Originally published: 2021 | Updated: March 2026
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Medically reviewed on: March 27th 2026.
Authors: Ms Clare Delmar. The Focal Therapy Clinic
Can Exercise Before Prostate Cancer Treatment Improve Your Recovery?
Structured exercise before and after prostate cancer treatment — known as prehab and rehab — helps men recover faster, manage side effects such as urinary incontinence, and maintain psychological wellbeing throughout their cancer journey. Programmes like the NHS-funded Prehab4Cancer in Greater Manchester provide personalised support combining exercise, nutrition, and mental health guidance.
In this episode of OnFocus, exercise specialist Kirsty Rowlinson-Groves, Programme Manager at Prehab4Cancer, explains how her award-winning programme prepares men for the physical and psychological demands of prostate cancer treatment.
A full transcript of the interview is provided below. To discuss your prostate cancer treatment options, call The Focal Therapy Clinic on 020 7036 8870.
What Is the Difference Between Prehab and Rehab for Prostate Cancer?
Prehab is structured preparation — exercise, nutrition, and mental wellbeing support — given before prostate cancer treatment to optimise your body for the physical demands ahead. Rehab is the recovery programme after treatment, helping men return to their pre-diagnosis fitness levels and manage side effects. Both are increasingly recognised as essential parts of the prostate cancer care pathway.
Kirsty Rowlinson-Groves, Programme Manager at the NHS-funded Prehab4Cancer in Greater Manchester, explains:
“We always use the analogy — you wouldn’t run a marathon without any training. The physiological impact of cancer treatment on a body can be akin to something as big as a marathon. Prehab is all about the optimisation of the body to go through that treatment or surgery.”
The Prehab4Cancer programme focuses on three core pillars:
- Exercise prescription — tailored fitness programmes to build strength and cardiovascular fitness before treatment
- Nutrition support — dietary guidance to optimise the body’s ability to heal and recover
- Wellbeing and mental health — psychological preparation for the emotional challenges of diagnosis and treatment
Rehab follows treatment, helping men get back to work and daily life. At The Focal Therapy Clinic, recovery after focal therapy is typically faster than after radical surgery — our patient data shows 85% of men return to work within two weeks, as focal therapy is a day-case outpatient procedure.
How Does Exercise Help With Prostate Cancer Side Effects?
Targeted exercise programmes can help men manage the key side effects of prostate cancer treatment — including urinary incontinence, sexual function changes, and mental health challenges. Pelvic floor and deep core exercises specifically target continence recovery, while group exercise provides peer support and improves psychological wellbeing.
Kirsty explains how exercise tackles the most common side effects:
“We look at the side effects and pick the exercises that we know are going to help. Deep core control and pelvic floor exercises can help with sexual health and urinary incontinence issues. We build them into the programme alongside breathing exercises and overall fitness work.”
Beyond the physical benefits, group exercise programmes provide vital peer support. Men can share experiences, compare notes on treatments, and discuss feelings in a supportive environment — addressing the mental health gap that Kirsty identifies as one of the biggest unmet needs in prostate cancer care.
How Does Treatment Choice Affect Your Recovery Needs?
The extent of rehabilitation needed after prostate cancer treatment depends significantly on the treatment approach. Focal therapy targets only the cancerous tissue, preserving surrounding healthy structures — which means fewer side effects and a faster return to normal life.
| Outcome | Focal Therapy (FTC data) | Radical Prostatectomy |
|---|---|---|
| Urinary continence | 97% maintained (FTC audit, n=265) | 80-95% |
| Sexual function | 90%+ preserved | 30-70% preserved |
| Recovery time | 1-2 weeks | 4-6 weeks |
| Hospital stay | Day-case (home same day) | 1-3 nights |
| Return to work | 85% within 2 weeks | 4-8 weeks typical |
Source: FTC one-year outcome audit (n=265) and published literature
For men who choose focal therapy, the rehabilitation burden is significantly lower. However, prehab programmes remain valuable for all treatment pathways — optimising fitness before treatment improves outcomes regardless of the approach chosen.
How Personalised Are Prehab Exercise Programmes?
