There is no doubt the positive and beneficial effects exercise and physical activity has on improving muscle mass and strength, heart health, achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight, and reducing the risk of chronic diseases.  There are plenty of research studies backing this notion validating why being physically active and fit provides us with overall health and wellbeing.

But another area of our body benefits just as much from a consistent, regular exercise program – our brain.  Maybe our brain doesn’t feel the burn like sore, tired muscles do or the pain of an overstretched hamstring but it is affected both directly and indirectly in our memory and thinking skills giving us a brain boost.

Exercise boosts our brain power in the following ways:

·        It stimulates physiological changes throughout the body such as reducing insulin resistance and inflammation.

·        It encourages production of chemicals called growth factors that influence the growth of new blood vessels in the brain. 

·        It can affect the overall health of new brain cells by influencing the abundance and survival of them.

·        The brains of people who exercise regularly have regions of their brain which control thinking and memory that are larger in volume than people who do not exercise regularly.

·        When a person engages in a program of regular exercise of moderate intensity for 6 months or more, they have an increase in the volume of selected brain regions.

·        Exercise improves mood by reducing depression and anxiety along with leading to better sleep resulting in a person feeling more rested. When a person has less stress and anxiety, they are able to think better and improve memory skills.

·        Being physically active can improve a person’s executive functioning by improving memory, attention, problem solving, and verbal reasoning. 

With just three out of 10 American adults who are physically active in order to stay healthy and keep themselves fit, we have a long ways to go in convincing and motivating people to embrace exercise discovering for themselves what it can do for them. 

There is not necessarily an exercise that is better than another.   However, walking is the one exercise the vast majority of people can start with and then branch out from there to other forms of physical activity.  The main goal should be to get started with whatever form of exercise you enjoy and will continue doing on a regular consistent basis.  Have a goal to exercise at a moderate intensity – such as brisk walking – for 150 minutes each week.  If you are new to exercise, start off slowly and gradually increase the amount by five or 10 minutes each week until your goal is reached.