Tips to improve sperm ✅ – How to increase sperm motility [IT WORKS!]
Transcription :
I often spend so much time talking about egg, quality and ovarian reserve, but this week’s going to be a little bit different because I want to spend today talking about male fertility. And this is in honor of Male Fertility Week. We need to discuss sperm. And more importantly, I’m going to share with you some tips on how to improve sperm motility and morphology. I find that male fertility is often overlooked when we talk about fertility, because so much emphasis is put on the woman in the relationship because of the eggs involved, which certainly are important and we’ve spent plenty of time discussing the importance of egg, quality and ovarian reserve. But male fertility and sperm quality can’t be overlooked. It’s half of the equation. 45 to 50% of the time there are male fertility factors involved in a fertility issue and we need to always account for that. Many of the women in my Hope Fertility Coaching Program have gone through years of trying to conceive and have done all this testing. And yet I often find that a semen analysis has not been done, and that’s just not the right way to move forward.
So today’s video, we’re going to dive deeper into this topic about male fertility and motility and morphology as we discuss a semen analysis. So in this week’s video, I’m going to share some easy tips that all the men can start to do and incorporate to make some real changes to affect their sperm quality. Now, if you’re a man watching this video, good for you for taking responsibility. And if you are the woman watching this video, and you’re not sitting next to your husband or partner as well, then I want you to make sure you share this video with them so that they can start to learn how to take responsibility for their sperm quality.
Before we get started, I do want to give a quick shout out to the sponsor for this week’s video: Fairhaven Health. Fairhaven Health makes one of my favorite male fertility supplements called FH Pro For Men, has tons of great research to support it. And really we can affect so many different parameters with this one product, which is why I recommend it for all the men that I work with. If you want their information or more information on this, use the link in the description below to learn more.
My name is Dr. Marc Sklar, also known as the fertility expert and welcome to Fertility TV, your YouTube channel dedicated to helping you get pregnant. I’ve been working with couples for over 18 years, from all over the world with my online programs and right here in San Diego at both of my clinics. And often, often men are not part of the equation, but we’re going to change that today with this video so let’s get into it.
So I want to start this video by sharing a story with all of you. I work with so many couples in my Hope Fertility Program, but not always do the men join and want support. And I had been working with one specific woman for six months, and we’d been making amazing progress and great change with her, but something’s still not clicking. And so I keep pushing her and I have been pushing her, “Please get your husband tested.” He’s never been tested. And I said, “Well, why hasn’t he been tested?” And she says, “Well, he’s younger than me, he thinks he’s fine, he doesn’t want to do it.” Whatever the excuse, his ego is truly the reason. He thinks he’s not the problem. He thinks it’s all on her. He’s young enough. He’s healthy enough. Whatever the reason is, he hasn’t wanted to do it. So I pushed her the last time we spoke, which was about four weeks ago, I pushed her to say, “Please, we can’t continue to move forward without getting your husband tested.”
The worst thing that happens is he gives us sample, we find out he’s normal and we don’t have to bug him anymore. Well, he finally gave his sample. I finally got his results and I got it this week. On Monday, they showed up in my inbox and guess what? Every parameter is off. His concentration, his motility, his morphology, all of them below normal range and in not the ideal parameter. And so for all this time, he hasn’t been taking this responsibility, she’s been putting all that responsibility on her shoulders making great progress and no wonder they haven’t been able to get pregnant. So I want to really encourage all of you watching, every single one of you, if your partner, if your husband, if you are the man watching and you’ve been resistant and letting your ego get in the way, and you haven’t been tested, shame on you. I want to ask you right now, go get a semen analysis, go prove yourself right. Go show us all that your sperm are fine and that there’s no issues. And that we can move on doing all the other things that we were doing.
And if not, then start to take responsibility for your portion of the fertility journey. Get up, get tested, let’s get the results and let’s make changes. And that’s what we’re going to talk about today, is making changes and simple changes as it pertains to male fertility parameters, concentration or count, motility and morphology. And I should also mention that if you do your semen analysis and it comes back healthy, that’s not an excuse for eating poorly, that’s not an excuse for not exercising, that’s not an excuse for bad habits, drinking, smoking, whatever it is. It’s not an excuse. Just because your semen analysis came back normal now doesn’t mean it can’t come back abnormal in the future. So you still need to be proactive and take care of yourself for your health and for your future child.