Every patient on the Prehab4Cancer programme receives a comprehensive individual assessment before any exercise is prescribed. From this assessment, the team designs a tailored programme covering functional capacity, cardiovascular fitness, strength, and core stability. This is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Patients are categorised into three fitness levels:
- Level 1 — for men with lower baseline fitness or significant comorbidities
- Level 2 — for men with moderate fitness levels
- Level 3 — for men with higher baseline fitness
Each level has corresponding group exercise classes (available in-person and online), allowing men to train alongside others at a similar stage whilst still receiving peer support. Every patient also receives a personalised home exercise pack.
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How Can Partners Support Prostate Cancer Recovery Through Exercise?
Partners and carers play a critical role in prostate cancer recovery, often becoming the care navigator and administrator throughout the treatment journey. Exercise programmes that include partners see higher engagement and better outcomes, as shared activity provides motivation for both the patient and their support network.
Kirsty, who has personal experience as a partner of a cancer patient, describes the programme’s inclusive approach:
“If we can get the partner involved and get them motivating the patient, we know the patient is more likely to enjoy it. We bring partners into the gym — they get free membership just as the person affected with cancer does. It also gives the carer something they can do for themselves. They’re sometimes overlooked.”
The programme acknowledges that some partners can be overprotective, particularly during active treatment. Education about the benefits of exercise during cancer treatment helps address these concerns and turn partners into active supporters of recovery.
How Does Exercise Help Men Regain Control After a Prostate Cancer Diagnosis?
A prostate cancer diagnosis often brings a profound loss of personal control — a whirlwind of appointments, scans, and medical decisions made by others. Exercise is one of the few things a patient can actively do for themselves, setting their own goals and seeing tangible progress in their own body. This sense of agency is a powerful psychological benefit alongside the physical gains.
Kirsty describes how she helps men reclaim that sense of control:
“It’s a bit like being on a conveyor belt — everybody’s prodding and poking. My job is to put a stop on that and ask: what do you want? Usually it’s something simple, like climbing the stairs without getting out of breath. We set their goals and put what they want first. They’re the ones who have to do this — nobody else can do it for them.”
This patient-centred approach mirrors the philosophy at The Focal Therapy Clinic, where every treatment plan is built around the individual patient’s circumstances, preferences, and goals. Our care pathway ensures men are fully informed and involved in every decision about their treatment.
What Are the Biggest Gaps in Prostate Cancer Care for Men?
Mental health support and sexual health conversations remain the two biggest unmet needs in prostate cancer care, according to exercise specialist Kirsty Rowlinson-Groves. Men are often reluctant to ask for psychological support, and sexual health discussions do not happen as early or as openly as they should — leaving patients and partners to navigate these challenges on their own.
“The obvious gap is mental wellbeing. Services are stretched, and because men tend not to openly ask for help, it can take a while to get that referral through. The conversations around sexual health don’t happen as easily or as quickly as they should — it usually falls on the carer’s shoulders to educate themselves.”
Prehab programmes help bridge these gaps by connecting men with support groups, talking therapies, and peer networks. At The Focal Therapy Clinic, we address these concerns directly — our consultants discuss sexual function and continence outcomes with every patient before treatment, and our sex and relationships resources provide information that many men struggle to find elsewhere.
About Kirsty Rowlinson-Groves
Kirsty Rowlinson-Groves is an exercise specialist and Programme Manager at Prehab4Cancer, an award-winning NHS-funded exercise, nutrition, and wellbeing programme for cancer patients in Greater Manchester. She has personal experience as a partner of a cancer patient and has worked across multiple prostate cancer rehabilitation pathways.
What Should You Do Next?
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and you are exploring treatment options, The Focal Therapy Clinic can help. Focal therapy — including HIFU (NICE-approved under IPG424) and NanoKnife IRE (NICE-approved under IPG768) — treats the cancer while preserving surrounding tissue, resulting in fewer side effects and a faster recovery than radical surgery.
In our clinic’s experience with over 2,000 procedures, 97% of men maintain urinary continence (FTC audit, n=265) and 90%+ preserve sexual function. To discuss whether focal therapy is right for you, contact our team on 020 7036 8870 or book a consultation.
