Let’s discuss exercise and fertility. If you’re planning for a pregnancy, the idea that exercise could be bad for you probably hasn’t crossed your mind. Most people concentrating on improving their health think that eating the right foods and getting more exercise are at the top of the list. Many types of gym programs and boot camps sell the idea of “the more, the better.” But it turns out that’s not always true.
EXERCISE AND FERTILITY
Fertility specialist Dr. Paul Magarelli, MD recently pointed out that 3-4 hours a week of vigorous exercise for women trying to conceive decreases their chance of a pregnancy that cycle.
If your BMI is 25 or above, your chances of conceiving are lowered by 22%. But, if you’re a leaner person with a BMI of less than 25, you are 30% less likely to get pregnant that month.1 This is a significant difference!
So, spin classes, boot camps, 60-minute long cardio classes, 10-mile hikes, and the like are all hard on your fertility.
That doesn’t mean you can’t go back to your favorite activities later, but while trying to get pregnant, you may want to set them aside. A small study of a group of women ages 18 to 45 who were having IUIs, found no pregnancies among the women who were strenuous exercisers – those who were running or fast cycling 1 to 5 times a week. 2 It appears that intense exercising even once a week can have a negative impact on fertility.
IS INTERVAL TRAINING GOOD FOR YOU?
Interval training is a great replacement for longer workouts. Repeated short bursts of high intensity activity with a short recovery period in between helps your body build more than it breaks down. You can do this on a bike, elliptical, treadmill, with jumping jacks, stair running; really, whatever you like to do.
The goal is to exert your muscles until they fatigue and you “feel the burn” within 30-60 seconds. That is the burst you’re looking for.
If it takes more than 60 seconds to reach the point where you have to stop, the exercise level is not intense enough.
For example, if you’re running, you’d probably need to run uphill to achieve this. The next step is recovery – you simply walk around for the same amount of time that you exerted.
Repeating this combination 4-5 times is all you need to do to achieve the desired effect. If you do more intervals than that, your body responds as if you’ve done a long cardio workout, which we don’t want. Doing 20-30 minutes of intervals is not the right approach.
Benefits of Interval Training
Burst or interval training done correctly builds more muscle mass and bone density than long aerobic sessions. Another excellent benefit is the lowering of the stress hormone cortisol. It’s a win-win! This type of exercise can offset the stress of going through fertility treatments.
Here are a couple of studies that show it produces results:
- Twelve Weeks of Sprint Interval Training Improves Indices of Cardiometabolic Health Similar to Traditional Endurance Training despite a Five-Fold Lower Exercise Volume and Time Commitment; Jenna B. Gillen et al; PLOS One; April 26, 2016
- .Towards the minimal amount of exercise for improving metabolic health: beneficial effects of reduced-exertion high-intensity interval training; Metcalfe, R.S et al. European Journal of Applied Physiology; July 2012, Volume 112, Issue 7, pp 2767–2775
OTHER EXERCISES FOR FERTILITY
Yoga, barre classes, light weight training, Pilates, Gyrotonics, walks, swimming, and Tai Chi are all very good approaches to exercise as well. It’s always good to balance stretching with muscle building, so be sure to remember to stretch after exercise.
Exercises for Men’s Fertility
Dr, Magarelli also tells us that for men trying to become a father, the exercise picture looks a whole lot different. Exercising 9-14 hours a week improves sperm, but they look even better with more than 15 hours of exercise a week.
Yes, men are different animals!
Studies continue to show that DNA, the genetic material carried within the sperm, breaks down less in men who exercise.3 DNA fragmentation is linked to repeated pregnancy loss. A study of 376 sedentary men found that any type of exercise improved sperm health, but a combination of resistance training with treadmill sessions proved to be the best approach.4