So if you want to learn more about all the different parameters of a semen analysis, what it all means, how to look at it, then I have several videos I’ve already created on this topic. You can go ahead and check them out right here or using the link in the description below. But this video, I want to spend some time talking about tips, things that you can practically do to start to make changes and get results.
And the first part of that has to do with timing. How much time does it actually take to make a significant change in progress in any of those parameters, in a semen analysis to improve the quality of the sperm that you are producing? Well, the reality is, is it takes somewhere between 60 to 90 days. So an average, I like to err on the longer side and say 90 days and I don’t really like to retest any of those parameters until we hit the 100 day mark. So I like a full 90 days, I go a little bit beyond and that’s when I retest. So in the grand scheme of things, that’s actually not a long period of time. Sperm can change very quickly. They are very sensitive so just these little things can cause them to have abnormal results and the quality to be compromised. We can also make some little changes and shift those results very positively in a short period of time and all of this back down to the basics of what we need to do.
Also, want to touch on a point about those of you who have already had children and then say, well, I’ve already had children, my sperm were fine back then, I should have no problem now having more children. The reality is, is we’re not the same. If you had children two years ago, five years ago, three years ago, whatever it is, your body is different today than it was back then, you’re influenced by different things. There’s all these different parameters: stress, work, lack of exercise, diet, lack of sleep. You have a child, and so life is different now that you have a child than it was before. So we can’t assume that just because you’ve had a child and your sperm were healthy back then that your sperm are fine now and there’s no reason to retest. We still need to be proactive in that. And part of that means taking responsibility, getting tested, making sure that it looks fine and then taking responsibility for your own lifestyle, diet, and habits and making those changes as well.
In my Hope Fertility Coaching Program, I always review not just all the lab work and results for all the women in the program, but I also review a semen analysis. And if we need hormone tests for all the men, for all the partners who are part of that process as well. And if we see any issues, then we always incorporate a part of the plan for all the men. That’s how important it is so we can’t ignore that piece as well. And I know I’m harping on it, but I want to remind all of you. We’ve got to address both sides of the equation. No one side is more responsible or needs to take more responsibility for this process. It should be a joint shared goal of fertility nourishment, and to get pregnant. It should be a joint process for both of you.
So I want to talk about the three areas that we need to start to look at to evaluate if they’re impacting male fertility. So the first one is medical issues. What are some medical issues that may be impacting your male fertility, your sperm quality? Well, there’s chromosomal defects. I took some notes here so I don’t forget what to say to you. There are digestive issues like celiac disease that can impact it. Hormonal imbalances, that’s an obvious one. So if we’ve got low testosterone levels, high estrogen levels, these can absolutely impact male fertility and sperm quality. Medications. If you have a pre-existing condition that you’re being medicated for, those medications can absolutely impact the quality of years. Now not all of them, but some of them absolutely can. Conditions such as a varicocele, which is a varicose vein in the testes and obviously STDs.
One of the more common mistakes that I often see, and I see this repeatedly every year is that I have men who come in because they’ve had low testosterone, their hormones are impacted, they have low testosterone. And so they are put on testosterone medication. That is the wrong approach if we want to get pregnant. Testosterone medication can absolutely and dramatically impact negatively your sperm quality and count. I see this repeatedly, repeatedly. So we do need to be careful of that. Now there are natural ways and other ways that we can address testosterone. I’ve talked about that in several different videos, but I want all of you to be aware that taking testosterone medication is not the appropriate thing to do. If you’ve got low testosterone and you’re trying to conceive.
Another big variable that may impact your sperm quality, and hopefully it’s just temporary is viral infections. If you contract a virus and you spike a high fever for any extended period of time, odds are that your sperm quality and count are going to be impacted and often dramatically, and we need time for that to recover. So bear in mind those medical variables, those medical conditions that could impact your fertility.
Number two is lifestyle issues. So are you living a healthy lifestyle? What do we mean by that? Well, obviously some obvious things. Are you a cigarette smoker? Do you smoke a lot of cigarettes? Do you consume a high amount of alcohol? Do you consume a high amount of recreational drugs? So any drug, especially marijuana and really quite frankly, any recreational drug will impact or can impact your fertility and sperm quality. Obesity is another variable, which a huge issue in the United States. I think the numbers are upwards of 50 to 60% of all adult males are obese, or considered obese. This has a dramatic effect on your overall health, your hormones and your fertility as well. And then we can never ignore stress. Stress is such a huge variable, impact almost any health condition and fertility is no different. I see this routinely as well, that increased stress levels will dramatically impact the quality and quantity of the sperm that you are producing. Sitting for an extended period of time, being sedentary is also another variable lifestyle variable that we need to account for.
