Exercise and Fertility

Thanks to "Med" for her question in my shoutbox, I am posting the answer here as knowledge for all who may be interested.

Med's question goes, "LadyRTC, I got two conflicting messages from "older" people. One camp says women should exercise to boost their fertility. The other says no. Do you know? But I think for men, exercises helps."

I did some research and found some articles talking about the relationship between exercise and infertility.

In a research by Derbyshire (2007), it was found that “reproductive abnormalities are more likely to be present in women at either ends of the energy spectrum (excessively high, or low energy intake). An inadequate energy intake coupled with intense levels of physical activity is known to suppress reproductive function in women.” Basically, it says that women who over-exercise (resulting in a loss of energy), have a higher possibility of being infertile.

In another article, it was reported that “women who are on either side of the weight spectrum, either too thin or too heavy, often have difficulty conceiving. For women who are too thin, either strict dieting or excessive exercise is often the cause of their infertility. For these women, gaining weight or reducing the volume of exercise may reverse infertility. For women who are overweight, obesity can exacerbate infertility. One study showed that weight loss alone reversed infertility. Weight loss may reduce the rate of miscarriage and improve the success of fertility treatment." (Jeffreys & Nordahl, 2002) So basically, obese women who are hoping to become pregnant, should try to lose some weight by exercising in order to become fertile again and women who are too thin, should try to regain some weight by healthy eating coupled with moderate exercising for a fit and healthy body to get fertile.

After reading these, I guess the ultimate answer to the relationship between exercise and fertility is that, moderation is key, be it exercising or your weight; Overexercising, obesity and underweight may result in infertility.

To find out more about what is considered “intense” and “light” exercising, read my other blog entry and take note of 60-70% of maximal heart rate for moderate exercising.

References:

Derbyshire, E. (2007) Taking it a step too far? Physical activity and infertility. Nutritionand Food Science, 37, 5, 313-318

Jeffreys, R. & Nordahl, K. (2002) Preconception, Prenatal, and Postpartum Exercise.Healthy Weight Journal, 16, 3, 36(3p)