Up to catheter removal, walking is the job. This is the very next step — ten gentle, low-pressure mobility moves that start restoring hip, spine, and shoulder motion without asking anything hard of a pelvic floor and bladder neck that are still healing. Watch each move, read it in my words, and know exactly where it fits before you try it.
You've just come off a catheter and, before that, walking was the entire program. That's exactly the right call. This routine is the next, still-gentle step — and it only works if you respect how early this is in your recovery.
Recovery timelines vary by surgical approach and how your body heals. This guide reflects general early-mobility progression logic — your surgeon, urologist, or pelvic floor PT sets your actual pace.
We start lying down — foam rolling and small pelvic and shoulder movements that ask almost nothing of your midsection — before layering in rotation, hip work, and finally a standing reach. Same logic I use programming anyone back from surgery: earn the next position, don't skip to it. Run through all ten, once, every day.
Slow rolls through the front of the hip and thigh, pausing 20–30 seconds on tender spots. Breathe normally the whole time.
Avoid rolling directly over a healing incision. Light-to-moderate pressure only — never into pain.
Exhale, gently draw the low belly in, flatten the low back into the floor, then just tuck the pelvis under — a small movement, not a big bridge.
This is the best spot to practice the Knack — a quick pelvic-floor squeeze right before the tilt. No breath-holding or bearing down.
Maintain straight arms as you reach overhead — only as far as it goes without forcing it.
Keep the low back neutral — don't arch it to fake extra range.
Ribs and low back stay heavy on the roller. Slide the arms from a "W" toward overhead — only as far as the ribs stay down.
Stop the range the moment the rib cage flares or the low back arches.
Start with the arms in a "W" position, then bring the arms up over the face, bringing elbows and hands together.
Small, controlled range — this is a warm-up movement, not a stretch to end range.
Exhale rounding into "cat," inhale arching into "cow." Move through the whole spine, not just the low back.
If there's pain anywhere in the movement, stop just shy of the pain and continue through the rest of the motion.
Sit on the floor with hips and knees at right angles, one leg in front, one leg behind. Fold the torso over the front knee and hold.
Exhale into the fold and maintain breathing throughout — don't hold your breath to reach deeper.
From all fours, rotate the top elbow toward the ceiling, eyes following the hand, then thread it back under. Rotation comes from the mid-back — hips stay square.
Exhale through the rotation. Don't let the movement leak into the low back.
Slow and active — rocking and rotating the hips from side to side. This is not a static hold.
Controlled tempo throughout. Breathe continuously and don't rush the transitions between sides.
Head and upper back stay on the wall. Hips may need to come forward off the wall if the elbows and hands can't stay on the wall in the "W" position.
Exhale on the reach overhead — don't force or strain to keep contact with the wall. Mobility over range.
Once these ten moves feel easy and pain-free, every day, the next step is real loaded return-to-strength work — still built around your recovery, not against it.
No pitch in this guide — just the moves, in order, so you know where you stand. When you're ready for more structure, I'm here.
The breathing, staging, and pelvic-floor cautions above follow current evidence and clinical guidance for men in the earliest stage of recovery from radical prostatectomy.