How Exercise Works On our Mind
How Our Mind Works On Exercise.
20 Amazing Effects Exercise Has on the Mind.
20 Wonderful Effects Exercise Has on the Mind.
Studies find exercise increases stress resilience, fights
anxiety, speeds up the mind, protects against dementia, is more fun than we
predict, and more…
If everyone got a little exercise, we could put half the
doctors in the world out of a job.
But it’s not just doctors who’d be out of a job if people
could take the stairs every now and then, it’s also psychologists.
Here are 20 wonderful psychological effects that exercise
has on the mind.
A1.
Increases stress resilience
Studies on mice have shown that exercise reorganises the
brain so that it is more resistant to stress (Schoenfeld et al., 2013).
It does this by stopping the neurons firing in the regions
of the brain thought to be important in the stress response.
This may be part of the reason that exercise…
A2.
Reduces anxiety
Exercise has a relatively long-lasting protective effect
against anxiety (Smith, 2013).
Both low and medium intensity exercise has been shown to
reduce anxiety. However, those doing high intensity exercise are likely to
experience the greatest reduction in anxiety, especially among women (Cox et
al., 2004).
A3.
Lower dementia risk
Almost any type of exercise that gets your heart working
reduces the risk of dementia.
A review of 130 different studies found that exercise helped
prevent dementia and mild cognitive impairment among participants (Ahlskog et
al., 2011). Regular exercise in midlife was associated with lower levels of
cognitive problems.
Not only this, but participants who exercised had better
spatial memory.
A4.
Escape a bad mood
If you want to raise your energy levels, reduce tension and
boost mood, you can talk to your friends or listen to some music.
But most agree that for the difficult job of transforming a
bad mood into a good one, exercise is the most effective method (Thayer et al.,
1994).
A5. Cut
down on cocaine
Or perhaps you’re getting a little too happy?
By all accounts, cocaine is a bit more-ish. At least when
you put it into the water of experimental rats, they suddenly develop quite a
thirst.
Exercising rats, though, while still enjoying a little taste
of Columbia, tend to self-administer less cocaine (Lynch et al., 2010). This
suggests exercise may help humans regulate their cocaine intake.
A6.
Fight depression
Just as exercise fights anxiety, it also fights its close
relation, depression.
One review of 39 different studies involving 2,326 people
has found that exercise generally provides moderate relief from depression
(Cooney et al., 2013).
It won’t cure, but it can certainly help. The effects may be
as great as starting therapy or taking anti-depressants.
A7.
Speed up your mind
Working memory includes what’s in your conscious mind right
now and whatever you’re doing with this information.
After 30 minutes exercise, people’s working memory improves.
There’s some evidence that accuracy drops a bit, but this is more than made up
for by increases in speed.
A8. Consolidate
long-term memory
The effects of exercise on long-term memory are somewhat
controversial.
However, at low-intensity, one recent study has found that
exercise can benefit long-term memory.
A9.
Boost self-control
A review of 24 different studies on the effects of exercise
on self-control, found that a short bout provides an immediate boost to
self-control (Verburgh et al., 2013).
Although regular exercise didn’t show an effect on
self-control, a period of moderate exercise did allow people to take better
control of themselves.
A10.
Help with serious mental disorders
Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder often involving
hallucinations, paranoia and confused thinking.
Despite its grave nature, there’s evidence that exercise can
help for this, as well as alcoholism and body image disorder (Tkachuk et al.,
1999).
A11.
Reduce silent strokes
A silent stroke is one that seems to have no outward
symptoms, but does actually damage the brain.
Without knowing why, sufferers can start experiencing more
falls, memory problems and difficulties moving.
Exercise, though, reduces the chance of these silent strokes
by 40%.
It has to be more than just walking or playing golf, though;
things like jogging, biking, playing tennis or swimming are probably required
to get the protective effect (Willey et al., 2011).
A12.
Alzheimer’s protection
In the most common form of dementia, Alzheimer’s, the brain
literally wastes away; closely followed by the body.
Neurons and synapses are lost and the sufferer’s memory,
personality and whole being slowly but surely disappear.
Exercise, though, provides a protective effect against
Alzheimer’s by helping to produce chemicals which fight the damaging
inflammation of the brain (Funk et al., 2011).
A13.
Improve children’s school performance
Children who are fitter and engage in more exercise do
better at school (Tomporowski et al., 2011).
Incredibly, one study has found that the increased mental
abilities of children who exercise makes them safer crossing the road when
distracted by their mobile phones (Chaddock et al., 2012).
There’s a reason to get kids to exercise if ever I heard
one.
A14.
Stimulate brain cell growth
Part of the reason that exercise is beneficial in so many
different mental areas is that it helps new brain cells to grow.
A study on rats has shown that, in response to exercise, the
brain regions related to memory and learning grow.
A15.
Increase executive functioning
What psychologists call ‘executive functioning’ includes all
kinds of useful abilities like being able to switch tasks efficiently, ignore
distractions, make plans, and so on.
Reviewing many studies in this area, Guiney and Machado
(2012) find that exercise reliably improve executive function, especially in
older adults.
A16.
Better sleep
The relationship between exercise and sleep is a little more
complicated than most imagine. It’s not necessarily the case that exercise
makes you tired, so you sleep better.
For example, one study on insomniacs found that 45 minutes
on a treadmill did not make them sleep better that night (Baron et al., 2013).
However, the study found that exercise did help sleep in the
long-term. Participants with insomnia who kept to their exercise programs over
16 weeks did get better sleep than those who did no exercise.
A17.
Prevent migraines
Migraine sufferers are often afraid of exercise because it
might bring on an attack.
But a study has shown that exercise can actually help
prevent migraines (Varkey et al., 2011).
Participants who took part in three sessions a week on an
exercise bike for three months showed improvements equivalent to taking the
latest anti-migraine drugs.
A18.
Stop smoking
Even something as simple as a short walk can help people
give up smoking.
According to 12 different studies reviewed by Taylor et al.,
(2008), people who take a brisk walk, or similar exercise, experience less
stress, less anxiety and fewer withdrawal symptoms when trying to give up.
The reason it helps is partly because it actually makes the
cigarettes seem less attractive (Van Rebsburg et al., 2009).
A19.
Reduce motivation to eat
People tend to think that exercising makes you eat more to
replace the lost calories, but new research questions this.
Recent studies have found that, after exercise, people show
lower motivation to eat food (Hanlon et al., 2012).
Exercise may suppress appetite by decreasing the body’s
levels of ghrelin, which is a hormone that stimulates appetite (Broom et al,
2008).
A20.
It’s more fun than we predict
The final effect exercise has on the mind is not so
wonderful. It’s the effect that we tend to predict it’s going to be horrible.
But this is short-sighted. Research has shown that while
exercising can be a drag at the start of the session, people soon warm up.
According to Ruby et al. (2011), people enjoy their workouts
much more than they predict. This was true across lots of different types of
people and for both moderate and challenging workouts.
So, give it a go, it really won’t be as bad as you think.
You might even enjoy it.
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