Cycling and sperm count
 

The wife and I are about to try for our third and her GP, less than helpfully, told her I need to reduce my cycling to improve sperm count and motility.

Help!

A quick google seems to support the GP, but any reliable evidence to say otherwise? Other ways to mitigate?

Have a big ride coming up that already has me worried on my current level of training (6hrs/week). Be a shame if I couldn’t see the birth of the third because I’d expired due to lack of training on this ride.

Did you do anything special about your training for the first two? Cycling's deleterious effects on erectile function is well known. Also known is how to mitigate them. There is a whole lot more affecting modern men's sperm counts than how much cycling they do, because most men don't cycle, yet men's sperm counts have decreased 50% in the last 20 years!

sounds like you're due for a combo horizontal/vertical century with many miles and plenty of el gain. hang in there, champ! don't recommend wearing a heart rate monitor but if you can pull it off going into the red...

just what is the wattage range involved? 180-1,200? gp needs to take another nap. best wishes and good luck!

Everyone is trying to spread B.S.on that I don't think it is an issue unless you have a bike poorly set up for you. I can see a situation where someone with male genitalia could cause damage but it would take some work to do well.

I will say there are 8 billion people on the planet, maybe adopt, plenty of already bornt kids or babies who could use a good loving home. The initial act of making a kid is great but there are ways to do that without producing another kid so you can have kids and have some fun adult times without the unneeded effects.

Pressure on the seat bone is what gets you, get one of those fancy seats with a slit down the middle and angle it down like this.
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Also your member will be all shriveled and numb mid ride if you have issues, check on him periodically mid ride if you’re worried (visually and for sensation.)

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LOL, that set up will surely prevent long rides and any potential "damage." Seriously, each child increases your carbon footprint X 5. Something to think about unless you have some really special genes that need to be passed on for the sake of humanity.

Don’t assume that any putative effects of cycling on sperm count, morphology, or motility or other composition of seminal fluid are due to mechanical issues in the perineum. There’s far too much other stuff going on in men who spend tens of hours a week exercising and there seem to be plenty of funky data on runners as well.

When my wife and I were in our child bearing years, we had zero issues conceiving. At that time I was putting in at least 20 hours a week riding, and it was, as well as still is done on the Sella Italia Turbo saddle. No cutouts, 140 width and fairly firm rounded shape.

When we were young and not having success getting pregnant, it was assumed my 300-400 mile weeks were the culprit.

So, I submitted to sperm testing. The problem was not me or my sperm. Don't assume the problem is riding.

spend more time with your Wife & yeah that might mean cycling takes a back seat to the love of your life
or maybe you don't want a 3rd & would rather go cycling?
super personal question to ask a bunch of strangers

my wife and I needed fertility help and our doctors did not subscribe to the cycling as a cause thing. Regardless, for my mother-in-law's sake, I backed way off on training during the process.

I would do a ton of google research ... and dismiss 95% of what i read.

While there are certain physiological aspects to cycling (pressure in the wrong places from badly-fitted saddles) which can affect male reproductive organs, I have not heard that cycling in general or exercising in general would have that effect.

On the other hand, there are so many hormone-mimicking and hormone-containing food additives, hygiene and "health-care" products out there ..... As with any really important medical advice ... Definitely never look any farther than BF. We Knoes it ALL!

Doctors, on the other hand .... definitely get a second opinion and definitely educate yourself (for real, not from YouTube gurus who are ranting about aliens and such) and make an informed choice.

Remember, there are doctors who graduated last int heir classes who haven't learned anything in decades, still giving opinions which were wrong when they learned them ... and there are doctors watching and believing those YouTube gurus ranting about aliens ....

As far as having three kids ... I am all for Zero Population Growth, but on the other hand, this world is already irredeemably trashed and things are likely to get a lot worse before they get better, perhaps .... If you want to bring a new life into the world (or bring an old life back, depending on your beliefs) well ... go for it. Your child might be a serial killer, might hate you, or might cure nineteen different hitherto incurable diseases and also enjoy cycling with his dad. Roll the dice, if you feel lucky.

Go see a medical professional who specializes in your particular type of a problem . Never ever ask for medical advice on bikeforums.

My law firm can help if you feel you are getting false information from your doctor.
If interested contact DeweyCheatemandHowe.com for all your lawyerish needs.

Really stupid suggestion.

Someone finally asks a serious question, and almost all of the responses (so far) are off-topic, borderline mocking, or both. Sheesh.

OP, a simple google search turns up some actual medical information, Lots of interesting reading as a starting point. As expected, MoAlpha 's response was on-point.

If you wish to pursue your own situation further, the obvious suggestion is to visit a fertility specialist with your questions.

(Caveat: I'm not a medical doctor.)

Just go to a clinic that specialises in these matters.

How does your wife's GP know that your sperm count and motility are low and if indeed they are, they were impaired from your cycling. Omniscience?

Get checked out properly by the right people

This 100%.

The studies that show doing any sort of exercise results in a bad outcome get all sorts of attention. And to be fair to the people that do the studies, they are often misquoted. I think any study that shows that cycling is bad for fertility is buried in history, and only lives on as received wisdom.

Some of the advice for promoting male fertility includes exercise and losing weight.

Okay, the study that gets cited by the first billion hits on google was a preliminary study involving only men that went to fertility clinics. I think there are glaring issues with that approach. And everyone ignores the fact that it was a preliminary study.

I am surprised Rydabent hasn't chimed in yet. Unfortunately in this particularly instance, what Rydabent has to say will be 100% correct.

reminds me of a comedy club act. guy goes to his spermologist (I made that up) and Dr said I got good news and bad news. guy says give the bad news first..dr said you only have one active sperm cell...guy was like crap what is the good news...dr said "its a big one" I know don't quit my day job

Maybe. Sounds to me the doc is just throwing out group-think suggestions. I think the biggest issue with sperm health would be heat. Wear airier shorts? Op's not gonna want to use a bent to train for a big climbing event though.

Easy way to get pregnant is to adopt a new born, loose your job and medical insurance, then move in with your in-laws... Ha

But my advice is simple. If you believe that cycling is preventing you from getting pregnant then don't do it hold off on it for a while. There will be plenty of time to ride on in the future. And of course there will be some adjustments in your ride and ridding style. You are working on your third. You know this already...


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https://images.kidsbike.biz

That is Terrible advice.

If you think some part of your life that is really important to you is impacting another important part of you life---GET THE FACTS!!

Don't upend your life because one guy made one comment. So based on nonsense like this a person should radically alter his entire lifestyle, into one possibly vastly less mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy?

Dude, I am going to post that eating protein, or owning a pet, reduces fertility, make a thousand bot accounts, and hit that thing until it tops social media ....

Self-diagnosis via Google is very possible but you need to be Very careful ... and as I have noted not all doctors are really any good.

On the other hand, if a guy gets his fertility info off Bike Forums i suppose that is the Darwin Effect playing out ......

The next challenge for the techies. We have at our perusal on our on-board devices speed, distance, calories spent, HR ... Add to this sperm count and rate of decline so we can better plan out rides and futures. "Your Garmin doesn't have sperm count?"