How does Exercise Influence Your Manhood?

Sub-quality sperms and fertility issues are nerve wrecking for couples. According to new estimates, every 1 of 3 couples are unable to conceive naturally due to poor sperm health. Good news is, with certain exercise regimens, these issues can be tackled. As per a new research published in the peer-reviewed journal Reproduction, there are various exercise regimens that may have beneficial effects on overall sperm quality.Poor-quality sperm not only causes difficulty in conceiving but, can also lead to miscarriage, birth defects, and even childhood cancers! Therefore, improving sperm quality is essential not only for the wellbeing of your existing family but also for the coming generations.

Does exercise and diet have any impact on your sperm health?

Your doctor may have told you that balanced and healthy diet, low alcohol intake, quitting smoking and regular exercise, can boost sperm health. However, some studies have shown that intense workout such as long distance running and endurance cycling can adversely affect the quality of sperms. On the contrary, other studies indicate that certain exercises and their durations tend to have a beneficial impact on sperm.To find out the effect of different exercise regimens on various sperm parameters, a team of scientists from Uremia University in Iran conducted a thorough research on 261 healthy males, aged between 25 and 40. Volunteers were divided into four experimental groups:

• Control group i.e. no workout
• Moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) i.e. 25-30minute treadmill running, 3-4 days/week
• High-intensity continuous training (HICT) i.e. 50 -60minute treadmill running, 3-4 days/week
• High-intensity interval training (HIIT) i.e. 1-minute bursts of treadmill sprinting followed by 1minute recovery. This trend was repeated every 10-15minutes.

Each exercise regimen was continued for 24 weeks and semen samples were analyzed before, during and post-workout periods in order to find out sperm count, shape, size, motility, inflammatory marker levels and their response to oxidative stress.Results indicated that all exercise groups had improved sperm quality compared to control group. While among exercise groups, the most promising results were observed in MICT group (i.e. moderate-intensity continuous training). Compared with control group, MICT had 21.8% higher sperm volume per ml of the ejaculate and 8.3% more semen volume. Moreover, MICT group showed 12.4% and 14.1% greater sperm quality and concentration, respectively. Scientists also discovered that sperms of men who work-out are also better morphologically.Though results were quite impressive but not long lasting. Once the workout regimen was discontinued, sperm count, concentration, and shape were dropped back to the pre-training levels; sperm motility was also dropped back after 30 days of discontinuity.

To sum up, a moderately intense workout is an economical, simple and effective way to improve sperm health, but, perpetuation is the key. Some fertility issues might be too complex to be sort out with exercise only. Thus, one should always consult a doctor for better results.

References:

1. Vaamonde, D., Agarwal, A., du Plessis, S. S., Algar-Santacruz, C., & Kruger, T. F. (2016). Impact of physical activity and exercise on male reproductive potential: semen alterations. In Exercise and Human Reproduction (pp. 101-124). Springer New York.
2. Eisenberg, M. L., Chen, Z., Ye, A., & Louis, G. M. B. (2015). Relationship between physical occupational exposures and health on semen quality: data from the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study. Fertility and Sterility 103(5), 1271-1277.