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[Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical practitioner. Any medical information is strictly my opinion based on research and personal experience, and not to be taken as advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed physician for your medical needs. Read my full disclaimer here.]
Does exercise prevent you from or help you to get pregnant? How much should you exercise to increase your chances of getting pregnant? How much is too much?
The short answers:
—Medical research: It’s complicated. Overall, if you are obese, exercising and getting to a healthy weight is going to have positive effects on fertility (obviously). And extreme exercise does throw off hormone levels and negatively impact fertility (obviously). Otherwise, moderate exercise (15-60 minutes a day) seems to be just slightly beneficial. And actually, when undergoing IVF, any exercise does not seem to be helpful at all (in some cases, detrimental). Read more specifics on the research below.
—My experience: I exercise regularly, but not too much (3-5 times a week running, biking, or walking), and I’m not overweight. If you’re like me, this amount of exercise is probably not affecting your fertility.
Continue reading below if you’re interested in finding out more details (the long answers)…
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Now, for the long answers…
The medical research
–According to Gudmundsdottir, “Increased risk of infertility was only found for the small group of women reporting the highest levels of intensity and frequency of physical activity.” Women who exercised a moderate amount (16-60 minutes at a time) had less of a risk of infertility compared to women who exercised less than 15 minutes a day.
—Rich-Edwards found that women with a low BMI (<20) or a high BMI (>25) were more likely to experience ovulatory infertility; however, they concluded that “there is twice as much ovulatory infertility attributable to being overweight as opposed to being underweight.”
–This same study found that women (in the normal BMI range) who reported vigorous exercise actually had a reduced risk of ovulatory infertility. They found that exercising moderately (brisk walking) had no effect on ovulatory infertility.
—Morris did an interesting study on women undergoing IVF. In this case, regular exercise was not beneficial. Women who exercised 4+ hours a week for 1–9 years (moderate or vigorous) were “40% less likely to have a live birth, almost three times more likely to experience cycle cancellation, and twice as likely to have an implantation failure or pregnancy loss” than women who did not exercise. Also, women who participated in cardiovascular exercise had a 30% lower chance of successful live birth than women who reported no exercise. Even women who walked regularly (4+ hours a week for 1–9 years) were 50% less likely to have a successful live birth compared to women who didn’t exercise. (Walking 1-3 hours a week for 1-9 years had no effect on IVF.)
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