Olympic cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy, who is living with terminal prostate cancer, is urging men living with the disease to embrace physical activity to improve their quality of life.
The retired track cyclist, once Scotland’s most successful Olympian, was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in 2023.
A year later, he was told his condition was terminal, with a prognosis of two to four years to live.
On Saturday, Sir Chris launched a fitness partnership with PureGym, The Institute of Cancer Research, and the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
The initiative aims to encourage men with prostate cancer to become more active.
The partnership debuted at a Glasgow PureGym, ahead of Sir Chris’s Tour De 4 charity bike ride.
The event, taking place on Sunday at his namesake velodrome in Glasgow, offers routes including 92km, 60km, and a 1km family-friendly option.
The ride seeks to raise £1 million for cancer charities, with over £100,000 already secured.
The fitness partnership will provide men with advanced prostate cancer who are on hormone therapy with a free, one-year membership at PureGym, as well as a structured exercise programme.
Advanced prostate cancer affects about 20,000 men in the UK every year.
Hormone therapy is currently the main treatment, which tends to mean a number of side effects, including weight gain due to an increase in fat, coupled with increased muscle loss.
Fatigue and psychological changes are also common, and long-term hormonal treatment may lead to bone thinning, heart disease and diabetes.
Regular exercise can alleviate these side effects, and the NHS has suggested men with the disease should be offered fitness programmes.
However, it is estimated around a third of men with advanced prostate cancer are completely inactive and only around one in eight meet guideline levels of activity.
Sir Chris said: “This is a groundbreaking partnership and initiative which demonstrates the power of the Tour De 4, what it can achieve, and the legacy it will leave.
“Scientific studies have shown that structured exercise is the perfect complement to many cancer treatments, but we need to break down the barriers that often prevent patients getting consistent and regular physical activity to experience these benefits.
“Exercise has been a fundamental part of my life and never more so than since my diagnosis of prostate cancer. I find it hugely encouraging that the importance of exercise for prostate cancer is being recognised. This is a significant step forward and potentially transformative.
“I have a long-standing association with PureGym which, more than any fitness organisation in the UK, has the scale, reach and capability to make a demonstrable national impact. I look forward to seeing the results of this initiative in the coming months and years.”
Clive Chesser chief executive of PureGym, said: “Prostate cancer, the most common cancer among men, is a terrible disease with nearly 50,000 diagnosed with it each year.
“For a number of reasons many of these men are not as active as they could be and we want this to change, which is why I am delighted to be announcing this partnership, enabled by our national reach and scale as the UK’s largest gym company.
“We hope that offering free membership to advanced prostate cancer sufferers on hormone therapy will enable thousands, across the country, to benefit from regular exercise, with expert guidance from The Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden.
“As Sir Chris Hoy, with whom we have a long association, has so bravely shown staying active is a great way of managing the disease both mentally and physically and we are proud to be supporting him with his vital mission.”
Professor Nick James, professor of prostate and bladder cancer research at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, and consultant clinical oncologist at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said: “A diagnosis of advanced cancer is devastating. I frequently hear patients being advised by their families that they must take it easy and not overexert themselves whereas in most cases, this advice, while well-meaning, is not usually true. In fact, the opposite is true.
“There is growing evidence that exercise, as well as improving general well-being, might also directly improve cancer outcomes.
“Some studies have shown that exercising is so effective that if it was a drug, we would call it a breakthrough.
“However, while prostate cancer patients may be advised about the importance of exercise, they are rarely supported to actually begin – or simply continue – exercising safely.”
