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Is exercise important for male fertility?

By Silvia Azaña Gutiérrez B.Sc., M.Sc. (embryologist).
Last Update: 04/15/2026

Silvia Azaña, an embryologist at inviTRA, talks in this video about the importance of exercise for male fertility:

Physical activity has many well-known benefits, such as reducing the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. However, exercise done moderately for about 30 minutes a day is also beneficial for seminal quality.

Practicing moderate exercise, especially aerobic exercise, has been linked to an improvement in sperm count and concentration, but also in parameters like sperm motility and morphology.

In fact, this beneficial effect of sports has also been observed in sedentary patients with fertility problems and in patients with obesity.

Moderate exercise would increase testosterone levels, which promotes a suitable hormonal
environment for spermatogenesis, which is the process of sperm formation. So this, well, has been
proposed as one of the mechanisms by which seminal quality could improve with exercise.

However, moderate exercise also promotes the oxidative balance in the semen. This would prevent oxidative stress, which has harmful effects on seminal quality and has been linked to sperm DNA fragmentation.

 Silvia Azaña Gutiérrez
Silvia Azaña Gutiérrez
B.Sc., M.Sc.
Embryologist
Graduate in Health Biology from the University of Alcalá and specialized in Clinical Genetics from the same university. Master in Assisted Reproduction by the University of Valencia in collaboration with IVI clinics.
License: 3435-CV
Embryologist. Graduate in Health Biology from the University of Alcalá and specialized in Clinical Genetics from the same university. Master in Assisted Reproduction by the University of Valencia in collaboration with IVI clinics. License: 3435-CV.