In this episode, Maria and Roisin tackle important topics related to fitness and fertility. Exploring the benefits of weight training for fertility, navigating partner involvement in the process, considering yoga for relaxation, and addressing concerns about running during the two-week wait. The hosts share their expertise and personal stories to empower listeners on their fertility journeys.
In this episode of the Fitness Fertility Podcast, hosts Maria and Roisin delve into the topic of how improving physical fitness can support individuals on their fertility journey. They address commonly asked questions and provide insights and advice related to fitness and fertility. The hosts share their own experiences and expertise to guide listeners through various aspects of maintaining physical health while trying to conceive.
Adapting workout routines during IVF treatment is crucial, with a recommended intensity level of around 6 out of 10. Twisting and jiggling exercises should be reduced during certain stages of IVF, and rest and relaxation are emphasized during the two-week wait after embryo transfer.
Weight training is beneficial for fertility as it improves overall health, bone density, and helps manage conditions like PCOS and insulin resistance. Following a weight training program ensures proper technique, prevents injury, and targets all major muscle groups.
Involving partners in the fertility process can be challenging, especially if they have previous children. Open communication and seeking expert guidance are encouraged to help partners understand the unique dynamics of fertility treatment.
Yoga can support fertility by increasing blood flow to reproductive organs. If traditional yoga is not suitable, alternative relaxation methods or guided meditations can be explored.
Running during the two-week wait is generally safe if already accustomed to the activity. It is important to listen to the body, manage intensity, and avoid introducing new or excessive exercise routines. Running can provide stress relief and contribute to overall well-being.
Maria, the IVF trainer, is passionately dedicated to supporting women and couples in realising their dream of having a baby.
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Hi! I'm Maria, and I'm Róisín. And welcome to the Fitness Fertility Podcast. This podcast is all about how improving your physical fitness can help support you on your very own fertility journey. I'm a personal trainer who specializes in training women with fertility problems. I myself have PCOS and have had two beautiful boys, and I'm on a mission to help you do the same. Before we get into it, we will be discussing other themes, such as Where do babies come from? pregnancy loss and bereavement. We may also be sweary from time to time. We are optimistic, light-hearted girls, but we know this is a really stressful time for some of our listeners. We respect that. In this week's show, we will be answering some of your most commonly asked questions around all things fitness and fertility. Thank you to everyone who has sent me messages via Instagram and email. We have had a lot coming in this month. And we're going to start today with Sarah. She says a lot of your clients are now preparing for IVF. And yes, they are, Maria. You've got a lot in train, don't you? Mm-hmm. She's due to start her first round of IVF. Should she change the way she works out? And if so, HECK! This is such an important question. Firstly, Sarah, best of luck. Hope that all goes really, really well for you. We know IVF can be tough, so we have everything crossed for you. I love that you've asked this question. The short answer is Yes. So what I would say is, depending on what you're already doing... As you get closer to treatment, taking your meds, maybe taking your injections, try and keep your workouts at a lower intensity so that you're not putting too much stress on your body. So your body might experience some stress going through IVF anyway, so we do not want to contribute to that. Aim for maybe a 6 out of 10 when it comes to intensity. So just... You know, check in with yourself. Thanks for watching! If you're on, I don't know, a spin bike, or if you're out for a run or... Maybe you're in the gym. Just be mindful, aim for around a 6 out of 10. Thank you. And then what I'd say is, when you actually start going through the IVF process, there are different stages that you will be going through. We've got things like stims. Thank you. Obviously we need to be careful with your ovaries at this point. Try and reduce any twisting and jiggling exercises. Around Egg Collection? I would actually say take a rest for a couple of days because that can be quite an intense and invasive procedure. You will then have your embryo transfer. Listen to your doctor, always, but you might want to have a rest, kind of either side of that. And then you're into the two-week wait. If you were my client, I would give you some pregnancy work out just to help you feel nice and safe in that time and then hopefully in a couple of weeks' time. Fingers crossed that you get a lovely positive pregnancy test. So that would be how I would guide you through IVF. But best of luck. And am I right that you have a few pregnancy workouts available that people can be using during that two-week wait period? Yes, absolutely. What I tend to do is just to help people feel safe and secure, we act as though they're pregnant and I'll give them the first couple of weeks of my pregnancy program. Pregnancy workouts are different from your kind of normal workouts there. Lesson 10, the aim is to keep your heart rate a bit lower, aim to keep your temperature down a bit, protecting that abdominal area. I have those available and people can then jump into those if they want. Make sure you take care of yourself over this time. There's a lot going on. But it is important to kind of keep some level of activity going in order to keep in shape. Mmm, absolutely. The next question is from Nita. She says, hi both, love the show. I was thinking about starting weight training, but I have no idea where to start. Is it useful for fertility? And how do I go about it? Yes, I love this question. Weight training is a massive tick. So yes. For anyone that's not sure what weight training is, just to be clear, this is the one where you see people in the gym. They might have the dumbbells, they might have the barbell. It's less of the kind of running its speed on the treadmill. It's more of the lifting heavy things. So that's what we mean by weight training or resistance training. And yes, it can be incredibly useful for fertility for lots of different reasons. One of them being that building muscle is really good for your overall health anyway, helps with bone density, helps