Exercise as a Prostate Cancer treatment

@climateguy
9 months ago I could not get off the floor without getting my arms onto a chair or a bed or a fence And pulling myself up.

I went to the gym three days a week and after three or four months, I was able to get up on my own without any help for anything. I used weights that were heavier and heavier as time went on because I can handle more weight.

I have no testosterone, Been on ADT for eight years. I sure seem to have built muscle.

@jeffmarc Kathryn Schmitz would say great. I have a transcript excerpt of the section I was quoting from memory:

"Audience member: I am currently on androgen deprivation therapy for prostate cancer. Yes. And also on Monaro for type two diabetes. Yes. Both therapies have side effects. I'm losing muscle tissue. And in order to compensate, I'm doing resistance training four times a week, right? Intensive. My question is um how can I build muscle tissue in a complete absence of testosterone?

Schmitz: Actually there is more recent data since I was last asked this question that shows that you actually can build muscle in the setting of androgen deprivation. The data comes out of Australia from Rob Newton's lab. I would also state that if you are going to be trying to build muscle, you need to make sure that you're taking in plenty of protein as well. It can't be just that you're doing the exercise, but you have to be taking in the protein as well. But we do have evidence now out of Rob's lab, He is showing that doing intensive weight training in ADT patients can result in building muscle. So we do we do see some evidence that that's possible."

The context for this Q&A: Schmitz is leading an effort in the US to get a recommendation for prescribed supervised exercise to become the accepted standard of care in cancer therapy, When she uses a word like "evidence", she's talking about something more than a report from one patient. Evidence to convince medical oncologists, in her mind, is a randomized clinical trial preferably many of them. Previously in this discussion, she had pointed to what she called the first trial of this kind, the CHALLENGE trial done with colon cancer patients, that was prominently unveiled at the last ASCO convention. She names Rob here because he's doing what may be the second one, specifically focused on prostate cancer and exercise.

The context I was using her words in this forum could easily be misleading.

I'm hoping to do as well as you - I just received my first Orgovyx pills by Fedex today.

@climateguy
My son is a personal trainer and he was really pushing me to take more protein when I started exercising at the gym. I was using a protein powder every day as well as eating chicken in my salad at lunch and for dinner (or some days fish). Maybe that was a factor in my getting muscles back in a few months.

@jeffmarc

Jeff - what powder do you use , if you do not mind me asking ? : )

@lsk1000
After listening to the exercise oncologist Dr. Newton, I now understand this exercise therapy is adjunctive to traditional treatments, not a substitute. He made no outlandish claims of reversing or curing. As far as living longer he cautioned that was not studied p/determined in his research. The benefits of exercising is to amplify the immune response, slow down progression, Tolerate treatment better and to improve the quality of life. I’ve been a gyn rat from way back and this gives extra impetus to continue.

Hi all. I’m starting this journey and glad I found this community. I’m very interested in this topic. I’ve been on ADT (Orgovyx) for about 3 weeks now getting ready to start radiation treatment in a couple weeks. So far no side effects but I know it’s pretty early.

I’ve read and been told by my RO about the necessity of resistance training to mitigate the effects of ADT so I’ve been lifting weights pretty religiously for the past month or so. Before starting the Orgovyx I took a body composition scan so I can tell how much muscle gain/loss I will experience over the next year or so. My goal is to maintain muscle mass, if not increase. I’ll try to provide updates here.

I plan to lift 4 days a week with some cardio a couple times a week. I put a weighted vest on my Christmas list so I can do some cardio and strength training at the same time between lifting sessions!

Hi all. I’m starting this journey and glad I found this community. I’m very interested in this topic. I’ve been on ADT (Orgovyx) for about 3 weeks now getting ready to start radiation treatment in a couple weeks. So far no side effects but I know it’s pretty early.

I’ve read and been told by my RO about the necessity of resistance training to mitigate the effects of ADT so I’ve been lifting weights pretty religiously for the past month or so. Before starting the Orgovyx I took a body composition scan so I can tell how much muscle gain/loss I will experience over the next year or so. My goal is to maintain muscle mass, if not increase. I’ll try to provide updates here.

I plan to lift 4 days a week with some cardio a couple times a week. I put a weighted vest on my Christmas list so I can do some cardio and strength training at the same time between lifting sessions!

@shmo
You also need to get out there and exercise by walking or running or bike riding, etc.. I run a mile twice a day and go to the gym three days a week. I’ve never had fatigue from ADT, but I’ve had a lot of the other side effects. Hot flashes can be particularly troublesome. If you start having some of them come back here and ask for help.

You do need to take a fair amount of protein to make sure that you can build muscle.

@jeffmarc Yes, I do walk/run in addition to lifting. I live in a pretty hilly area so I can usually get my heart rate up with a brisk walk. As I mentioned, I’m hoping to get a weight vest soon and start incorporating some rucking in to my workouts.

I have also been increasing my protein intake. Mostly chicken, salmon, and nuts but also use protein powders in smoothies. I have both plant based and grass fed whey protein and switch them up.