In this video Dr Ashish talks about exercising during your fertility journey.
Video Transcript
Hello there, this is Dr. Ashish live back on Saturday morning. Oh, just just turning into afternoon. Anyways, I’m back with topic for today is exercise when you’re trying to get pregnant, what kind of exercise what is good for you what is not.
And where we have some proof, it is more holistic view. So I’ll share some of the tips some of the perspective that I share with my clients, my patients, my name is Dr. Ashish, and I support women who are going through fertility issues, who have gone more complex cases,
Reese who have been trying to get pregnant for a while, and still struggling and or maybe that they did get pregnant, but they lost that pregnancy or that baby. So I’ve worked with all those women.
So today, I am going to discuss a few tips on exercise, what kind of exercise you should do. And many times you know, everybody knows the importance of exercise, it’s just a matter of are you doing it consistently? Are you doing the kind of exercise which is good for your body and mind type? Yeah, everybody has their own physical type. We all have also our ethnic types as well, which differs from country to country or region, you know, area to area as well. So what is it? What kind of exercise is good for you too much exercise or too little? How do you find that right balance, which is good for you and for your fertility. So that is, you know, it fits with the whole model of holistic medicine that everything is according to your body and mind constitution, according to who you are as a person, if you’re a woman who’s trying to get pregnant that what is your How is your body structure? How is your nutritional requirements, what are your nutritional requirements, all of that will come into play, what kind of exercise is going to benefit you, and what kind of exercise is going to be harmful for you. And as I always say, I say that for anybody who’s looking to get healthier, otherwise, especially to do with something as complex as fertility is, then do go and see a practitioner first, whether it’s a practitioner, like myself, who’s you know, trained a number of holistic paradigms, and I work especially with fertility issues, or that if you’re only looking to have help in terms of exercise than going to, to a train or to a personal trainer or going to a yoga practitioner, but start with somebody one on one, because everybody’s body, as I said, is unique, and it’s your mind as unique as well. They’re not every exercise is going to be suitable for you. Not every time, you cannot do the same exercise as somebody else’s doing they might be doing in the morning morning may not be suitable for you. So go and see and find a person who can work with you and guide you over, over some weeks, three weeks, three months or six months, it’s kind of, I would say is minimal for you to really get into the rhythm of your own body and mind. And to find the real, you know, the fine balance where there is not too much exercise, and it’s not too little exercise. And then you can carry on with that once you know, especially if you are somebody who has never exercised before or not much, right, you just walk perhaps do a bit of run, or just doing your own random things, then it is good to get some you know some insight into how your body is behaving and what kind of exercise is going to be good for you.
There are a number of things that can be when it comes to physical exercise, number of things that can be monitored as well. There are plenty of gadgets that you can use to monitor yourself. So go to a practitioner, personal trainer or practitioner like myself, find what is going to be suitable appropriate, optimal fee for you and your fertility and start with that. And then work with it. And it is not only just starting it’s a matter of consistently doing it, all these habits, especially exercise, it is not just a one off thing, it is not even once a week thing, you have to do it consistently. So go to a practitioner first thing second is be consistent. Whatever effort you’re putting, be consistent consistency, maybe that five times a week when you are working, say for example, you can only spend 15 minutes because that’s how much time you have done on the weekend or on your days off, which most likely is going to be two days here in the UK. Then you can spend more time You can do 30 minutes or 45 minutes of exercise up to an hour. So, do that, but do that consistently in the weeks and months, right. So find your own consistent balance and optimal balance. So that’s that.
Number three is too little or too much exercise can also be harmful, we know that when women do excessive amount of exercise or younger girls, you know, they’re doing excessive sports, then many times I have seen in my practice that periods stop or the periods reduced to almost nothing. So that means that exercise was too much for that body and mind or for that body shape. Right. So, that and also when you do too little exercise, we know that that is also not helpful for the body, it can, you can put on weight also that your body metabolism is not going to be optimal if there is no exercise. So that can has its own consequences. So finding that right balance, and that is what is bespoke, and individualistic to every single person, not same kind of exercise. If one person can do two mile run, it may be too much for another person, or maybe too much, at least in the beginning, for somebody who’s never who’s not used to running. So find a practitioner be consistent and find your own balance of too much too little exercise, then the next thing is to be to do exercise a mixed bunch of exercises, not just only one kind of exercise, if you’re only doing walking, then there is only that many number of muscles and that muscle set which is going to move because it is same kind of movement that is happening. You know your that your body’s making. So same kind of muscles are going to be moving. So choose two or three different types of exercises that are that you like, yeah, it may be that one day you play some kind of sport, another day, perhaps you run or you cycle, another day, perhaps you do some softer version of exercise, then there is a little bit of weight training version of exercise. So very, you know, mix them together, vary them, maybe you have set days on Mondays, this is the kind of exercise I’m gonna do on Wednesday, that particular kind of exercise you’re going to do so find that mix that is that works for you.
I always say if you like some kind of sports, something to do outside, whatever that may be, and you don’t have to compete, you don’t have to be in a team or you know, not doing it competitively or anything like that. But just for fun, something that you really, really enjoy, then it is a great form of exercise because you’re enjoying, and not just only because I know I’m not a gym person. And I know many people who do not like gym, I like to be in outside environment. So perhaps you are that kind of person, then find a sport activity that works for you. And another days, do other activities, right? So but find your own activities that you really enjoy. If you’re not enjoying physical exercise, you will not be consistent with it. And also what time of the day you should be exercising. So even the neuroscience says this. And we know this from holistic perspective, first half of the day is better for doing exercise, for exercising, running any kind of exercise, especially if you are just just getting used to the idea of exercise, then first half of the day, we are more motivated, we have more energy and the after lunch or after four o’clock or so the body is trying to shut down as it’s evening time. So morning time set a morning time, whatever is suitable before you work in between work before lunchtime. So find that particular time that is good for you but in the first half of the day. And then also in between to do some form of softer version of exercise or stretching exercises that we have in yoga. So yoga is many times people think oh Yoga is not challenging enough. I challenge those people who think that yoga is not challenging enough so you can utilise and use yoga. You know, make it as softer as you want as gentle as you want and make it as challenging and vigorous as you would like. But again, find a practitioner who can work with you and you can learn it and utilise it and you know use it at your own level. If you’re somebody who, who’s used to exercise and want to work get a very high level vigorous level of yoga and then do that. And then last one is to within the realm of exercise, we also have breathing exercises. So breath work, which also works with all other forms of exercises, and on its own as well. Right. So breathing work, some kind of Pranayama as we call them from yogic perspective or Yogi’s point of view. But breath work is crucial if your breathing is not optimal, you are not getting the benefit of all the exercise that you’re doing, also, that your aerobic capacity is not going to be good enough for you to be doing all these exercises. Yeah. And lastly, I would say is to is to be mindful. So perhaps, are seven days in a week one day is when you do whatever exercise you’re doing, even if it’s running, walking, gym, any kind of exercise, do it with being mindful, where is your body, how your muscles are moving, how your breath is, how much tired you are feeling, whether this kind of movement is helping you or not, are they some kind of pain or unease so being mindful of your body as well. So just little few tips and tricks can make a huge difference when it comes to fertility. If you are a woman, especially trying to get pregnant, then looking and you’re looking and getting because it’s a huge field out there in terms of exercise, what is good and what is not. So to reach out, if you would like to speak to me or if you’d like to speak to another professional near you then do that. And if you know someone who’s trying to get pregnant, then put these my videos in front of them if they are open to natural medicine. Thank you so much. Have a great Saturday, a great weekend. I’ll see you next week.