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Staying physically active has benefits for your body and your mind, especially as you age. Regular exercise can help you sleep better, improve your concentration, and improve your overall health and wellbeing. Exercise is also a key part of a healthy prostate.
Whether you’re currently experiencing health concerns with your prostate or just want to know what you can do to keep your prostate healthy, it’s important to find a workout routine that works for your lifestyle. In this article, we’ll discuss four different exercises for prostate health, and what the benefits are of each.
Exercises for Prostate Health
Physical activity has lots of health benefits for your prostate; here are 4 exercises for prostate health you can start incorporating into your routine. If you’re currently undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, or if it’s been a long time since you’ve had a consistent exercise routine, check with your doctor before starting rigorous exercise to make sure it’s right for you.
1. Work out often
Try to engage in aerobic exercise three times a week. One study found that men who walked briskly for three hours a week or more had a 57% slower progression rate of prostate cancer than men who walked less.
Exercise has other benefits for your overall health and wellbeing, which all play into the health of your prostate as well. Exercising often can help manage your heart and lung health, bone strength, and other areas of the body that all have a positive impact.
You can alternate between aerobic exercise and other routines, like internal or strength training, but the more often you can get your body moving, the better it is for your health.
2. Aerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise can help increase blood and oxygen flow throughout your body, which has numerous health benefits, including for your prostate health. Aerobic exercises include anything that gets your blood moving, so examples include swimming, walking, hiking, or using an elliptical machine.
3. Kegel exercises
If you’re wondering “Are kegel exercises good for your prostate?”, the answer is yes. According to Dr. Ara Karamanian, the founder of Prostate Laser Center, “the importance of kegel exercise is to improve urinary continence.”
Urinary continence refers to the leaking of urine that you can’t control, and it’s generally controlled by an organ called the external urinary sphincter. The external urinary sphincter runs just outside the prostate, Dr. Karamanian explains, and if the prostate gets bigger and causes resistance to urine flow, the external urinary sphincter can lose strength.
One benefit of doing kegel exercises for men is that they can help you tighten your pelvic floor muscles, as well as with strengthening the muscles of the external urinary sphincter. Both of these in turn will then help prevent urine leakage.
To do kegel exercises, first identify the pelvic floor muscles. You can do this by stopping urine midstream, or holding in gas. Once you have an idea of where these muscles are, contract them for three seconds, then relax for three seconds. Try repeating this sequence a few times in a row.
It’s often easiest to perform kegel exercises while lying down, but as these muscles get stronger, you can try doing them when you’re sitting, standing, or even walking.
4. Interval training
Interval training, like HIIT workouts, strength training, and weight lifting exercises, all help burn fat by boosting the body’s metabolism and keeping it in the fat-burning range.
When the body is engaged in one activity for a long time, like running or biking, it can get used to the motion, and the metabolism can adjust and level off. More intense workouts, like interval training, are more dynamic and quick-paced, so the metabolism doesn’t have time to adjust and stays in a fat-burning state for longer.
Studies have shown that obesity can be a risk factor for both BPH and prostate cancer, so workouts that target and burn fat can be helpful exercises for prostate health overall.
Other lifestyle improvements for prostate health
Since overall health plays a big role in prostate health, there are some things you can do beyond just exercise for your prostate. Some research has shown that low-fat diets can help keep your prostate healthy, so avoid red meats, dairy, nuts, and saturated fats.
Another key thing you can do for your prostate health is to get regular screenings to make sure your prostate is in good shape. If you’re looking for treatment options for prostate cancer or BPH, request a consultation with Prostate Laser Center today.
NOTE: The information provided on this website is general medical information and does not establish a physician-patient relationship. Please discuss your particular situation with a qualified medical professional.