So these are some key lifestyle variables that we need to be aware of and start to make some changes. Now making changes in these areas because a lot of these are habitual is not easy. So you’re going to need the right support to make those changes. But I want to tell you how important those changes are and how impactful they will be for your fertility. So starting to make those changes, even if you can’t be perfect with it is going to have a huge impact on your sperm quality.
And then we can never ignore environmental factors. Environmental factors are huge because of how sensitive sperm are. We discussed this earlier. I mentioned the sensitivity of sperm. So we do need to account for this. Now on a positive note, sperm do reproduce very quickly and often. So that gives us the opportunity to make really impactful changes. And so being mindful of our environment and those chemicals that we are exposed to can make a huge impact. Now, what are some of those chemicals? Pesticides. So many of you are using Roundup around your house to take care of the weeds. I want to encourage you to try something different. Roundup has been known to impact our overall health, can dramatically impact our fertility and lower our sperm quality and count. So I really want to encourage you not to use that. There’s a lot of natural ways to take care of weeds around the house and natural gardening methods that would allow you not to do that, which is what I use in my house. I’m really conscious of it. And I encourage all of you to do the same.
Heavy metal exposure. High, heavy metal exposure can absolutely impact sperm quality as well as radiation exposure if you have high amounts of radiation exposure. Sometimes that comes with an occupational hazard. Actually pesticide use might come with a occupational hazard as well. If you are working and spending a lot of time in the fields because that’s your profession or you’re a gardener and so you’re asked to use this. You might want to start to consider how can you modify your occupation to account for these exposures. And then industrial chemicals. That list can be long, especially if you are in an industry that uses a lot of chemicals as part of the process, we do have to be careful for this. So your sperm are sensitive, very volatile, and we need to be mindful of what we’re exposing them to.
So can we realistically do about all of these things? The wonderful thing is we can do so much to impact all these areas that I just mentioned. And the first one is starting with lifestyle changes. This one can be difficult because these are all habitual, like I said before. So it does take time, be patient with yourself, but more importantly, I think you’re all going to need support for these areas. You need someone to help guide you through these things and to push you and more importantly, hold you accountable.
So I encourage all of you to find a coach who can help you manage these things. If you need a better exercise routine, then find a personal trainer who can help you with that. If you need more guidance in certain one or more of these areas, you need a coach to help push you through that. Not only to lay out the plan, but to hold you accountable, to make sure that you’re able to achieve that. If you’re drinking too much alcohol, using recreational drugs, that needs to stop. These are all lifestyle changes that need to start to shift. And that’s going to need some considerable support to get you through that.
One of the amazing things about many of the things that I just mentioned is that taking a few supplements, nutraceutical supplements can actually have a huge impact to support that because they can be if you’re taking the right ones, full of antioxidants and the right micronutrients to give your body and your sperm the right support and nutrients that they need, which is why I included as part of this video, the FH Pro For Men that I discussed in the opening of this video. Fairhaven Health, yes, they are a sponsor to this video, but more importantly, they produce an amazing product with research backed evidence to support the use of these nutrients for sperm quality and sperm count. So it is a great product that you can use and one of the benefits about it is that it’s all in one. Now, there are still might be some things you want to add in, but this is a great start. And often for many of you, all that you need.
For tip number three, I want to talk about your testicles. Well, and if all the women are watching, it’s not your testicles, it’s your partner’s testicles. The reality is, is when they are impacted by the environment, by sedentary sitting, they can get too hot and we don’t want that. If there’s also what’s called a varicocele, they can create too much heat in the testicles. So one of my favorite tips to recommend is actually cooling your balls. That’s right, icing the testicles. We want to put some ice on the testicles. It doesn’t have to be for very long, 10 to 15 minutes once or twice a day can have a huge impact, especially if you do that after high exposure to heat. So if you’re going to go and exercise for an hour, then afterwards would be the right time to do that. If you’ve been sitting at your desk all day, then at the end of the day, you want to do that. There’s the right time to do that as well. But doing it is better than not doing it. So make sure you work that in to your daily routine.
