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Benefits of exercise

Posted by budmartin @budmartin, Oct 23, 2025

I am 83 years old, and have just had my second 3 month lupron shot. As of today I have had 20 radiation treatments, 8 more to go. Fortunately I have always exercised a lot, ran over 100 marathons and 20 ultras. Stopped running about 9 years ago , but exercised almost every day at the local Y. About a year ago my PSA had gradually risen to 20. Had a biopsy, Gleason score 4+3 =7 and my seminal vessel was also affected. I read a lot about how exercise can help mitigate the effects of ADT and radiation, especially weight bearing activity. Since all of this started my routine has been 100 pushups every day, weightlifting and some cardio. So far my side effects are occasional night sweats, tired in afternoon, no weight gain but muscle turning to fat and it seems to end up in my belly. I pray that the hormone treatments and radiation works long enough that I can squeeze 10 more quality years out of this old body.

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kujhawk1978 | @kujhawk1978 | Oct 25, 2025
In reply to @jeffmarc "@kujhawk1978 That wasn’t directed to you specifically, I read your comments about not eating more. That..." + (show)
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@kujhawk1978
That wasn’t directed to you specifically, I read your comments about not eating more. That was a general warning that you don’t want to eat more on ADT. I’ve heard from some people that said they had more of an appetite with it.

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@jeffmarc

Ok

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dpayton | @dpayton | Oct 26, 2025
In reply to @kujhawk1978 "Yeah, during my last treatment starting in April 2023, 12 months of Orgovyx and SBRT I..." + (show)
Profile picture for kujhawk1978 @kujhawk1978

Yeah, during my last treatment starting in April 2023, 12 months of Orgovyx and SBRT I started at 191 pounds and a reasonable "figure."

Despite almost daily gym visits, 45-60 minutes on the bike, resistance training and swimming laps in the pool combined with other days riding my bike outside 25-45 miles, my weight climbed to 209, I had a beer belly and love handles, jeans were tight, body fat pushing 20+

I am not going to say I was an angel with regards to my diet but like when I was maintaining 191, all things in moderation.

Today, 187, body fat 16.8.

What changed, I'm not on ADT.

There are folks on this forum who have been more rigorous than I about their diet and who have had success keeping the weight gained to a minimum.

Kevin

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@kujhawk1978 Thanks for posting this Kevin. I just received my third and final 6 mo shot this week. I started at 165 lbs and it's risen to 180. It's maddening! I walk every day, do band exercises and eat a pretty healthy diet. Doctor told me it'll all go back to normal(like yours did) after ADT. I think everyone is different with weight gain on ADT.

Best of luck to ya man!
Doug

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madpuppy74 | @madpuppy74 | Oct 26, 2025
In reply to @web265 "Hi @budmartin "no weight gain but muscle turning to fat and it seems to end up..." + (show)
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Hi @budmartin
"no weight gain but muscle turning to fat and it seems to end up in my belly"

Yeah, been there, got that T-shirt. The good news for me was that shortly after getting off of the ADT, this started to reverse itself. I kind of look at the excercise during ADT as a combo of keeping it from being worse than it might be and fighting the anxiety.

Hopefully your results will be the same!
Best of luck to you!

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@web265 Wow, don't read/hear much about "shortly after getting off of the ADT" that anybody was rebounding! Glad for you SuperMan! Congrats! rlm

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imandependent1 | @imandependent1 | Oct 27, 2025

I'm closing in on 5 years post ADT . PSA still " undetectable. I do lots of exercise. The best thing about the COVID problem was that we put in a home gym, which I use a lot. Plus, after the COVID scare I was able to go to our regular gym again. Went on Noom program and have lost 29 lbs Fingers crossed that PSA stays at < 0.01. I had 44 radiation treatments, plus ADT. ADT was no fun, even though I stopped after two 3-month injections. Side effects were miserable.

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imandependent1 | @imandependent1 | Oct 27, 2025

I'm closing in on 5 years post ADT . PSA still " undetectable. I do lots of exercise. The best thing about the COVID problem was that we put in a home gym, which I use a lot. Plus, after the COVID scare I was able to go to our regular gym again. Went on Noom program and have lost 29 lbs Fingers crossed that PSA stays at < 0.01. I had 44 radiation treatments, plus ADT. ADT was no fun, even though I stopped after two 3-month injections. Side effects were miserable. I'm 86 and very active.

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