IVF Exercise: What Athletes Can Learn - Longevity Life

Starting IVF or egg freezing can make ordinary routines feel uncertain. For people who exercise regularly, a familiar run, gym session, swim, or strength workout may suddenly come with difficult questions: Is this still safe? Could I affect treatment outcomes? Should I stop moving altogether?

These concerns are understandable. Fertility treatment can be physically demanding, emotionally intense, and expensive. Exercise decisions should not add unnecessary stress. A recent survey of athletes offers useful reassurance, but it does not replace individualized advice from a fertility care team.

1. Why IVF Exercise Questions Matter

Exercise can support mood, sleep, stress management, and a sense of normalcy. At the same time, ovarian stimulation and egg retrieval can temporarily change how the body feels and responds to movement.

During treatment, ovaries may enlarge as follicles develop. That can make high-impact movement, heavy lifting, deep twisting, or intense abdominal work less comfortable and, for some people, less appropriate. The right plan depends on the treatment stage, symptoms, medical history, and the type of activity involved.

2. What the New Athlete Survey Found

A survey summarized by mindbodygreen included 216 recreational and elite athletes who had undergone egg freezing or IVF within the previous five years. Participants reported their activity levels during treatment, health events, and the advice they received from medical professionals.

Seventy-nine percent said they continued exercising in some form during treatment. Researchers reported 38 adverse events across the group and found no statistically significant difference in reported adverse-event odds between those who exercised and those who stopped.

However, the survey cannot prove that exercise is risk-free for every person or every stage of IVF. It relied on participant reports, involved a relatively small group, and was not designed to establish a universal exercise prescription.

3. The Practical Takeaway

Key takeaway: Many athletes may be able to remain active during IVF or egg freezing, but continuing activity usually means adjusting the workout—not automatically maintaining a normal training load.

Among participants who stayed active, many reduced workout intensity, frequency, or duration. Some shifted to lighter movement, such as walking. This is an important distinction: the survey does not support a “train as usual” message.

Your fertility clinician knows your medication plan, ultrasound findings, symptoms, and individual risk factors. Their guidance should take priority over general advice, online training plans, or a workout partner’s experience.

4. Why Exercise Advice Can Feel Confusing

A common misunderstanding is that all exercise is harmful during IVF. Another is that exercise is always beneficial as long as it feels manageable. Neither statement fits everyone.

Advice may change during different parts of treatment. Before stimulation, your usual routine may be appropriate for some people. As ovaries enlarge, providers may recommend avoiding activities with jarring impact, rapid direction changes, intense core pressure, or a meaningful risk of falls or abdominal injury.

One reason for caution is ovarian torsion, a rare but urgent condition in which an ovary twists and blood flow may be affected. Enlarged ovaries can raise the risk. This does not mean normal walking causes torsion, but it helps explain why clinicians may advise against vigorous running, jumping, contact sports, or heavy lifting during certain treatment windows.

5. How to Manage Exercise Day to Day

• Ask early: Request exercise guidance before starting medications, then ask again if your symptoms or treatment plan change.
• Scale down before you feel forced to: Consider shorter sessions, lower resistance, flatter walking routes, easier cycling, or gentler mobility work.
• Use comfort as useful information: Pelvic heaviness, bloating, fatigue, or abdominal discomfort are reasons to pause and check in rather than push through.
• Favor lower-risk movement: Depending on your provider’s advice, walking and gentle stretching may be easier to adapt than high-impact or competitive training.
• Protect recovery: Hydration, regular meals, sleep, and rest days can be especially valuable when appointments and medications disrupt your routine.
• Let performance goals wait: IVF is not the ideal time to chase a personal record, start a demanding new program, or test your physical limits.

6. Warning Signs, Limits, and When to Seek Help

Stop exercising and contact your fertility clinic promptly if you develop new or worsening pelvic or abdominal pain, marked bloating, sudden weight gain, nausea or vomiting, shortness of breath, dizziness, or reduced urination. These symptoms can have several causes, but they deserve professional guidance during fertility treatment.

Seek urgent medical care for severe or sudden one-sided pelvic pain, fainting, chest pain, trouble breathing, heavy bleeding, or severe vomiting. These symptoms may signal a condition that needs immediate evaluation.

People with prior complications, significant pain, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome risk, or clinician-identified restrictions may need a more conservative plan. Do not use survey findings to override specific medical instructions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I exercise during IVF?

Possibly, but the safest type and amount of exercise depend on your treatment stage and your clinician’s recommendations. Many people modify rather than completely stop activity.

Can I keep running or lifting weights during IVF?

Your provider may advise reducing intensity or avoiding higher-impact exercise and heavy lifting when ovaries are enlarged. Ask for guidance tailored to your routine rather than assuming your usual training plan is appropriate.

Does exercise reduce IVF success?

Current evidence does not support a simple answer for every activity level and every patient. The athlete survey described above did not find a link between continued exercise and more reported complications, but it did not prove that all exercise patterns are equally safe or affect pregnancy outcomes in the same way.

7. A Balanced Way Forward

The new survey is encouraging because it suggests that complete inactivity is not automatically necessary for every athlete undergoing IVF or egg freezing. Still, the most useful message is not “exercise without limits.” It is “stay in communication with your care team and adapt your routine to your body and treatment stage.”

Related reading: Explore evidence-based guidance on preparing for fertility treatment, managing IVF-related stress, and returning to exercise after egg retrieval.

References

1. Slambee, Z. “79% Of Athletes Kept Exercising During IVF—Here’s What Happened.” mindbodygreen, August 18, 2026. Source summary provided for this article.
2. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. General guidance on physical activity and exercise considerations in pregnancy and reproductive health care.
3. American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Patient education resources on IVF, ovarian stimulation, and fertility treatment care.