Is Exercise Good or Bad After IVF? Expert Guidelines

Over the years, there had been many speculations about the impact of exercise on IVF treatment's success rate. We are well aware of the fact that regular exercise and a healthy diet are crucial during IVF. But, can any amount of physical activities after IVF decrease the chance of live birth, cause implantation failure or pregnancy loss?

With the IVF process, countless numbers of couples have enjoyed the fruits of parenthood. But, to achieve a successful pregnancy, women need to maintain a good health and optimal weight through exercises that are just enough to increase the chances of conception without causing any harm.

In the ways given below, we can understand the impact of exercise after IVF:

Moderate Exercise

Changing your long-followed strenuous exercise routine to mild and moderate ones may be frustrating for some. Fertility experts suggest avoiding high impact exercises like aerobics or strength training during and after the treatment. After this time period, one may resume all normal day-to-day activities. Limiting to moderate activities such as walking is advisable unless any other complications arise.

Post-egg Retrieval

During the week of post-egg retrieval, one may be on fertility medications. Though, due to the side-effects of these fertility medicines such as bloating, fatigue and other discomforts, it is usually less likely to feel like exercising, it is important that during this time, one should restrict themselves to no or mild physical activities.

The Type of Treatment Preceding the Embryo Transfer Matters

For an embryo transfer, either conventional stimulation cycles or frozen cycles may be used. With conventional stimulation, if one is in high risk of developing ovarian hyper stimulation syndrome (OHSS) then their physical activities may be highly modified to avoid any ovarian torsion. With frozen cycles, moderate aerobic activities and resistance training may be allowed.

During the inception years of IVF patients were advised bed rest after embryo transfer but with growing knowledge and research in this field has proven that bed rest does not have any impact on improvement of pregnancy and patient can resume normal day to day activity after embryo transfer.

The type and duration of work out is different for each individual according to their medical history so one should discuss with their doctor for any queries.