6 Reasons to Exercise If You Want to Have a Baby

Passionate about Fitness
ellie, my niece
ellie, my niece


Planning a family is a great time to get in shape and create better lifestyle habits. The healthier your body is the more likely you are to conceive. Along with popping your pre-natal vitamins, you need to be thinking about getting active.

Starting to exercise might feel quite daunting, but it is a very sensible move. The best kind of exercise for conception is a moderate level of exertion rather than intense. Think about exercising until you are slightly fatigued, but not completely worn out.

Moderate exercise three or four times a week for forty-five to sixty minutes is an ideal way to enhance your fertility.

For best results it makes sense to employ a personal trainer to help you achieve your goals.

Regular moderate exercise helps increase fertility is by

  • Promoting hormone balance - fertility in women is strongly affected by the hormones progesterone, oestrogen, and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH)

  • Increasing blood flow to the reproductive organs - this leads to an increase in oxygen, nutrients and hormones to a woman's ovaries and uterus.

The specific benefits of exercise on your fertility include

  • Promotes Healthy Progesterone Levels

  • Lowers FSH Levels

  • Helps Balance Oestrogen Levels

  • Promotes Ovulation

  • Improves Egg Quality

  • Helps Implantation

1. Promotes Healthy Progesterone Levels

Stress levels can adversely affect fertility because stress increases the production of cortisol, and other stress hormones, and reduces the production of sex hormones. The body priorities dealing with stress over manufacturing female sex hormones. By exercising you reduce stress which can promote progesterone production. Progesterone is an important hormone as it is responsible for preparing the lining of the uterus for implantation. Progesterone is also responsible for maintaining a pregnancy, with low levels associated with miscarriage.

2. Lowers FSH Levels

Follicle Stimulating Hormone, or FSH, is produced in the pituitary gland inside your brain. This hormone stimulates the production of eggs along with oestrogen during the first half of your menstrual cycle. FSH reaches your ovaries via your blood stream, signalling your ovarian follicles to grow and develop. A high FSH can cause your eggs to become unhealthy, thereby decreasing your chances of having a baby. Exercise improves your blood flow which allows more oxygen, nutrients and hormones to be transported to your ovaries. Your endocrine system will interpret this as, "Hey, stop producing more FSH!"


spencer, my nephew
spencer, my nephew

3. Helps Balance Oestrogen Levels

The more body fat a woman has the more oestrogen those fat cells can produce. If the body has a high level of oestrogen, it will not ovulate. Oestrogen also thickens the uterus wall to provide a home for fertilised eggs, however too much oestrogen can cause this wall to become too thick making it difficult for eggs to implant. Exercise reduces body fat, in turn helping to establish healthy oestrogen levels, which leads to proper ovulation and more ideal conditions for the fertilised egg to implant. Conversely, underweight women might have too low levels of oestrogen to ovulate. If you are underweight you can put on weight in the form of muscle and a healthy amount of fat.

4. Promotes Ovulation

Being overweight puts you at risk of insulin resistance, as well an oestrogen excess, which can prevent you from ovulating. Some women are resistant to the hormone insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that helps keep blood sugar under control. Insulin is part of a complex system that keeps the blood sugar low. Regular exercise can help you lose weight and combat insulin resistance.

5. Improves Egg Quality

Regular exercise increases blood flow to the uterus and the ovaries, resulting in better egg quality. During the ninety day period before an egg is ovulated, the eggs are changing and preparing for ovulation. At this time they are able to be affected, by both healthy and unhealthy influences. Oxygen rich blood flow to the ovaries is essential for good egg health.

6. Helps Implantation

Increased blood flow also promotes implantation as the uterus has better nutrition and oxygenation. However, too much oestrogen can make the uterus wall too thick for the egg to implant. Losing fat through moderate exercise can also help your chances of conceiving if your oestrogen levels are too high.

Book a free taster session with Lorna if you would like to find out if personal fitness training is for you - text her on 07838 147 946 today. Lorna is a personal trainer in central London. You can check out how she works at www.passionateaboutfitness.com