I mentioned stress has a huge impact. I notice this all the time with any reproductive issue, male fertility is no different. And so managing stress levels is really, really important. It’s often why so many men are drinking alcohol, smoking pot or whatever else that they’re doing is because those are their mechanisms for managing their stress. Well, we’ve got to find a better way to manage our stress. What can you do to help manage your stress? Maybe there’s a hobby that you like to do that you haven’t done, playing music, learning an instrument would be a wonderful way to do that to help manage your stress because you can get lost in that, going for a wonderful hike, exercising, because exercise is so important and valuable for male fertility and good quality sperm. But what are you going to do to manage your stress?
My favorite things to recommend is actually meditation in some form. It doesn’t have to be for an extended period of time. It could really just start with five minutes, two minutes a day, maybe even a couple times a day to help center yourself, ground yourself, and pull you out of those stressful moments and pull you back into where you need to be. So stress and getting a handle on your stress is a really important piece, something that I always cover with those couples that I work with. And I encourage you to start looking into that as well.
And this next piece is sleep. This might sound easy, but it’s not. I want all of you to get seven to eight hours of sleep, eight hours is ideal, but seven is the minimum. This is the time for your body to rest recover, rejuvenate and restore itself. It’s the time where you heal your body. And if you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re compromising your overall health and certainly your fertility. This is also tied to stress, which is why put it afterwards. Because often what happens is, is we’re working so hard, we need more time to accomplish the things we need to do for work so we end up staying up later and getting less sleep as a result of that. We can’t compromise our health in this fashion. Sleep is one of the most important foundational things you can do. And I encourage you to start to create a better sleep routine and get a minimum of seven hours of sleep every night.
My sixth tip has to do with diet. I’m going to keep this simple. I spend a lot of videos talking about diet, so you can always go back and reference those. But I want to encourage all of you to make a couple of key changes when it comes to your diet. First and foremost, for all of you out there, I want you to minimize your exposure to soy. So I want you to get rid of adding soy or tofu into your diet because it is higher in estrogen and men don’t need that higher exposure to estrogen. I also want to encourage you to eat organic animal products, because there is typically added hormones to the conventional meats, and that can have a negative impact on your hormone system as well.
And number two, I want you to increase your healthy fats. Most of us are not getting enough healthy fats. We might be getting a lot of terrible fats and bad fats, but we need to increase our healthy fats. So making sure that you’re incorporating avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, I’m okay with butter as well. Like really incorporating those into your diet in a conscious manner so you can start to nourish your body in a different way.
And my little extra tip, I wasn’t going to include this, but I decided to add this in is that anytime we’re dealing with male fertility and compromised sperm, sometimes they need a better vaginal environment, better cervical mucus to help promote the sperm, to get to where they need to go. And this is where Baby Dance comes into play. This is a lubricant that the woman uses to help create a better surgical environment for the sperm to swim. It keeps the sperm in a good environment to get to where they need to go, it’s pH balanced, it’s non toxic and it’s fertility friendly.
So these are the main tips that I want to share with all of you. I gave you six main ones, and then I added in the extra on of Baby Dance. Baby Dance is actually also produced by Fairhaven Health. You can get that all with the links in the description below. So if you and your partner are 35 or older, have been trying for longer than 6 months, you might need a little bit more of a customized approach to get you the results that you’re looking for. You might need a different perspective on your supplements, on your diet, on your lab work. You might also need a little extra push, encouragement and accountability to get you where you want to be. If this sounds like you, if you need a little extra support, a new perspective and more guidance to get to where you want to be, then you might be a perfect candidate to join my Hope Fertility Coaching Program.
If you’re interested in joining that program, I encourage you to apply, to see if you qualify to work with me and my team. The link is in the description below. So what did you learn in this video? I want to hear from you comment below and let me know, your comments, anytime you post a comment actually allows my video to be seen by so many more couples and men who need this information and they’re not able to see it. So it allows the video to be seen more, which means your comments are helping other couples throughout the world on their fertility journeys. That’s powerful and I love that process. So I encourage you not just comment for the sake of commenting, but I want to hear what was the one or two things that you learned that you think are going to impact your fertility by watching this video? Let me know.
If you want some more videos on fertility and male fertility, I’m going to leave them right here. Again, you can always find those links in the description below as well. If you found this video useful, give me a thumbs up. I want to hear from you. If you are not already a subscriber to my YouTube channel, and I know that many of you watching are not, then hit that bell to subscribe and get notified when I put out my next video for all of you. I want to say thank you for watching till the end for being here with me and trusting me on your fertility journey. Until the next video, I want you all to say safe, stay healthy, and most of all, stay fertile.