Supervised exercise program versus a home exercise program for cancer patients, prior to undergoing prostate surgery.

A randomised 2 group study design will be used to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of a 6-week supervised gym-based exercise program to a home-based program undertaken prior to surgery, with assessments being conducted at the Edith Cowan University Exercise Medicine Research Institute (EMRI). The gym-based exercise group (Ex) will be provided with the exercise training undertaken thrice weekly in an exercise setting and the home-based exercise group (HB) will be provided with an exercise information booklet and information on a 6-week home-based exercise program with weekly telephone calls. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, pre-surgery, and 6-weeks post-surgery. In addition, a 24-hr pad test will be undertaken after patients are discharged from hospital and have had their urinary catheter removed and subsequently at 6 and 12-weeks post-surgery. Patients will be invited to participate by their attending urologists from the Perth Urology Clinic. This replicates an existing collaboration between EMRI and the urologists at the participating clinic. Information about the program will be provided and those that express interest will be contacted by the research team. Ex group: Exercise sessions will be ~60 minutes, commencing with a warm-up consisting of a moderate level of aerobic exercise [~60% heart rate maximum (HRmax)]. Resistance-training regime targeting upper- and lower-limb exercises (chest press, leg press, seated row, leg curls, leg extension, bicep curls, and calf raises) will be conducted. Progression of resistance exercise will follow guidelines previously outlined: week 1 – 2 (two sets 12 repetition maximum (RM)), week 3 (three sets of 10 RM), week 4 – 5 (three sets of 8 RM), and week 6 (four sets of 6 RM). This will be followed by 10 minutes of exercises focusing on the trunk stabilising muscles which include three sets of three different exercises [planks (anterior abdominals), the reverse bridge on a Swiss ball (back extensors) and side planks (oblique abdominals)] with a rest of 30 seconds between sets. Finally, the session will conclude with 20 minutes of aerobic exercise at 60 – 80% (intensity) of the estimated HRmax (220 – age in years) followed by a cool down. Participants will be asked to complete further aerobic sessions to meet the 150 minutes per week aerobic guidelines which would be monitored by a participant diary. All sessions will be supervised by an accredited exercise physiologist to ensure safety and adherence.