The arrival of another period has sent me into another frenzy of Googling and questioning absolutely everything I'm doing. My period was a couple of days late and stupidly allowed myself to hope that it had finally happened 😞
So this mornings panic is - am I doing too much exercise, could this be the reason for me not falling pregnant?
I go to the gym about 4 times a week on average, sometimes 5 for one hour each time. When I do I do quite high intensity classes I.e. Circuits, strength training, HIIT or spin.
None of the specialists I've seen have even asked about my exercise habits but I'm wondering does anyone have any advice?
I would be gutted if I had to stop going as it's honestly the only thing that's getting me through this torture. I've tried yoga and swimming and I find I just cant switch off in the same way.
Any advice?
Thanks x
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Yuki33
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Hi Yuki. Not too vigorous please. Going for walks, jogging on soft surfaces for now. You don’t need to be building up muscles, in case your testosterone escalates. A personal trainer could show you gentle exercises. Good luck. Diane
It's not really about building muscle, it's the mental and social benefits I get from attending classes, being around people and the endorphins from doing the exercise. I have done this for about 10 years and would find it very difficult to switch from this to purely walking or gentle exercise for what could be an indefinite period 😞
I already feel like im unravelling at the seams, do I need to give up the last bit of enjoyment i have in life? As I say, no doctor has ever given me advice on this hence the question.
Sorry - realise that sounds like a rant at you and it's definitely not meant to sound that way. Your help and advice is very much appreciated! X
Hi. No worries. Have a word with one of t see when they meethe trainers at the gym. They should know what will help. We have yoga classes if you fancy. Look at the home page on our website fertilitynetworkuk.org and see when they meet. Bottom right hand corner. Diane
Hey there, I’ve not got a huge amount of advice, but just wanted to say I’m in a similar boat. I tend to exercise 3-4 times a week, long runs, body pump classes etc and it really helps my mental health. If I was to cut it out all together, I don’t think it would be helpful. What I tend to do, is try and go a tad more gentle in the two week wait (say 20/30% less). Then when my period comes, I dial it back up to my normal levels again. That way I know I’ve made some effort to not go too vigorously during those two weeks, but I don’t cut it out all together. In this podcast, there is a professor at the end that talks about high intensity exercise (last 6 mins) - quite helpful I think - open.spotify.com/episode/0W...
Thanks so much for this, listened to the podcast (which was really interesting!) and the bit at the end helped put my mind at ease. What you said makes total sense as well, like if there's a time to not go as hard at the gym it's in that 2 week wait.You have definitely helped put my mind at ease, thankyou! X
Hi MinCeeCee, sorry to jump in on the post, just noticed your do body pump and so do I,and wondered do you do this during the 2WW or stop it completely? 😀
Hey!! I’ve done a bit of a mix to be honest. When in the months trying to conceive naturally, I’ve had some months where I haven’t done it in the 2WW, and some weeks where I’ve gone ahead and done it, and just tried to take it a tad easier in the class (if that’s even possible!). When we went through our first cycle of IVF recently though, I didn’t do it then for a few weeks whilst I was doing stims, and during that 2WW. Not had a successful pregnancy yet, hopefully one day, but the way I’m seeing it, is it hasn’t worked when I do and don’t do body pump, so I’m just going to keep it up for now and just make sure I don’t go too intense 😊 What about you? X
About to go through the 3rd IVF Cycle,previous attempts have been unsuccessful unfortunately,I haven’t done body pump in 2WW on last cycles, I’ve mainly just done walking and some light dancing, but I have struggled not being able to do my normal exercise I would do such as yoga and pump, I just get worried what I can and can’t do! it’s hard not to over analyse what you do isn’t it, and there’s no clear guidelines around exercise so you have to interpret what you do yourself! X
It really is, I find I go through phases of feeling more chilled, then going into over analysing mode 🙈 got my fingers crossed it works out for us all!
There’s a poster in my doctors saying pregnant woman should aim to do 150 mins of moderate intensity exercise a week!
