Exercise and Brain Health

We know exercise is good for our bodies, it helps keep our bodies fit and healthy – it also is really, really good for our brains!

Here are just some of the benefits of exercising for your gray matter;

It May Help You Pay Attention

In recent studies using EEG tests to help measure the ability to focus and pay attention -  results indicate that your ability to concentrate and pay attention go up after intense exercise, the more intense, the bigger the increase.

It May Help You Remember

Aerobic exercise like walking, jogging, or gardening could help your brain’s hippocampus grow – this is the part that’s linked to memory and learning .

It could also slow the shrinking of your hippocampus that results from aging, meaning less or slower memory loss

Studies suggest the regrowth of the Hippocampus is stronger if you like the activity you’re doing. So find something you enjoy and get going.

It Helps Depression and Anxiety

Aerobic exercise is proven to help improve the symptoms of depression and anxiety – it’s so effective that doctors and GPs may suggest it as a treatment; it’s not an ‘instant cure’ like medication -  It may take many months to get the full benefit, so make a habit of being active.

It Helps Make Your Brain More “Flexible”

Neuroplasticity is the ability of your brain to change when you learn and experience new things. This can decrease as we get older – exercise is very effective at helping us to retain this ability

Studies indicate that both aerobic exercise and weight training seem to help make more flexible, or “plastic,” brains.

It May Help You Avoid Dementia

A lack of exercise is linked to a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. That’s in part due to exercise helping prevent many of the things that are linked to dementia;

  • Obesity

  • Diabetes

  • High blood pressure

  • Depression

It Helps Blood Flow

Aerobic exercise helps increase blood flow to the brain - exercise makes your heart and blood vessels stronger, from the larger vessels that carry blood up to your head to the tiny ones in your brain.

Strong blood vessels - and the better blood flow they create -appear to help stop the build up of plaques linked to dementia and help slow cognitive decline

It Helps You Connect the Dots

Research suggests exercise improves your ability to organize and interpret information, and act in a way that makes sense. Just one session of exercise is enough to start the process. Over the long term, exercise appears to actually change the structure of white matter in your brain in a way that helps brain cells connect.

It Helps You Sleep

It’s known that exercise can help improve mood, but people who exercise more tend to get more “slow wave” sleep - the kind of deep sleep that helps revitalize your brain and body.

 How Much Exercise Makes a Difference?

The NHS recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week, this is a great place to start. Research shows that some of the best benefits come in exercise sessions that last 45-60 minutes – so as you get fitter its worth doing a bit more !

Moderate exercise increases your heart rate, makes you breathe faster and feel warm. Exercise is moderate if you can ‘talk but not sing!’ types of moderate exercise can include;

•                  Brisk walking

•                  water aerobics

•                  riding a bike

•                  dancing

•                  doubles tennis

•                  pushing a lawn mower

•                  hiking

Vigorous exercise makes you breathe much harder and faster – you could only say a few words without pausing for breath. Vigorous exercise includes;

  • jogging or running

  • aerobics

  • swimming fast

  • riding a bike fast or on hills

  • singles tennis

  • football

  • hiking uphill

  • energetic dancing

  • martial arts

With any exercise, it’s important to do something you enjoy – the more you enjoy it, the more likely you are to stick with it!

Nina Taylor