Too much of anything rarely ends well. Exercise is no exception.
Moderate physical activity is known to support overall health and can improve reproductive health in men. However, intense and prolonged training without proper recovery may have the opposite effect. Excessive endurance workouts, heavy weightlifting without adequate rest and conditions that increase scrotal temperature can disturb hormone balance.
Researchers have found that strenuous exercise may lower sperm count, affect sperm movement and even damage sperm DNA. Activities that leave a person gasping for breath and unable to speak comfortably for prolonged periods can place the body under stress. When the body is constantly trying to recover, reproduction is no longer its top priority.
Dr Meenu Handa, Director, Fertility and IVF, Motherhood Hospital, Gurgaon, said, “Being healthy and having a healthy lifestyle is a good thing. But being crazy for this is not acceptable.”
She added that the concern is no longer limited to professional bodybuilders.
“Recreational gym-goers are increasingly experimenting with anabolic steroids, testosterone injections, and performance-enhancing substances. This can help in accelerating muscle growth, but it can also affect fertility.”
The message from experts is simple. Exercise is medicine, but overdose is still overdose.