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Fitness

10 Scientifically Proven Ways Exercise Is Good for Your Brain

Scientists are looking at the relationship between the nervous system and exercise, and how they can benefit each other. Here are 10 things they found exercise can do for your brain.

Doug Dupont

Written by Doug Dupont Last updated on November 30, 2012

Anyone that has even a cursory interest in exercise science, including weekend warriors who want little more than beach abs, knows that the nervous system is an important aspect of training. Sure, the muscles might be what we are ultimately interested in, but it’s your nerves, spine, and brain that control your physical performance. Training your nervous system can make or break your results, whether in the gym or in competition. Exercising also helps your brain. One of the first things people notice when they first start exercising is an improvement in their mood and their resistance to stress at work.

The big problem when it comes to the nervous system and exercise is that few people know much about it. In fact, it’s a burgeoning field in both neurology and exercise science that is finally getting respect in the research realm. Recently, the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) published online for the first time its article describing a live workshop called “The Neurobiology of Exercise” in which twenty-three researchers weighed in on this oh-so-important topic. Here are a few highlights from their consensus:

Exercise:

  1. Improves brain health, including both structure and function.
  2. Improves the connections between your nerves. This, in part, defines skill development in any sport.
  3. Helps your brain grow, and supports the protections of your neurons (nerve cells).
  4. Increases your ability to learn and adapt to change.
  5. Can help reduce the negative effects of brain injury.
  6. Reduces negative behaviors resulting from sudden stress.
  7. Increases the brain’s ability to protect itself from physical stressors like heat and inflammation.
  8. Increases brain metabolism.
  9. Reduces depression.
  10. Reduces the effects of aging on the brain.

It works both ways too. Exercise helps your nervous system and your nervous system has everything to do with your performance. Whether it’s coordinating your skill, learning what works and what doesn’t, and motivating you to get in the door and work out, your brain dominates your performance from every angle, but that’s not all.

The human brain possesses a unique ability that other animals lack: willpower. We have evolved the cognitive ability to override the systems of the body designed to prevent us from pushing ourselves further and further, especially during locomotion (specifically when running and walking long distances). It’s no wonder that human beings have some of the greatest endurance of all land animals, in no small part because of our ability to will ourselves to continue on in the face of fatigue and even pain. When another animal’s brain forces it to yield, ours can tell us to persist.

Looking forward, we will begin seeing more and more workouts tailored to facilitating the function of the nervous system to push human strength and endurance to never-before-seen heights. Public health could be improved overall as well. The growing research in the field of neurobiology and exercise science can be used to make us all healthier, stronger, and even smarter by the promotion of scientifically proven public health initiatives.

References:

Rod Dishman, et al., “Neurobiology of Exercise,” Obesity, 14:3 (2006)

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

Doug Dupont

About Doug Dupont

Having grown up at the foot of a forest covered mountain in rural Vermont, Doug was active from a very young age. Hiking, running, and climbing were a part of everyday life in the Green Mountains. This culture of exercise led to dabbling in martial arts as a teen, and also getting work in a local powerlifting focused gym. Doug continued to pursue knowledge and training in exercise, becoming a certified personal trainer while still a teenager. Once in college he began his hand at the business side of fitness, taking a management position at a large local gym. During that time he became a founding member of the UVM Brazilian Jiu Jitsu club, and was the first among their competition team. After only a few months he was assisting in coaching, and ran conditioning program for the club.

Out of college Doug set up his own training center. He grew his list of clientele including several professional MMA athletes, eventually going so far as to corner a world title fight. He has continued ­­­to develop his business into today.

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