How To Manage Exercise Routines During The IVF Treatment Period

in /by

The lifestyle you lead—typically exercise and diet—can affect your fertility rate. Studies have shown that there is a correlation between women with increased IVF success rates and healthy weights. Before you start planning for a rigorous exercise routine, you should keep in mind that IVF and exercise can make things slightly tricky. If you perform too much cardiovascular exercises, these activities may have a direct impact on your ability to produce reproductive hormones. In other words, your ability to conceive may be at stake. So, how much is too much? And what alternative exercises and intensity levels should you follow to achieve a healthy pregnancy and a successful IVF cycle? Here are some tips to get you started:

Avoid High-Impact Exercises

If you are used to performing high-impact exercises, it is about time that you take the backseat. As an IVF patient, you should avoid any impact, injuries, and serious falls that affect the abdominal wall. Accidents like these can put your reproductive health at serious risk. If a baby has been recently implanted into your body, the possibility of a miscarriage is higher, should an accident occur.

Don’t Push Yourself Too Much

Before IVF, you were a regular marathon runner, biker, professional martial artist, or someone who participates in workout regimens designed for advanced athletes. Regardless of what you usually do, your doctor is going to advise you to take it easy while undergoing fertility treatments. For many women, they often exercise for the improvement of their overall health and weight loss. However, it is also for stress relief and to get an endorphin rush. It is recommended that you look for alternatives such as finishing reading all those books that you were meant to read, taking up a new hobby, joining a craft class, spending more time outdoors, learning meditation, and trying yoga. After any type of exercise, make sure to relax at home maybe with a thai massage or even just puting your feet up on a footstool to help circulation. 

Get No More than Four Hours of Weekly Exercise

Obstetrics and Gynecology published a story in 2006 that found women, who exercised 4 hours or more per week, for one to nine years, were 40% less likely to have a live birth and were more prone to experiencing cycle cancellation. Subjects who did not exercise, on the other hand, had a higher chance of implantation and pregnancy success. Hence, you should take these findings seriously and start paring your exercise routine down during the months before, now, and after your IVF cycle. This will give you and your baby the best chance for success. During this downtime, you can stay active by trying lower-intensity exercises that promote flexibility and strength. Tai chi, light aqua aerobics, and yoga are great options.

Get Ready for No-Exercise During Egg Retrieval Week

When you start taking fertility medications, you probably won’t feel like exercising at all. Fertility medications bring along with them potential physical side effects such as mild discomfort, fatigue, and bloating. You may find yourself taking more naps than wanting to step out of your home. You should know that this is perfectly OK. You should always listen to your body and not push it. After all, you are embarking on a very delicate and intricate process.

Think Beyond the Current Situation

For many life situations, taking the long view is often a sound idea. As an IVF patient, your months or years of lower-impact exercise may seem to drag on forever. However, this is not the case. You are actually making a great commitment to welcome a baby into your life. You are investing your mind, body, soul and savings into making your dream come true, which is to be able to hold beautiful baby in your arms. When the IVF treatment is over, you can always load your baby up in a jogging stroller and start getting back in shape!

Medical Services Thailand
Latest posts by Medical Services Thailand (see all)