“Start working Out!”— one of the advertised pieces of advice available on the internet. Our favorite influencers continuously motivate us to hit the gym, to do yoga, and exercise regularly. Yet, we don’t.
According to WHO, globally, 1 in 4 adults do not meet the global recommended level of physical activity. That’s sad!
We know that daily exercising is beneficial for us, yet, the advice to do the same is platitudinous, turned monotonous, told us a hundred times.
I think the habit of exercising is not sold properly. No one talks about the cognitive benefits of working out every day. There is a flaw in our fitness influencers’ marketing plan.
The psychological boons of physical activity are hidden and for some reason, no one is talking about it. Not even the most prominent fitness celebrities. This is why I felt the necessity to write this essay.
Direct Benefits
Cognitive decline is one of the most pressing issues of the 21st Century. Worldwide, one new case of major cognitive decline (ie, dementia) is detected every three seconds.
The world is actually losing its brain, and we aren’t even worried about it. The problem is scary, but the solution is easy—hit the gym!
Exercising has some cool neurological benefits that directly improve our thinking capabilities. According to a study done at the University of British Columbia, researchers found that regular aerobic exercise—ones that get your heart and sweat glands pumping—boosts the size of your hippocampus (the part of the brain that is significantly involved in learning and verbal memory).
Resistance training, balance, and muscle toning exercises did not have the same results as the aerobic exercises, which also stimulates the increase of gray matter, neuroplasticity, and promotes the growth of new neurons.
Indirect Benefits
Moderate aerobic exercise is scientifically proven to reduce stress, insomnia, and anxiety.
Scientists are still not able to pinpoint the mechanism that explains the relationship between exercise and sleep, but they are sure as a gun that the former has a positive effect on the latter.
Based on available studies, “We have solid evidence that exercise does, in fact, help you fall asleep more quickly and improves sleep quality,” says Charlene Gamaldo, M.D., medical director of Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep at Howard County General Hospital. “But there’s still some debate as to what time of day you should exercise. I encourage people to listen to their bodies to see how well they sleep in response to when they work out,” she adds.
Moderate aerobic exercise increases the amount of slow-wave sleep you get. Slow-wave sleep refers to deep sleep, where the brain and body have a chance to rejuvenate.
Slow-wave sleep is proven to improve memory consolidation (apologies for this heavy jargon again). Memory consolidation is the process by which memories are made to persist. So if you experience something, it goes to the stage of short-term memory, and if the memory isn’t consolidated, long-term memory does not occur.
Exercising is extremely healthy for your physical and mental well-being. In this time and age, we need to reconsider our lifestyle to include the habit of regular workout in our routine. You don’t need to dedicate hours every day, even a seventeen-minute daily walk has proven to boost the size of your hippocampus.
Considering all these cognitive benefits, I hope I was able to inspire you to add daily exercise to your habit book.
Stay healthy, be sharp!
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