London, Nov 9 Spending too much time in the gym could negatively affect your chances of having children, a new study has revealed.

The researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology say "superwoman work-outs" can increase the risk of having fertility problems three-fold.

The study showed that younger women were more vulnerable to having such problems.

The researchers found that those who exercised most, a quarter couldn't conceive during their first year of attempting compared to the national average of seven per cent.

They suggest that extreme exercising deprives the body of energy needed for a successful pregnancy.

During the study, 3,000 women were questioned about the frequency, duration and intensity of their fitness regimes between 1984 and 1986. Ten years later they were asked about their pregnancies.

"We found two groups who experienced an increased risk of infertility," the Daily Express quoted study leader Sigridur Lara Gudmundsdottir as saying.

"There were those who trained almost every day, and those who trained until completely exhausted.

Those who did both had the highest risk of infertility," Gudmundsdottir added.

However, the negative effects of a punishing routine were not permanent.

"The vast majority had children in the end," said Gudmunsdottir.

"And those who trained the hardest in the middle of the 1980s were among those who had the most children in the 1990s." (ANI)