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Walking, Running, and Swimming in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia and Chronic Prostatitis

Question

How can one strengthen the prostate? Which activity is most beneficial for benign prostatic hyperplasia – walking, running, or swimming? How does walking affect the prostate? To what extent are these exercises effective for benign prostatic hyperplasia or for symptoms of chronic prostatitis? How compatible are running and chronic prostatitis, or running with BPH? Is swimming beneficial for the prostate? How important are these types of physical activity, and are there any potential drawbacks?

Answer

The Greatest Benefit Comes from Alternating Types of Physical Activity

The most effective approach to improving health in cases of benign prostatic hyperplasia and chronic prostatitis is a combination of all three types of exercise mentioned. I have over fifteen years of practical experience, during which I have spent a significant amount of time analyzing my own actions and refining conclusions in my mind—both after successful attempts and after ineffective ones. Later, I deliberately studied human physiology. Therefore, my statement is well-founded. I will answer the question meticulously, and I strongly recommend reading the full article for a complete understanding.

Briefly about Physiology

Body movement is a continuous cycle of muscle contraction and relaxation. Perfect execution is not innate, and if a person seeks to make movement beneficial for health, the most effective results occur when the maximum possible number of muscles are engaged in a well-structured activity—those muscles in which contraction alternates with relaxation.

There are many stereotypes around this topic. For some reason, most people initially assume that simply stepping onto a treadmill and being active is a great benefit, while immersing oneself in a pool and swimming is almost a path to ultimate truth.

Many people now attempt to improve their health through movement with BPH, but these efforts rarely become habitual—either due to a lack of results (insufficient knowledge) or minimal effect. Very quickly, an unhealthy person—even one with determination—either stops the exercises entirely or reduces them to a minimum, giving them a secondary role. The problem is not only that there is no benefit, but also that failures often worsen an already serious depressive state.

In such situations, patients are often inadvertently misled by inexperienced doctors. If advice were limited to consultation rooms, it would not be so problematic, but among these practitioners, there are many overconfident individuals who flood the internet with unhelpful recommendations, cluttering search resources. I have already mentioned on the site that if a physician, when diagnosing BPH, prescribes medications that suppress physical, chemical, and physiological processes while simultaneously recommending therapeutic exercise, this should raise concern. Prescription protocols are taught in medical institutions, but little is explained there about how to maintain—or, more importantly, restore—health through movement. This requires serious personal practice, which cannot be gained while sitting in a doctor’s office.

There is also another perspective. Its proponents claim: “Benign prostatic hyperplasia cannot be overcome through movement. It cannot be overcome at all!” The question I pose to such doctors (I have tested it—it usually leaves the opponent momentarily speechless and ends the dialogue) is: “Have you comprehensively understood the universe while sitting in a clinic?” I confidently assert that BPH and chronic prostatitis can be effectively treated without side effects through a healthy lifestyle—more precisely, through properly regulated breathing combined with movement and a balanced diet. However, to achieve success, one more essential component is required: knowledge. Without it, success is impossible.

Now I will describe the advantages and disadvantages of all types of exercise: walking, running, and swimming.

Brisk Walking

Therapeutic walking for benign prostatic hyperplasia is accessible to the vast majority of people. Its advantages include a relatively gentle strain on the muscles involved and a beneficial effect on cardiovascular tone (which I will explain further), as well as a minimal risk of injury—damage usually occurs only through obvious carelessness.

The drawback of walking for a prostate already burdened with problems is that, for many people, walking alone cannot raise the heart rate sufficiently, even with prolonged periods of faster walking. As a result, the overall tone of the cardiovascular system remains relatively low, providing only minimal therapeutic benefit.

Running

Running is highly beneficial for the prostate. It can be practiced even into the eighth decade of life, but proper preparation is, of course, necessary (though I am confident it does not need to be lengthy). Running is as beneficial for chronic prostatitis as it is for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Advantages include the ability, under certain conditions, to most effectively activate the cardiovascular system and therefore, when paced appropriately, achieve a therapeutic effect.

Drawbacks include the risk of injury. This is not always due to carelessness. I once sprained a muscle in my ankle seemingly out of nowhere, stepping on a small depression in a concrete path while running. The injury was severe enough that I had to stop and switch to walking, unable to run for a while. Upon inspection, the height difference at the spot was no more than one centimeter. Simple advice: choose areas with smooth, well-maintained surfaces for running, avoid uneven terrain, and never run on ice. In general, be sensibly cautious.

Lack of basic knowledge can lead to even greater harm. A common example: many people develop issues with the spine and knee joints as they age, often accompanied by painful flare-ups, especially after excessive compressive strain. When such a person tries to improve health through running, most adhere to a fixed stereotype that only jogging is beneficial. Instead of running smoothly and cushioning parts of the body during different phases of motion to minimize stress on the spine and lower limb joints, they start running vigorously, shaking and relaxing muscles indiscriminately, often causing serious pain in problematic areas. Naturally, after such attempts, the individual is unlikely to continue exercising, and no one can convince them later that physical activity can restore health. They adopt a different stereotype: “This type of treatment is completely unsuitable for me.”

From long experience, it is impossible to fully predict the effects that exercise will have on the body. Many factors influence the final result: frequency and consistency of training, environmental conditions, and the condition of your body. Another drawback of running is that if it is the sole form of exercise, routine can eventually lead to stiffness in certain muscle groups. The body then requires a prolonged rest period, which is not always compatible with the therapeutic process.

