If you’re living with symptoms of an enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), chances are you want to do something about it. While it doesn’t increase your risk of prostate cancer, a growing prostate can press on and partially block the urethra (the tube that brings urine outside of the body). This can affect urination and lead to frequent bathroom trips, disrupted sleep and an increased risk of urinary tract infections and kidney disease.
There are a variety of medical treatments for BPH, including some that shrink the prostate. But a combination of behavioral and lifestyle changes can have a big impact on symptom management. Taking steps to improve your overall health and well-being are essential – and this is where exercise and movement can play an important role.
While no exercise can shrink your prostate, there are activities that can help you better manage your symptoms. Keep reading to learn what activities and exercises can help you manage enlarged prostate symptoms.
Kegels are a key exercise for men with enlarged prostates
Few exercises are as effective as Kegels at improving urinary issues. Kegels strengthen the pelvic floor – a group of muscles that support the bladder, prostate and rectum. Strengthening your pelvic floor on your own or through pelvic floor physical therapy can reduce frequent urination by giving you a greater ability to suppress urges. It can also help with fully empty your bladder and even improve erectile dysfunction.
To perform a Kegel, squeeze the muscles you’d use to hold in urine or gas (before relaxing them when you go to the bathroom). Try to do this without holding your breath or flexing your abdominal muscles, thighs or buttocks. Hold the squeeze for 3-5 seconds, then relax and repeat. The goal is to work up to 10-15 repetitions a few times a day. If you want to change the difficulty, try them in different positions, such as lying down or standing, or go for longer holds on each repetition.
Regular, varied physical activity helps promote overall health, reducing enlarged prostate symptoms in the process
Research shows that in combination with other healthy habits, getting consistent exercise may slow the development of an enlarged prostate and help manage its symptoms. Exercise can also help manage certain BPH risk factors, such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
Ideally, an exercise routine should include multiple types of exercise adjusted to your fitness level and health needs. There are countless internet resources to help you create an exercise routine, including instructional videos on YouTube. You can also get a personalized workout plan and coaching from a physical therapist.
The main categories of exercise to focus on include:
Aerobics (also known as cardio)
Aerobic exercise raises your heart rate and makes you breathe harder. Consistent aerobic exercise improves blood flow, lowers blood pressure, controls blood sugar and reduces inflammation. It’s generally recommended that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of high-intensity aerobic exercise per week. Examples of aerobic exercise include cycling, dancing, fast walking, running and swimming.
Resistance training
Resistance training refers to exercises that involve pushing or pulling against resistance, whether it’s in the form of an external weight, an elastic band or your own bodyweight. When done consistently, it provides a wide range of benefits, including improved muscle strength, flexibility and metabolism efficiency, which can help with weight management. It also trains your muscles, including those of your pelvic floor, to work well together.
Rather than aiming to move a certain amount of weight, it’s often more effective to focus on doing slow, controlled repetitions of each exercise. Using lighter resistance with strict technique can be intense enough to stimulate muscle growth, without the injury risks of heavy weights.
Try to do at least two resistance training sessions per week. For each exercise, perform repetitions until it becomes difficult to hold your form or until you can’t complete another repetition. For most purposes, it’s generally recommended to use enough resistance to make this happen within 8-12 repetitions. Work up to three “sets” of repetitions for each major muscle group (back, chest, legs, arms and abdomen) per workout.
Examples of resistance exercise include:
- Pullups, pulldowns or rows for your back
- Pushups or chest presses for your chest
- Deadlifts and hip thrusts for your hamstrings and gluteal muscles
- Squats or leg extensions for your quadriceps
- Curls, triceps extensions and shoulder presses for your arms
- Hollow-body holds, crunches or planks for your abdominals
Balance and stability training
Activities like yoga, Pilates and tai chi are the perfect complement to aerobic exercise and resistance training. In addition to reducing stress and improving flexibility, they can help correct your posture and train your abdominal muscles and pelvic floor to keep you stable in a wide range of positions, which can make you better at other forms of exercise. Beginner yoga poses include:
- Cat-cow pose
- Child’s pose
- Cobra pose
- Downward dog
- Mountain pose
- Warrior pose
To get help for an enlarged prostate, talk with a doctor
For men living with an enlarged prostate, improving your overall health and well-being is important for managing your symptoms, and regular exercise is a key part of it. However, it’s still important to work with a doctor to stay on top of your prostate health.
Your primary care doctor or urologist can check your symptoms and make sure you’re getting treatments and building habits that will help you live more comfortably. In addition, a physical therapist can work with you specifically to strengthen your pelvic floor to help relieve symptoms like urge incontinence.