We all can agree that having an active lifestyle is associated with a vast range of benefits such as strengthening the cardio-vascular system and enhancement of bone and muscular structures. Exercise has an effect over your whole body, including your brain. People who exercise regularly have more energy, more will to be productive and have better general health. Exercising can be one of the best investments you can make. Of course it takes effort but the rewards are invaluable.
The WHO (World Health Organization) recommends the average adult to perform at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity training*, that's 25 min a day. 25 minutes a day that can have tremendous impact on the long run.
Regular exercise reduces the risk of cardio-cardiovascular diseases, alzheimer's disease and helps people with depression. Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky once said in and interview for the Times magazine "If there was a drug that could do to human health what exercise can, it would likely be the most valuable pharmaceutical ever developed."
Studies on neuro-chemistry show that aerobic exercise such as walking, bicycling, even intensive cleaning or mowing the lawn, any activity that makes you sweat without making you gasp for air, have the benefits to the brain such has:
-Increased capillary density, meaning more blood flow in the cerebellum and motor cortex. Two regions of the brain that are related to motor control, learning and cognitive skill such as language.
-Increased neurogenesis in the Hippocampus meaning increased growth rate of new brain cells. This region is related to long term memory, decision making and spatial memory and navigation
-Increased angiogenesis in the whole brain , meaning more blood vessels will be recycled and renewed keeping your brain healthy and young.
-Increased dopamine storage and creation of dopamine receptors in the reward center catalyzed, improving your reward center contributes to your you will-power and fulfillment.
-Release of molecules such as dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine which their absence is associated with depression.
-Decrease in cortisol levels, relieving stress.
Altogether, exercise affects your brain in ways that improve concentration and focus, improves memory, improves your ability to handle stress, boosts confidence, boosts will-power and makes you happier overall.
Exercise is one of the best investments you can make, even if it is a simple walk, it can keep you healthy in ways that many pharmaceutical drugs can't. Indeed if we could synthesize exercise as a pharmaceutical, it would be the most valuable pharmaceutical ever created.
Here is the link to the interview with Dr. Mark Tarnopolsky. http://time.com/4475628/the-new-science-of-exercise/
*The moderate-intensity training consists in physical activity that requires less than 85% of your VO2 max (maximum rate of oxygen consumption by the individual), meaning physical activity that requires substantial effort, raising noticeably the heart rate but not to to much that will make you gasp for your breath.
That would be vigorous-intensity training requiring 85% or more of your VO2max forcing your anaerobic system to kick in, this kind of training is used increase your muscle strength and endurance, more used by athletes that use specific muscles to perform.
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