Swimming is Incredibly Beneficial

Swimming engages specific muscle groups without overloading others. It goes without saying that a well-executed swim recruits the greatest amount of muscle mass. With proper technique, the cardiovascular system achieves excellent therapeutic tone—probably the most effective among exercises—while minimizing side effects. These are its advantages.

Drawbacks: The greatest danger is the risk of hypothermia. If the participant’s blood vessels go into a cold spasm, complications can arise, potentially worsening BPH. There are optimal limits for both time and water temperature. Ignorance of these can lead to problems. I once heard a story from an acquaintance about a friend who, while engaging in underwater hunting, experienced not only complications but also acute urinary retention requiring bladder catheterization. Naturally, after this, he abandoned the activity. The problem is that such accounts can easily mislead others, causing them to falsely believe that swimming is harmful.

Nature designed us so that almost every activity can provide benefit when the “golden mean” principle is applied. Underwater diving, however, is far from therapeutic. Immersion to a depth of one meter significantly increases external water pressure on the body compared to atmospheric pressure. At four to seven meters, as is common in underwater hunting, blood vessels experience a kind of hydraulic shock, likely causing increased blood pressure and strong vascular spasms. Furthermore, such activities do not require significant movement at depth; in most cases, one must either swim very slowly or remain still, increasing the risk of hypothermia, especially if the extremities are not adequately insulated.

Consequently, a person may experience problems from one type of activity and unfairly judge another, confusing harmful effects with beneficial ones. Unfortunately, swimming is not always accessible. Climate conditions may prevent year-round use of open water, water quality may be poor, and not every town has suitable pools, or they may be too expensive. Ideally, swimming should be done in a saltwater pool, as chlorinated pools are not suitable for everyone. In short, the main limitation of swimming is that access to it is restricted for many people.

Conclusions and Advice from My Personal Experience

I will quote the question posed: which activity is most beneficial for benign prostatic hyperplasia – walking, running, or swimming – and how effective are these exercises for BPH? Based on everything discussed above, I will summarize thoroughly and illustrate my answer with an example, as this approach helps information to be absorbed more quickly and effectively.

Here is how I proceed. Everything is naturally cyclical, and I will start with what I call the first day of my exercises. Today, for example, I give tone to my muscles and cardiovascular system using only running. My pelvic, thigh, hip, and lower limb muscles are fully engaged. This is beneficial, but the upper body is less involved, and improvement in circulation occurs only through a relatively small group of muscles.

Tomorrow, at the same time, I will go to the swimming pool. Exercising in water enhances circulation throughout the body by engaging both the upper and lower limbs, provided one swims correctly and uses muscular strength as fully as possible. Meanwhile, the muscles I worked yesterday operate in a much gentler mode. One could even say they are not overstrained, yet cardiovascular tone remains high because more muscles across the body are engaged in movement.

The next day involves alternating running and walking. For example, after a warm-up walk, I run with acceleration, then walk to recover my breath, followed by another acceleration, and so on, cycling as desired. In this case, the load on the lower body muscles is lighter than during continuous running.

The fourth day consists of brisk walking with accelerations, without running. The tone is moderate—not overloading, yet not idle. The following day, I perform a highly active session consisting solely of running (repeating the first day), thereby establishing a cycle with optimal types of activity. Weekend sessions are arranged according to personal well-being and energy levels. This schedule has minimal drawbacks, while the therapeutic effect, especially when combined with other measures, is very strong.

Clear harm from these types of activity is possible only in one well-known case: severe overexertion, resulting in soreness or muscle stiffness. I do not consider situations where thoughtless activity could, for instance, lead to heart failure—reasonable people generally avoid such extremes. Remember, the ultimate result of any correct physical activity is a sense of calm and well-being, joy, and the satisfaction of having benefited oneself.

I am confident that anyone familiar with the full scope of information on the site understands that success in treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, as with other illnesses, depends on adhering to a set of rules. I have repeatedly emphasized this. You will gain no benefit from exercise if you do not understand the role of breathing in the physiological process and do not apply it properly.

The importance of this type of physical activity cannot be overstated. I will explain why it is essential and why it cannot be bypassed in treatment. The main cause of BPH development is poor blood supply to the tissues surrounding the prostate. Suppose this primary cause could be addressed with specific exercises. However, if vascular problems exist in the prostate region, they are very likely present in other parts of the cardiovascular system as well. Running, walking, and swimming, when performed correctly and under near-optimal conditions, have a powerful general health-improving effect on the entire body. As a common saying goes: “Stagnant water breeds all sorts of impurities.” By performing these activities cyclically, you constantly and skillfully accelerate blood flow, providing one of the most important healing functions—cleansing vascular tissue and maintaining its elasticity. I know of no other procedure with a comparable effect. Comparing exercise to medication is simply foolish—like trying to decide whether it is better to heal or merely relieve pain.

Respectfully, Gennadiy Plotyan, author of the web resource on the symptoms, nuances of diagnosis, and treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

In conclusion, I want to note that what has been discussed and justified here about running, walking, and swimming does not cover everything. Other nuances are detailed in the methodology “Without Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.” It is available at: Русский, Українська, English, Türkçe, العربية, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, Español, Português, Język Polski.
This article has been translated into other languages: Русский, Українська, Türkçe, العربية, Deutsch, Français, Italiano, Español, Português, Język Polski.