How to Improve Your Swimmers
It's not always her issue. 15% of couples face fertility challenges and a male factor is involved half of the time.
When trying to conceive, make sure you're taking your best shot. Here's a checklist to help you improve your swimmers:
- Get Moving. Men who exercise regularly have better semen quality than men who are inactive. Take the stairs, go for a walk at lunch, or hit the gym more often.
- Avoid Overheat. Sustained temperature rise from varicocele, obesity, sitting, or driving can kill up to 90% of sperm. Use The Underdog whenever sitting or driving.
- Sleep Better. Sleep deprivation causes low testosterone and subsequently lower sperm count. Do what you can to get more and better sleep. Get off the screens 1 hour before bed. Aim to fall asleep and wake up at the same time every day. Consider a powdered magnesium citrate supplement to help sleep better.
- Reduce Stress. Exercise and better sleep can help here too.
- Eat Differently. Replace some carb-heavy foods with more nutrient-dense foods like nuts, fish and fish oil, eggs, broccoli, spinach, brussel sprouts, asparagus, flaxseed, etc.
- Limit Alcohol. Try cutting your weekly intake in half.
- Weight. If you've got some extra, make a goal of cutting the first 10 lbs by a certain date. Time restricted eating is a great way to help hit this goal. Start with a 12 hour window, then slowly shrink.
- Supplement Daily. Micronutrients and antioxidants are critical for sperm production. Take Vitamin D, a multivitamin, and a male fertility supplement like ProFertil or FertilAid for men to cover your bases.
Sperm take 2.5-3 months to fully form, so it might take a few months to reap the fruits of your labor. Commit to sticking with these changes for 6 months and see what happens.
And remember - these changes are only temporary. With any luck you'll hit a home run. Then you can go back to more carefree ways :)