your metabolism, but also if you have PCOS or if you are insulin resistant for any reason, building muscle can really help manage insulin resistance as your body lowers its fat and as it builds muscle. This helps your body use glucose as it's supposed to and just helps keep you nice and healthy. And when it comes to fertility... The healthier you are, the better. So we know it's good for fertility, so how would Nita approach it? Strongly, strongly, strongly suggest following a programme, just for your own health and safety, really. Weight training is fabulous and you will see results very quickly. So you will be burning that fat, you will be building that muscle, but you really do need to follow a programme. The reason being... The programme should give you technical advice because you are lifting heavy things and we absolutely do not want you to get injured, but also a programme will make sure that you work all your main muscle groups, your upper body, your lower body, and it will also include overload each week. So what that means is every week... you might lift slightly heavier weights or you might do slightly more reps. And that's what you need to progress when you're weight training. So please, please, please follow a weight training programme. It's really, really important. Am I right on your training plan, the one that you used to demonstrate exercises, don't you? Yeah, one of the things I absolutely love about the Trainer Eyes app is every single exercise that's programmed has a demo of that exercise, whether it's a row, whether it's a push-up, whether it's a squat, it talks you through every single part. If it's something you're not sure about, if it's something that you haven't done before, you can click into that demo, have a look at it, do it with a lighter weight or even do it without any weights just to check that you're getting that technique right. Super important. I'll tell you a quick story. When I was training... When I was training for my personal training qualification, I actually got tendonitis in my shoulder from doing shoulder presses with the wrong technique. So that's why I'm like, I'm drumming it home. Please get the technique right. It's super important. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't have to be complicated. There's some really simple... If you've never done weight training before, there's some really, really simple things that you can do. But I would absolutely recommend starting with a trainer or with an app like Trainer Eyes so that you can make sure you get that technique right. Yeah. Yeah. Really important. Yeah. Okay, let's move on to the next question. This one is from Emily. She says, "My husband and I are going through IVF together, but I feel like he doesn't understand what I'm going through. Any advice?" Oh, it's a difficult one, isn't it? It really is. I do feel for both of you because I think sometimes, especially as women, we forget to communicate and we forget to say how we're feeling. And we think that our other halves can't read our minds, but guess what? They can't. They can't read our minds. They have absolutely no idea what we're going through. So my advice would be talk to him. Tell him. Tell him how you're feeling. And maybe, I don't know, maybe you want to give him a little bit of guidance, a little bit of guidance in terms of how he can help and how he can be supportive because, guess what? They're not mind readers. They don't know how to help. So tell him, tell him what you need. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. That would be my advice. And maybe, I don't know, Emily, maybe you want to send him a link to one of our podcasts and say, "Here you go. This is what I'm going through. This is what it feels like." Just to give him that little bit of insight into your world. Maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe, Emily, you can get your other half to listen to a couple of the podcasts. And maybe that will help him understand what you're going through a bit more. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Just talk. Just communicate. Because I think a lot of the time, the stress comes from the unknown. It comes from the fact that we don't know what our other half is thinking, but that's just because we're not communicating. So let's break that barrier down. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Cool. Okay. Next question is from Lindsay. She says, "I love yoga and I find it really helps me relax. Can I continue with yoga while I'm going through IVF? And are there any specific poses I should avoid?" Oh, yoga. Yes. Love a bit of yoga. Yoga is brilliant. It is a really, really good way to help with your fertility. It's a really, really good way to help with your relaxation. However, during IVF, we don't want you doing any twisting or jiggling movements. The reason being, it's going to be too intense on your ovaries. We don't want to be twisting anything around. So my advice, just during your treatment, avoid twisting. But absolutely, carry on with yoga. Love yoga. If you're anything like me and yoga doesn't really float your boat, maybe there are some alternative relaxation techniques that you can use instead. So you could try a guided meditation or you could try, I don't know, there's loads of different relaxation techniques that you can use instead if yoga isn't your thing. But, absolutely, give yoga a go. And, yeah, just avoid the twisting and jiggling movements. Okay, let's move on to the final question. This one is from Hannah. She says, "I love running and I'm currently in the two-week wait. Is it okay for me to keep running during this time?" Ah, running in the two-week wait. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. My short answer would be, yes, it's fine to keep running during the two-week wait. However, my long answer would be, as long as you're already a runner and this is something that you're already doing. I wouldn't recommend you starting a new running program while you're going through the two-week wait. If you're already a runner and this is something that you're doing, then yes, absolutely, carry on. You know your body. You know how it reacts. Just listen to your body. Make sure that you're not pushing yourself too hard, but absolutely, carry on. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Great. Well, that's it for today's show. Thank you so much for tuning in. We hope you found it useful. If you have any questions or topics you'd like us to cover, please do get in touch via our Instagram page @fitnessfertilitypodcast or email us at fitnessfertilitypodcast@gmail.com. Please leave us a review on iTunes. That would be amazing. We'll be back next week with more chat about fitness and fertility. See you then. Bye. Bye.