The Brain Boosting Effects of Exercise

If you have every had a friend or love one experience dementia or other cognitive health issues, you know how hard it is to see the person you once  knew disappear.  This is a scary thing to go through and think about.

There are many things you can do in order to reduce your risk of ever having to deal with cognitive issues.  Of course exercise and a good diet are going to be at the top of the list.

Entire books have been written on this topic, but I wanted to share some insight and ways we use exercise to help boost our clients brain power.

You have probably heard of the concept of neuroplasticity.  This is the notion that our brains have the ability to change.  By doing things that challenge the brain you can create new neurons and strengthen pathways that keep our brains functioning better.

Brain derived neurotrophic factor, BDNF, is one of the most important growth factors for the brain.  This protein is responsible for much of the brain’s neuroplasticity to help fight against cognitive disease.  It is often referred to as miracle grow for the brain because of its ability to grow new neurons.

BDNF deficiency leads to learning and memory difficulties, depression, and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.  Some important ways to increase BDNF are both aerobic exercise and resistance training, eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, and getting enough sleep.

Exercise is such a simple way to make sure you are getting a boost in BDNF.  While many forms of training will lead to an increase in BDNF it is important that the exercise is challenging.  If you are doing the same walk you do every day, while this isn’t bad, it isn’t leading to the same increase as more challenging exercise.

Many of the exercises we do at SDPT are with this in mind.  We perform complex, functional movement, not only to strengthen the muscles and joints, but also to strengthen the brain.  By performing complex movements, it challenges you to use your brain more to focus on the movement.

For example, we might do a reverse lunge with a sandbag rotation.  This is a great lower body strengthening exercise that challenges balance and the core as well.  But it is challenging to do.  It is not as simple as sitting on a leg extension machine and just pushing a weight.  This requires focus, attention, and body awareness.  All of these factors involve the brain and ultimately, an increase in BDNF.

Check out this video showcasing more of the typical exercises we may do.

Think about this with your exercise program.  Are you choosing exercises because you know them very well or because they are easy to do?  While it is fine to include these exercises, it is important to also include some exercises that involve more complex movement that you do not do well at first.  The more you do them the better you will get at the movement and the stronger your brain will be from it.

Ready to take on some of these movements?  CLICK HERE and learn how you can get started on one of our amazing training program.

Mike Deibler
San Diego Premier Training