If you want to improve and more importantly save your brain, there may be nothing better that you can do than exercise. It shouldn’t surprise us that the brain, which is a physical organ, is impacted by the physical health of our bodies. We tend to think of thoughts as something different than physical but they are not. Here are some of the benefits of exercising on the brain:
- Increases blood vessels and blood flow through the brain.
- Increases levels of oxygen in the blood.
- Speeds up the removal of waste products produced by your brain.
- Increases neurogenesis (new brain cells) in the hippocampus This area of the brain is critical to memory and learning.
- Synaptic plasticity is increased in the hippocampus.
- Spine density (used in synaptic connections) increase in the dentate gyrus (part of the hippocampus).
- Reduces stress and the effects of stress which is a potent brain killer.
- Improves sleep and sleep improves all kinds of mental functioning including memory and learning.
- Increases NGF (nerve growth factor)
- Increases the levels neurotransmitters in your brain.
- Increases the levels of hormones in your brain.
- Slows age related atrophy of some areas of the brain.
Nothing known will create growth of new brain cells that can become a cognitive reserve as you age better than exercise. It’s time to get up off the couch and run.
Most of the studies on the effects of exercise have been done with aerobic exercise, BUT some have been done with anaerobic exercise (weight lifting or sprinting). The results are that it too has these beneficial effects on the brain. Combining aerobic and anaerobic exercising produces maximum benefit.
Get up and run for your life and for your mind.
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What amazes is how underappreciated exercises’ effect on the brain is! People tend to assume they have to jog endlessly and go breathless for any benefit to show but nothing is further from the truth.
A simple 30 minute WALK is all you need to prevent mental decline.
.-= Andre “Brain Fitness Coach” Auerbach´s last blog ..Brain Killing Food: What You Eat Can Deteriorate Brain Function =-.