The Effects of Exercise on the Brain
Exercising and eating properly are important keys to keeping your body in shape, but what most people may not realize is that working out also benefits your brain. Aerobic activities increase blood flow to the brain and help keep your thinking sharp, your stress levels down, and depression at bay.
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Jump start your brain
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If you have a hard time waking up, try jump-starting your brain in the morning. Before you get out of bed, spend a few minutes wiggling your toes, first all of them and then only your big toes. This simple activity activates nerves that fire synapses in your brain, sending messages throughout your neural system and internal organs. Repeat periodically throughout the day if you sit for long periods of time to help maintain focus.
Improve blood flow
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It's important to keep blood, oxygen and glucose flowing constantly through the brain. Aerobic activity like walking is an effective way to increase the flow of nutrients and oxygen throughout your entire body. When you're walking, running, swimming or doing some other aerobic exercise, you're also effectively oxygenating your brain. Aerobic activity increases breathing and heart rates, which gives you more energy and improves cognitive memory function.
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Clear your head
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Aerobic activities can also enhance positive thinking. According to a 2006 article published in the online AARP Magazine, daily exercise will help you feel and think more positively by reducing stress and improving general well-being. Your mind will be more clear, and you will most likely feel more active and confident. That cloudy, lazy mindset you may have once had will quickly disappear. The psychological benefits of exercise are often comparable to the physiological changes; a boost in confidence and energy improves the ability to reason and make decisions, resulting in better job performance and more productivity, which in turn leads to an increased sense of satisfaction.
Old dog, new tricks
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Challenging your brain to learn new things is vitally important to maintaining brain health. Try combining challenging new mental activity with a new physical activity. Take up line-dancing or yoga, or buy a hula hoop and learn to swivel. Try something new and different, and once you've mastered it or lose interest, try something else.
Help prevent degenerative mental disease
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Research conducted at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has shown that aerobic exercise is also a good way to help prevent degenerative mental diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia. These types of disease are linked to the part of the brain called the hippocampus. Increased oxygen flow to the brain due to aerobic exercise may delay the onset and progression of degenerative mental disease, and also slow the loss of mental acuity functions like memory and concentration as you age.
Mental exercise
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In addition to physical activity for your brain, feed your brain with new mental challenges. Mental challenges can be as involved and time-consuming as learning to play chess, or as simple as using the opposite hand to eat lunch. Number, word or trivia games that make you think fast are excellent ways to stay sharp and improve memory. The key is to challenge your brain at every opportunity.
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References
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- Photo Credit everyone's idle/ flickr creative commons
