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1. Details of the STAMINA programme

 

Your clinical team has partnered up with your local Nuffield Health fitness and wellbeing club to provide you with supervised exercise as part of your prostate cancer care. Research demonstrates that exercise can improve quality of life and help manage the side effects of your treatment, i.e., androgen deprivation therapy (ADT, also referred to as hormone therapy).

 

Your first appointment will be with a clinical exercise specialist from Nuffield Health who will create a tailored exercise programme based on your current fitness, health, medication and exercise likes/ dislikes.

 

You will receive supervised exercise twice weekly for 12 weeks, from a clinical exercise specialist who is trained to deliver exercise to men with prostate cancer on androgen deprivation therapy.

 

Each session will include aerobic and resistance exercise lasting approximately 1 hour. Your sessions will be supervised either one-to-one or in small groups with other men who are part of the STAMINA programme.

 

You will exercise at home and be supervised remotely using Microsoft Teams. Exercise and technical support will be provided over the phone/ Microsoft Teams throughout the 12-week programme.

 

On completion of the STAMINA programme you may have access to recordings of your exercise sessions to support you in continuing to exercise independently.

 

In addition to supervised exercise, you will have independent access to the gym, gym classes, a swimming pool and spa facilities (where available), free of charge for 12 months (when facilities re-open).

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"I was impressed by the Nuffield staff, their interest and energy were invigorating and spurred me on."

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2. Will I get to meet other men on the programme?

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Your remote supervised exercise sessions will initially be one-to-one with a clinical exercise specialist to offer you optimal support whilst you become familiar with your exercise programme and use of technology.

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Thereafter, your remote supervised exercise sessions will be with up to 4 other men on the programme. You will still follow your tailored programme and receive individualised feedback from the clinical exercise specialist whilst meeting new people (virtually), making friends and having additional social support.

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Research suggests that social support from family and friends can positively influence your mood and participation in exercise to help you live a healthy lifestyle. Exercise has many physical and psychological benefits including improved cardiovascular fitness and better quality of life.

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3. What should I wear?

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We recommend that you wear clothes that you will feel comfortable to exercise in. For example, you could wear a cotton t-shirt and loose cotton or polyester trousers or shorts. If you feel cold before your session you can always layer up and remove a layer following the warm-up.  

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We recommend that you wear shoes that are supportive (e.g., trainers). Shoes will provide grip and protect your foot in the unlikely event that you drop an object on it.

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4. How might I feel during and after exercise?

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During exercise, your body will deliver oxygen to your working muscles more quickly than when you are at rest. As a result, you may notice one or more of the following changes to your body, all of which are normal responses to exercise:

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• heavier, quicker breathing

• increased heart rate

• increased body temperature

• redness of the face

• slight muscle ache/ discomfort

 

After exercising, you may experience muscle soreness or slight joint pain, especially if you have not exercised for some time or have changed your usual exercise routine. These outcomes are normal and may last for several days. The clinical exercise specialists will ensure you work at a suitable level and can answer any questions you might have.

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5. How hard should I be working?

 

During your supervised exercise session your clinical exercise specialists will encourage you to work at a moderate intensity. This is between a 3 and a 5 on the scale below.

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This can be referred to as your RPE - rate of perceived exertion.

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During exercise sessions, your clinical exercise specialist will ask you how hard you are working. You will be prompted to look at the words on the scale below and provide the corresponding number.

For example, if the exercise feels hard you will say you are a score of 5.

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Note: you will never be expected to work at your maximal level.

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