I read that that’s it about avoiding your max heart rate, so making sure you keep something back from going all out - if that makes sense? Like if I’m running and hitting that spot where you really need to dig deep, I don’t, and instead I ease up to avoid the “burn” (it hurts my strava stats though 😜). I also stop reps of weights a set before I think I’ll the point of muscle exhaustion.
Obviously, I’m not a medical doctor, it’s just what I read.
I always thought the main thing to watch out for with exercise was if it stopped your periods as that meant you weren't ovulating - and that's what happens to some athletes, like if you eat so little it also stops ovulation. But then elite athletes get pregnant so... I've only ever been told that exercise is good and it's weight gain and lethargy that are the real risk factors for fertility. Only thing my doctors said when I asked was don't take up anything new during IVF and in particular the 2WW - as in don't put your body through sudden stress it's not accustomed to, and if I was already running or doing a lot of exercise, no need to stop. Maybe specifically ask your doctors for their views though in case there is something in it or they think you're overdoing it.
Thanks for this. Youre right - if the amount of exercise you were doing was causing your body too much stress ovulation would just stop, and actually the opposite has happened with me - my periods stopped 2 years ago when I wasn't looking after myself or exercising much and have now gotten back to normal now that I'm eating well and back in the gym regularly.
Thanks for putting my mind at ease, you have no idea how stressed I've been reading all these stuff on thr Internet today. Why do we torture ourselves constantly feeling like we're doing something wrong?! X
Oh I've been there - I absolutely freaked when I discovered the healthy herbal tea I had been drinking occasionally contained a tiny amount of liquorice and the internet told me liquorice caused uterine cramps (so pregnancy loss) and birth defects... with my sane hat on I looked into a bit more and I think the 'evidence' was based on a some Americans who had eaten over a kg of liquorice sweets or roots per month, which likely caused no end of health effects. I think infertility makes us super sensitive and hyper aware of absolutely anything that could be causing our issues, when in reality it's so complex and often unexplained. Plus it's hard and probably not sustainable to put your life on hold and deny yourself the things that make you happy (or at least keep you sane) when this process is brutal enough x
I've been TTC for 4+ years and if I did no vigorous exercise all that time I'd really be suffering now in additional ways. I think it's about getting the right balance and I agree with Fruitandflowers that it will be worth just checking with a doctor for your own peace of mind. Like you, I don't find I can switch off with walking or swimming or yoga in the same way. Mental health is also so important. But as others have said, you probably wouldn't want to take on things you've not done before, it's all about what your body is already accustomed to doing IMO x x
Exactly.... Its all very well saying not to go to hard with the exercise when trying for a baby but if you're still trying years later... That's not good for you either.
Thanks for your message, so grateful for the responses as it has definitely put my mind at ease x
I had to stop exercise but this was because I stopped ovulating and lost my cycle. But everyone is different. If you have a regular cycle and know you are ovulating you are probably fine.
Have you had bloods done? You could ask for FSH and LH and check they are in normal range. Mine were low when doing intensive exercise.
Yeah I had the bloods done but a while ago - at the time my periods were very erratic but I was going through a horrifically stressful time, not eating properly etc. Since then I've been looking after myself better and my periods seem to have returned, and that's with going to the gym quite a bit. You're right though, may be worth asking for more tests just to check.However im on a waiting list for ivf and I feel like the fertility clinic I've been dealing with have just washed their hands of me - even though I'm still desperate to try everything I can to give us a chance of falling pregnant naturally! X
Hi exercise is good but high intensity exercise several times a week can lower the progesterone in your luteal phase so that the embryo can't really stick. If you are doing high intensity I would suggest to scale down a little bit to see if you get a better effect.This is what I read from Dr Sami David in The Fertility Plan.
