You possibly already know that exercising is needed in order to preserve muscle strength, keep your heart strong, maintain a healthy body weight as well as stave off chronic diseases such as diabetes. However, exercise can also assist with boosting your thinking skills. There’s a lot of science behind this.
Exercise improves your memory and thinking skills directly as well as indirectly. It acts directly on the body through stimulating physiological changes such as decreases in insulin resistance and inflammation, along with encouraging the production of growth factors — chemicals which affect the growth of fresh blood vessels in the brain, and even the abundance, survival as well as overall health of fresh brain cells.
Exercise Also Acts Directly On The Brain Itself
Many studies have proposed that the parts of the brain which control thinking and memory are larger in volume in individuals who exercise than in individuals who don’t.
Even more amazing is the finding that engaging in a programme of regular exercise of moderate intensity over a period of six months or a year is associated with an increase in the volume of particular brain regions.
In addition, exercise can boost memory and thinking indirectly through improving mood and sleep, as well as by reducing stress and anxiety. Problems in these areas can often cause, or contribute to, cognitive impairment.
Try It Out
So what should you do? Start with exercising! We don’t know really which exercise is best. Nearly all of the research has looked at walking. It’s quite likely that other forms of aerobic exercise, which get your heart pumping, could yield similar benefits.
How much exercise is needed to improve memory? Study members walked briskly for one hour, twice a week. That works out to 120 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every week. Standard recommendations recommend half an hour of moderate physical activity on most days of the week, or 150 minutes every week. If that seems to be intimidating, start with a few minutes a day, and increase the amount that you exercise by five to 10 minutes every single week until you get to your goal.
If you aren’t keen on walking, consider other types of moderate-intensity exercises, such as swimming, stair climbing, tennis, squash or – alternatively – dancing. Remember that household chores can count as well, for example intense floor mopping, raking leaves, or anything which gets your heart pumping so much that you break out into a light sweat.
Don’t have the discipline exercise on your own? Try any or all of these ideas:
- Join a class or work out with a friend who’ll hold you accountable.
- Track your progress, which encourages you to reach a goal.
- If you’re able, hire a personal trainer. (Paying an expert is good motivation.)
Whatever exercise and motivators you choose, commit to establishing exercise as a habit, almost like taking a prescription medication. After all, they say that exercise is medicine, and that can go on the top of anyone’s list of reasons to work out.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of exercise then you need to do our Personal Training Diploma. Follow this link to find out more.
