Chapter 2
IN THIS LESSON
Exercise Your Mind
For a long time I’ve thought the Mind-Body connection was important for exercising. When you have a goal like lifting a heavier weight or learning a new physical skill I thought it was important to visualize yourself doing it and be as positive as you can while you do the action. Well, it turns out that the Body to Mind connection is just as important and that Physical Exercise improves your Cognitive Function. I’m of the attitude something is better than nothing and so any movement is preferable to none.So if you’re starting out and currently very sedentary that’s okay because you can move a bit more every day and take it step by step. However, we can also use available scientific studies to try to maximize results. It appears that consistent Aerobic Training is good overall for your brain and that Balance training is best for memory and spatial awareness.
In my case, I mix my resistance training in with my cardio to keep an elevated heart rate because I’m not a big fan of running but I am a fan of weight lifting. I’m not aiming to increase my 1 rep max so much as increase functional strength, imporve cardio endurance, and while maintaining good form push my muscles to failure so they grow. This allows me to lift in a way that keeps me in the 6-15 rep zone and have an elevated heart rate the entire time. Occasionally I mix in higher reps like 20-25 and some isometrics holds. I also mix in functional movements and balancing. On recovery days I do Pilates or Yoga for more balance training and some meditation time. I have found this to be a good mix for me but you have to do what is right for you. I recommend keeping a log of exercises and being really mathematical about it to track your progress and see how you improve.
You can use this information to find what you enjoy the most and what works the best and adjust accordingly and then be a bit more relaxed in record keeping. Be Kind to yourself the entire time. You only need to do your best for you and even then we all have off days so don’t worry if you are not constantly running faster or lifting heavier. We all hit plateaus from time to time and it’s important to take a break every once and while to recover as well.
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“Participants trained twice a week for 12 weeks in groups of 10–12 individuals, with each session lasting for 50 minutes. Both training groups were instructed by the same professional trainers. Each participant was supposed to take part in 24 training sessions”
“Participants conducted a balance circuit training on varying surfaces, either on one leg or on both legs. They had to complete eight different balance stations per session, each lasting for 5 minutes. The training favored a situational approach: Tasks were designed to induce reactive postural adjustments, forcing participants to permanently re-stabilize. For example, one task was to keep balance in a single-leg stance while being consistently pulled to one side with a strong elastic strap around the hips. On half of the stations, working in tandems was required. For example, participants were standing on a wobble board, throwing a medicine ball to their partner and back while trying to regain balance. Exercises were progressively adjustable to the skill level of the participants by combining and increasing the difficulty of the balance components, i.e. by increasing the strap tension, the distance to the partner, or by closing the eyes while standing on one leg on a soft surface. No explicit strategies were taught. After six weeks, exercises were replaced with a new set, in order to keep the training interesting and sufficiently challenging. “
“The findings suggest that systematic balance training is capable of enhancing some cognitive functions, such as memory and spatial cognition. Crucially, an increase in cardiorespiratory fitness does not seem to be necessary for eliciting beneficial effects of physical exercise on cognitive functions. This pattern implies multiple mechanisms for physical activity affecting cognitive functions. “
Rogge, Ann-Kathrin et al. “Balance training improves memory and spatial cognition in healthy adults.” Scientific reports vol. 7,1 5661. 18 Jul. 2017, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-06071-9
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Physical Exercise “was effective for increasing the production of neurotrophic factors, cell growth, and proliferation, as well as for improving brain functionality.”
de Sousa Fernandes, Matheus Santos et al. “Effects of Physical Exercise on Neuroplasticity and Brain Function: A Systematic Review in Human and Animal Studies.” Neural plasticity vol. 2020 8856621. 14 Dec. 2020, doi:10.1155/2020/8856621
• “Aerobic exercise caused a ~32% increase in serum BDNF in adult human males while serum BDNF decreased 13% in sedentary control subjects.”
• Vigorous intensity (80% heart rate reserve), long duration (40 min) exercise offered the greatest probability of a significant BDNF elevation.
• “Long duration exercise offered the greatest numerical benefits in terms of BDNF integral.”
• “Neither intensity nor duration affected the mean elevation in BDNF amplitude caused by exercise. “
Schmolesky, Matthew T et al. “The effects of aerobic exercise intensity and duration on levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in healthy men.” Journal of sports science & medicine vol. 12,3 502-11. 1 Sep. 2013