In the following article you will know the exercise that if you practice 2 times a week they will keep your brain young.
Even if you don’t believe it, physical exercise is not just to increase the size of the muscles or to lose weight. The best of its advantages is that it makes you smarter.
So if you haven’t found the motivation to exercise, also think about these types of benefits.
According to the Harvard psychiatrist and author of the book “Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain” John Ratey; It is important that we are in constant movement.
The importance of exercise.
Ratey explains how exercise is the start of a chain reaction. It starts by affecting our attitude, mood, cognitive abilities; and finally, our results at work are better.
Want even more reasons to exercise and keep your brain young?
Yorgi Mavros, a scientist at the University of Sydney, led a study to prevent cognitive decline and the development of dementia in older adults.
He found that after 6 months of training (at the end you will find what exercises they did), the participants presented improvements in their cognitive functions and even growth in key areas of their brains.
In another study conducted by Wendy Suzuki, a neuroscientist at New York University, it was found that exercise not only has benefits at the cognitive level. She additionally presents positive results in creativity.
Suzuki has focused his studies on a part of the brain called Hippocampus: The area in charge of memory and imagination.
If the hippocampus is affected, there will not only be memory loss; but in the ability to imagine.
How to stimulate the hippocampus?
Apparently the best way for healthy people to stimulate the hippocampus and generate new brain cells; is to be in constant motion.
Gym and exercise haters may not like it, but Exercising makes you smarter, more creative, and keeps your brain young.
According to Derek Beres author of the book “Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body for Optimal Health”, you only need 10 days to weaken your brain.
A research team assembled 12 experienced athletes over the age of 50; people who spend at least four hours a week running at a fast pace.
They simply asked these exercise fanatics to sit and do nothing for ten days.
Do you know what happened?
At the end of this period of enforced laziness, the brains of these individuals were scanned, and the results were startling.
Resting for just ten days demonstrated reduced cerebral blood flow in eight different areas. In particular, reduced blood flow in the hippocampus. A region that, as you already know, is very important for memory and creativity.
Also read: 3 habits that our brain loves.
Also read: How to activate the brain in the morning to have incredible days.
But what exercises should I do to keep my brain young?
Already knowing some reasons supported by scientific studies, you may be wondering: What exercises should I do and how often?
Do you remember the study that was looking to prevent cognitive decline and the development of dementia in older adults? Do you want to know what exercises the individuals in this study did?
A simple weight training, twice a week was enough.. The exercises included lifting weights at 80% of the maximum weight they could handle.
This type of resistance training, it seems, doesn’t just make your muscles grow; but also your brain.
Yorgi Mavros, author of the study, recommends training with weights at least twice a week. This is if you want to keep your mental faculties sharp and keep your brain young.
The key is to do it frequently, at least twice a week and with high intensity; in such a way that you increase your strength.
Conclusion of the importance of exercise to keep your brain young.
We know that you are not a high performance athlete and that you do not have time to be in the gym every day. However, you already know that you only need to be consistent for two days. Easy, don’t you think?
We hope this motivates you to stay active and positive. If you know of any other studies or exercises to keep your brain young, don’t hesitate to write in the comments 🙂
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