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Exercise and Fertility

“Moderate Exercise, Quicker Conception Linked,” Lindsey Konkel, Reuters Health (April 5 2012)

Is it possible to summarize all scientific findings with the following statement: “Everything in moderation, nothing to extremes”?
A U.S.-Danish study following 3500 Danish women aged 18-40 trying to get pregnant over 1 year demonstrates that moderate exercise performed more than 5 hours per week (walking, cycling) improves your chances of getting pregnant. Women who exercised moderately were 18% more likely to conceive than those who exercised for less than 1 hour a week.
On the other hand, women who exercised vigorously for more than 5 hours per week (running or aerobics) were 32% less likely to get pregnant than those women who did not exercise strenuously at all.
Overweight and obese women experience difficulty conceiving because higher levels of estrogen can adversely affect other hormones that facilitate ovulation. It is less clear why very lean women and the vigorous exercisers had infertility issues. Researchers speculate that very low body fat may be a contributing culprit. Another factor may be that certain types of exercise, like running or cycling, may interfere with the implantation of the fertilized egg in the uterus.

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