I was going to say the same as Zassa I’ve been told in the past by a specialist PT that the the High intensity stuff can mess with the hormones etc. for implantation stage so to avoid that in those weeks and move to more moderate exercise then (I’m now a lazy B so doesn’t apply these days but did a few years ago 🤣). I guess this is also the 2WW stage for those of us who have IUI/ IVF and that’s usually the recommendation at that point too from my clinic. Generally though exercise is meant to be good if not too intense at that point (improve egg quality as improves health, good blood flow to the area etc.) but you might want to calm it a bit after ovulation until you period just to see if that helps at all. I tend to do walking instead then but needs to be outside at least once a week (and preferably the middle of nowhere 😂) to really help my mental health though a treadmill just wouldn’t cut the mustard (even though I have one at home gathering dust!) luckily my hyper spaniel wants the same! your mental health is probably just as important in my opinion to success so it’s all about balance for me of what helps physically vs what helps mentality (cos often they are opposites!) and can vary month by month what I can prioritise xx
I have PCOS, unbeknownst to me while I was TTC, and I found out that the more intense exercise I was doing (like HIIT) was causing Cortisol spikes. Ultimately exercise is so beneficial but there are less stressful exercises than HIIT. Weights, swimming, jogging, rowing etc are all far less stressful to the body. Xx
I am not an expert but when I was struggling to conceive/doing IVF, I cut exercise just in case. After two rounds of IVF, I made a decision to stop obsessing about what may or may not be impacting on my fertility and just do what felt right for me. I went back to the gym and did spin classes and felt so much better for it. My mental health improved hugely and that is when I finally got pregnant (through IVF).
I think trying to have your head in the right place is the single best thing you can do. There is no definitive answers. Lots of people have views but there are no magic answers. It is so easy to be consumed by the journey. I felt like my life was on pause until I make a conscious decision just to live a happy life and hope that all the medical interventions would result in a baby. (Although I did take reasonable precautions around alcohol and ate well without depriving myself of the occasional glass of wine or chocolate bar) xxx
You have totally just put it all in perspective for me - thankyou. You're so right, if something like going to the gym or having the occasional glass of wine helps your mental health then surely that's a good thing. I honestly feel like I have so little enjoyment in life at the moment, it's sad to say that a wee hour of exercise at the gym feels like the highlight of the day. So I think I'll continue as I am and maybe try to take it a bit easier after ovulation just incase.
I was spinning 6 times a week and was told to stop. I only did it occasionally after that and stuck to hillwalking with the dog. My cycles have always been very irregular so I can’t say whether it made any difference in that respect x
Hey Yuki33,I had similar concerns as I train 5x a week and play hockey so I'm always in the gym outside of matches doing high intensity cardio or strength training. I too struggle mentally without this structure and routine.
I would definitely suggest you ask your doctor, I ask at every stage of my treatment about the exercise and now she knows I'm going to ask its become a thing! To start with she said continue doing what your doing as your body is used to it, so it's better to continue in the pattern it's used to. It's not like someone who doesn't workout suddenly starting to workout as that would put a lot of strain on their body but if your body is used to it, it's not a shock to the system etc. Also tell them what training your doing, as for long distance runners for example prepping for a marathon, the advice would be different (learnt via a friend).
During my 2 week wait I did reduce the intensity of my cardio (quite hard interval running) as mentally I was worrying about it's effects even before I had run so I wouldn't have enjoyed it anyway and would've regretted it.
I've started swimming as a way to get my cardio in through the course of treatment (& with the long term plan for if I am ever successful in falling pregnant) it is a good way to keep fit with a bump.
I think it's specific to you and your body and what type of training your doing but definitely worth asking as your next appointment.
Thanks Spaghetti73, really helps to know I'm not the only one still wanting to keep up the intense exercise while trying.
Makes sense with the swimming too, that's a good idea
I haven't even started ivf yet but I think just every month I don't fall pregnant naturally I'm looking for something to blame or something to change for next month and it's ruining my life!! A bit of perspective from people like yourself really helps so thanks for that x
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Exercise and IVF
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