Thursday, September 10, 2009

Brains of Steel


Fit, trim, bulging muscles, and of course buns of steel. We can all picture the benefits of exercise. However, the really cool things, the things that actually have a direct effect on our lives, occur on the inside. Recent developments in neuroscience have shown that moderate exercise doesn’t just help the physical body, but the mind as well. In John Rately’s book, Spark, the author describes how exercise has a direct positive impact on our concentration and ability to learn.

The human brain can only work well when it has an ample supply of oxygen and fuel traveling through the bloodstream. This is why heart health is essentially brain health.
To give you an idea of how this works, picture this: as road crews work to repair I-80, they not only patch up the interstate, but they actually build adjacent roads to decrease traffic and congestion. (If only!) That’s exactly what the body does within 2 hours of working out. The body releases chemicals to both repair and build brand new blood vessels, particularly in the brain, after as little as 30 minutes of moderate exercise. With more healthy blood vessels, the brain obtains more oxygen and fuel and you are able to concentrate, learn, and think better.

So where is the connection between exercise and getting smarter? When we exercise for as little as 30 minutes at a moderate intensity, our bodies release their own form of “Miracle-Gro” called Brain Derived Neurotropic Factor. These are actually enzymes that target the growth and connection of new brain cells. Similar to a garden hose applicator for plant food, these natural growth chemicals can’t reach the plants until the hose is turned on. When we exercise, we pump more blood and allow the body's “Miracle-Gro” to be showered on our brain cells. For a period of two hours after we work out, we are able learn and develop new skills more easily and retain the information for a longer period of time. So those jokes about the dumb jock are wrong --- with a little bit of exercise, you can be both fit and brainy.

These are just a few of findings that link the beneficial aspects of exercise with increased brain health. With enhanced focus and faster learning skills, we all can benefit from exercise on the inside while working on our buns of steel on the outside.

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