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The following is a summary of “Effectiveness of exercise interventions on sperm quality: a systematic review and network meta-analysis,” published in the March 2025 issue of Frontiers in Endocrinology by Song et al. 

A significant gap exists in the aggregated analysis of exercise’s impact on male sperm treatment despite the global prevalence of infertility and extensive research into male infertility therapies.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to validate the comparative effectiveness of various exercise interventions in improving sperm quality in men using a network meta-analysis.  

They retrieved all randomized clinical trials (RCTs) from PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP databases. A network meta-analysis was performed to estimate the effectiveness of exercise interventions on sperm quality.  

The results showed that 14 studies with 1,079 subjects were included. Compared to physical inactivity, indoor aerobic, outdoor aerobic, and resistance training significantly reduced sperm density (P<0.05) and necrotic spermatozoa while increasing active spermatozoa (P>0.05). Outdoor aerobic [mean difference (MD)=1.84, 95% CI :(1.56,2.14), P<0.05], multi-component motion [MD=1.37, 95%CI:(0.85,1.89), P<0.05], competitive sports [MD=1.04, 95%CI:(0.46,1.60), P<0.05], and indoor aerobic [MD=0.32, 95%CI:(0.21,0.44), P<0.05] improved sperm volume. Other sports [MD=9.49, 95%CI:(6.17,12.84), P<0.05], indoor aerobic [MD=4.43, 95%CI:(3.12,5.74), P<0.05], resistance training [MD=3.93, 95%CI:(0.49,7.37), P<0.05], competitive sports [MD=5.44, 95%CI:(0.10,10.79), P<0.05], and bicycle aerobics [MD=27.29, 95%CI:(22.45,32.06), P<0.05] significantly enhanced sperm motility. Other sports [MD=17.20, 95%CI:(3.12,31.19), P<0.05] increased total sperm count. Resistance training [MD=10.90, 95%CI:(8.44,13.36), P<0.05], other sports [MD=1.97, 95%CI:(1.41,2.54), P<0.05], indoor aerobic [MD=2.43, 95%CI:(1.13,3.73), P<0.05], and bicycle aerobic [MD=12.18, 95%CI:(10.19,14.18), P<0.05] improved sperm morphology. Bicycle aerobic [MD=18.87, 95%CI:(11.70,25.86), P<0.05] and indoor aerobic [MD=9.53, 95%CI:(8.97,10.09), P<0.05] significantly increased sperm concentration.  

Investigators concluded that distinct exercise modalities yielded specific improvements in sperm parameters among patients who were infertile : outdoor aerobics enhanced sperm volume, other sports improved motility and count, resistance training positively affected morphology, and bicycle aerobics increased concentration. 

Source: frontiersin.org/journals/endocrinology/articles/10.3389/fendo.2025.1537271/full