical movement and health in the body but do you know the impact of exercise on the prevention of prostate cancer?

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More than likely you don’t because very rarely do men workout specifically to defend against prostate cancer. Men are more focused on building strength and aesthetics and of course, overall health. 

In this week’s episode of the Dr. Geo Podcast, I dive into how exercise impacts your body and increases your chances of defending against prostate cancer. 

Let’s get into it. 

Three Ways to Move Your Body

I cannot stress this enough you have to move your body. The benefits are so valuable to your health. Moving your body doesn’t mean you have to go to the gym all the time. I see this with research a lot that physical activity and exercise are used interchangeably yet they are not the same thing.

Physical activity means any physical movement. If you were to get up from your couch and go to the bathroom, that’s physical activity. When you walk out to your car to go to work, that’s physical activity. This is not the same as physical exercise. 

Physical exercise is anything you are doing to raise your heart rate and this is where your intensity increases a little bit like weight lifting and aerobic cardiovascular exercise. There is a little bit more perhaps sweating involved and fast breathing as well. 

Physical training is when you’re more focused on training that gets you better. 

If your focus is on strength, then you’ll want to do more strength training. Better mobility requires doing more stretching and that’s where you want to focus your energy. 

Whatever you choose out of these three is predicated on the life that you want for yourself. What’s most important with this approach is that you pick two out of the three and you stick to them.  I notice men who are older feel like they have a right or they’ve earned the right to do less based on the merits of their youth, working hard at a job or lifting a lot in their earlier years and think it’s going to pay off in the long run because they worked out while they were young. 

That’s not how your body works. You have to keep it moving and as you get older, it’s more critical you do so. Without physical activity and exercise, your body will break down muscles very fast. 

What Type of Exercise Should You Do

If I could make a trillion-dollar pill and bottle it and sell it to everyone worldwide, it would be exercise. The amount of benefits from physical exercise is endless and is one of the most powerful forms of medicine.

Exercise reduces the following risks of these conditions:

• Heart disease
• Strokes
• Cancer
• Alzheimer’s
• Metabolic syndrome
• Mental health
• High blood pressure

And many more! 

So there are the benefits. Now it comes down to you and what you want for yourself. 

What are your long-term goals? 

What type of life do you want when you get older?

Those are the questions you need to answer because you are the only one who knows what you want. I can help you get there but every man has to be focused on goals for themselves to achieve a well-lived, long, and optimal lifestyle.

If you’re looking for long-term health, the best measure of that is physical strength. Aerobic exercise is good as well but I would be careful if you’re going to be doing long-distance events such as marathon running or ultra-endurance running. That type of activity is very taxing on the body. 

Strive for balance. Mix it up. Throw some recovery events in there after you do hard workouts.

Just don’t forget your body needs weight-resistant exercises and needs to lift things. 

Can I Exercise with Prostate Cancer?

You most certainly can! In fact, I encourage you to exercise if you have prostate cancer 4-6 hours a week with a focus on strength training. 

You’ll want to make sure that you focus on lifting heavy things a couple of times a week and I would recommend mixing in some bodyweight exercises. If you are starting from scratch meaning you never have worked out before, work on easing your way into working out a couple of times a week. You may want to look for a personal trainer or someone more experienced who can help guide you. 

Strength training will help you immensely especially with a prostate cancer diagnosis. If you’re more into cardiovascular work, that’s great as well as long as you are intermixing strength activity with it. Make sure you consult with your cardiologist before you get into exercise so you know your heart and arteries can take it. 

The bottom line is that as you get older, it’s important to approach your health without fear. Learn to operate without fear when it comes to exercise. Yes, you can get hurt and so can anyone else. Take the proper precautions, learn the proper techniques, and you’re well on your way to better health. 

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Listen to the full episode about exercise on the Dr. Geo Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. 

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