Improving Male Fertility with Exercise

Exercise is a bodily activity the demands physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness.  This includes swimming, running, jogging, walking, and dancing, just to name a few. As you know, physical activity has a long list of health benefits, both physical and mental. But, how does it affect semen quality?

Numerous investigators have attempted to quantify the effects of physical activity on semen parameters, such as lifestyle factors, such as diet or smoking. It is important to mention that many of the studies rely on self-reported physical activity. For physical activity and diet this is not trivial since many individuals have a poor memory of their past activity level.

Opposite to physical activity is physical inactivity, also called being sedentary in the research environment. Researchers have studied this  both as the lack of exercise but also by the amount of time spent sitting or watching television. However, a handful of research groups have attempted to control physical activity by either randomized trial or through small cohorts designed to invasive assess the physiology of exercise response. This is the science we will be looking at here.

The key is a balance in exercising

Physical inactivity is associated with a range of risk factors such as obesity and cardiovascular disease to name a few. When looking at the effect on the reproductive function, the research suggests that inactivity is not a good choice if you are trying to get pregnant.

A study of 1,210 men from Denmark on the effect of watching TV, researchers found that watching TV for more than 5 hours a day was associated with a decrease in the total sperm count as well as the total amount of progressive motile sperm cells. The researchers suggest that hours spend watching television is an indicator of physical inactivity.

Already at 2.6-5 hours of television a day, a minor decline in total sperm count and total progressive motile sperm cells was observed. In agreement with the finding, the participants who self-rated their physical fitness as poor had a reduction in total sperm count of about 35% [1]. This was also found in a study from Rochester of 189 men, where watching TV was associated with a 44% lower sperm count compared to non-television watchers [2].

A study of 161 individuals who were grouped as inactive, recreational active, and elite athletes showed similar results. The recreational active men showed an increase in total motile sperm cells of nearly 200% compared to the inactive men, which was associated with a lower amount of oxidative stress.

A lower amount of motile sperm cells and a higher amount of oxidative stress

Interestingly, the elite athletes had a lower amount of motile sperm cells and a higher amount of oxidative stress, suggesting that some elite sports may be harmful for fertility [3]. Other independent studies show similar results. The negative effect is a way of observing when over-training sets in, which is when a person exceeds their body’s ability to recover from strenuous exercise. At this point a person may have a decrease in performance due to fatigue. A study of 286 men who underwent 60 months of 120 minutes running 5 times per week, showed decrease in their semen quality was observed, as well as a decrease in testosterone levels[4].

So, the literature indicates that we should be moderately active, and not necessarily undertaking rigorous exercise regimens for the best fertility outcomes.

What type of exercise should you do?

We recommend you to check with your doctor first, if you haven’t exercised for a long time or have chronic health problems, such as heart disease, diabetes, or arthritis.

There are a number of studies showing that a training program of 14 to 24 weeks may improve semen quality and your chances of pregnancy [5] [8] [9] [10]. The studies investigated:

• Aerobic exercise, also known as endurance exercise or cardio, which increases your heart rate and breathing frequency.
• Anaerobic exercise, also known as resistance exercise or strength training, which works on strengthening your muscles, joints, and bones with e.g. weight lifting or resistance band workouts.

Positive effects were seen in mainly inactive males, starting a program with exercise 3 times a week for around 45 minutes. Both aerobic and resistance exercise were shown to have a positive effect on semen quality and reproductive hormones. The studies also showed some decrease in oxidative stress. Importantly, doing exercise increased the chances of the males becoming pregnant with their partner [5] [6] [7].

Other studies

In one of the studies of 1,296 men, exercise increased the total number of sperms by 84.7%, which resulted in 191 out of 285 men getting pregnant in the exercise group but only 7 out of 263 in the control group. Men with a low semen quality asthenospermia (low motility)/oligospermia (low sperm count) were impacted the most. The exercise they followed was a combination of aerobic and resistance training, which included 30-35 minutes of walking/running on a treadmill and then 30-35 minutes of resistance training with exercises for all major muscle groups. The exercises included:

• • Exercises to strengthen the upper body:

Bench press (pectoralis), chest cross (horizontal flexion of the shoulder joint), shoulder press (trapezius and latissimus dorsi), pull-downs (back muscles), biceps curls, triceps extension, upright row, trunk extension, and exercises for abdominal muscles (sit-ups).

• • Exercises to strengthen the lower body:

Leg press (quadriceps femoris), calf raises, hip extensions (biceps femoris), hamstring curls and hip abduction.

In the exercise programs from the studies, the men started at 50% of VO2 max meaning at 50% of their maximal pulse (220-age) and 50% of their 1 repetition maximum (RM) for the exercises, repeating 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

The men in the studies increased the intensity by 5% each week until week 4 where they reached 70% of VO2 max/1RM. They were then re-evaluated by professionals and started again.

The ExSeed exercise programs

As you can read from above, a balance in exercise is the key to healthy sperm. A little exercise is better than nothing – starting to go for a walk with your partner or performing light exercises are better than not doing anything at all. Make sure to get up during the office hours and don’t spend too much time sitting down.

If you want to kick start a training regimen you can find exercise programs in the ExSeed app where we have designed weekly plans for beginners and trained people.

Many gyms offer great workout team training that combines weight-lifting with cardio training that can feel really rewarding.

Small changes can have a big impact on your overall health and your path to fatherhood. Most important is that you have fun when exercising and listen to your body, so you don’t overdo it!