There is plenty of research showing that the increasing age of couples trying to conceive is one of the main concerns for fertility problems.
This age increase can be due to career commitments, the housing crisis, better forms of contraception and the higher numbers of people going abroad for a number of years to work. With more and more women delaying family- making in order to fulfill career dreams, is the decision to stay at work also making us more sedentary and less likely to move more?
Longer and more demanding hours in the work environment means less energy and motivation to cook healthy meals, exercise and in general just move more.
Have you found that after a day at work you’re too exhausted for anything else and so you plonk yourself in front of the telly for the evening eating the easiest thing to prepare and only moving to visit the loo?
A sedentary lifestyle is one that has no or irregular physical activity.
If you spend all or most of your free time, sitting, reading, watching television or using the laptop it is likely you are living a sedentary lifestyle and this is having a huge impact on your fertility.
You have probably seen the headline ‘Sitting is the new Smoking’ coined by the Mayo clinics, Dr. James Levine. While the act of sitting itself won’t kill you, chronic sitting and staying in the same position with minimal movement for over 60 minutes can be detrimental to your health and fertility.
A lack of physical activity is one of the most preventable causes of chronic disease worldwide.
Not moving enough during your day can cause you premature death and a far lower quality of life as you have a 40 percent higher chance of becoming chronically ill compared to someone who gets enough movement into their day.
Taking part in regular low-intensity exercise (too much exercise can be as damaging to your fertility as no exercise at all) and constant movement throughout the day are ways to protect against the effects of a job that requires you to sit all day.
Our blog posts will consist of short reads that will help you discover how moving more and sitting less are going to positively impact your chances of having a baby.
We will show you how exercise can affect body composition, sleep, health, NEAT, weight,mental health and more, all effecting your chances of conceiving.
Below we have some easy tips that can help you move a little bit more for this new year along with a short workout that you can do in your own home. Exercise doesn’t need to last an hour- any focused effort in building up a sweat can positively impact your health and fertility.
Each post we will give you a new tip on how to increase your daily activity levels by increasing your NEAT, a new workout that you can try out and also a wellness tip. Adding these new habits to your daily routine can have a huge impact on your fertility and health in general.
Increasing NEAT
NEAT is non-exercise activity thermogenesis – the energy you use that isn’t exercise, sleeping or eating. Increasing your metabolism)
- Get a Fit-Bit/ pedometer/ step counter or any similar device. Having a goal to reach of at least 10,000 steps a day and opimally 15,000 steps a day is a great motivator and way of tracking your daily activity levels.
Workout
We want you to learn how to perform the basic exercises correctly.
The workouts we share with you include the exercises derived from our foundational functional movements. Varieties of these movements are used in nearly all workouts. We want to help your body move better, feel stronger, toned and build muscle.
This is great for beginners. No equipment required just a stopwatch or timer app.
This is a 12 minute lower body workout with just two body weight exercises.
Exercise 1: Squat – compound movement utilising nearly every major muscle group in our body to improve strength and help build muscle. Click here for a demo.
Exercise 2: Alt Forward Lunge – unilateral compound movement that helps improve balance and stabilisation. Click here for a demo.
Format: 20 secs work / 10 secs rest x 6 rounds = 3 mins
Complete a round of each exercise and then repeat
Review the video tutorial before commencing workout
Wellness Tip – Gratitude
You can’t be in a bad mood if you are being grateful. Finding ways to give thanks throughout the day is a great way to boost your mood and feel better while also distracting you from the harsher realities of life.
You can give thanks for the fact you have a house to clean, food to cook, friends to visit. If you’re going for a walk give thanks for the trees, the flowers, cars, animals, buildings, people- whatever you see!While you’re lying in bed go back through the day and give thanks for all that happened and finally for having a bed to sleep in.
If you’re struggling with finding something to be thankful for imagine a person in a far worse situation than you. Maybe a refugee, someone in the third-world or someone homeless. If they looked at your life what do you think they would say you’re lucky to have?
You’ll be surprised at how this can truly change your mood and posture. There a lot of gratitude apps and journals out on the market also that can assist you in taking note of the great parts of you day and the things you might also like to work on.
If any of you have other ideas on how you practice gratitude, move more or new year habits you’re taking on we’d be delighted to hear and learn about it!