Watching too much TV with limited exercise is partly to blame for a possible decline in male sperm production, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health Study.

In a study published in the British Medical Journal, researchers assessed sp-erm quality in 189 college students aged 18 to 22 and found that those who routinely exercised rigorously and who watched no TV had the highest quality and quantity of sp-erm compared to the couch potatoes that exercised less.

The research reverses prevailing wisdom that male athletes have lower sp-erm count, when in fact exercise increases sp-erm count.  Dr. Jorge Chavarro, an assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the School of Public Health emphasized that the study findings need to be replicated by others to verify the association in male populations. He likewise noted that moderate exercise of any kind appears to cause no harm to a man’s fertility and is likely beneficial.

Both too much TV and a sedentary lifestyle independently raised a man’s likelihood of having fewer viable sperm, but men who exercised and watched a lot of TV didn’t fare as poorly from their excess TV watching as those who didn’t exercise at all.

There were several limitations in the study, which included a relatively small sample size, and the study was not designed to prove that alternative exercise forms or TV viewing habits could improve male fertility.

Men with fertility problems should avoid biking for extending periods of time, choose boxers instead of briefs and remove warm laptops from their laps. Anything that raises the temperature of the testicle can destroy sperm.

– Techyville