There’s a lot of information out there about fertility and exercise, despite the fact that the idea that weight controls fertility hasn’t been popular in western medicine until fairly recent. Interestingly though, it’s more than just exercise that influences fertility. It’s overall health that really makes a difference, and exercise is actually not as important as a few other factors when you’re trying to become pregnant.

Exercise

First of all, exercise is good for you. There’s no doubt about that. If you’re overweight and trying to become pregnant, your first goal should be to slim down a little so that both you and your child will be healthy throughout your pregnancy and birth. However, you don’t have to lose a ton of weight to become more fertile. In fact, women have a harder time conceiving if they’re over-exercising or if they’re underweight.

According to Dermot O'Connor, acupuncturist and author of The Fertility Code, exercise is only one part of a five-pronged approach to conceiving a child successfully. He says that people naturally think being fitter equals being fertile, but that isn’t always so. He says that exercise in combination with other methods works the best in becoming more fertile. The other four methods are:

  • Timing of Sex
  • Relieving stress
  • Nutrition
  • Detoxification
  • Exercise

Exercise is actually last on the list, but that doesn’t mean it’s not important. You should be maintaining a comfortable workout regime in order to stay fit, but if you pair it with these other four methods, you’re more likely to conceive.

Balancing out your fertility strategies

Since you need a mixture of these methods, you need to make sure you’re balancing them and not doing one too much, like exercising. For timing, you should be tracking your ovulation cycle in order to determine the time of the month when you’re most fertile. This is easily done with ovulation predictor kits.

Next, you should also be aware of the stress in your life. Women under stress are considerably less likely to conceive, so you should also find a healthy way to relax regularly so stress doesn’t build up. Next, you need to watch your diet. This is a big part of fertility. Make sure you’re eating plenty of green veggies, especially spinach. Also, flaxseed is also good for fertility as well according to O'Connor. He also says that you should stay away from red meat, and dairy.

Lastly, O'Connor recommends detoxifying your body. Even small amounts of caffeine, alcohol, tobacco, and nicotine can negatively impact fertility, so you should also abstain from these substances. Once you’ve done all of this, O'Connor says that your chances of fertility will dramatically increase.

One success story comes straight from Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, who followed O’Connor’s advice about decreasing her exercise routine. She conceived soon after. Hopefully, these small changes will also help you conceive as well so you don’t need to use more invasive fertility treatments.

Read More:
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Ovulation Calendar 
Early Pregnancy Symptoms