Diabetes Freedom
By now, you likely have a pretty good idea that exercise is one of the key things to integrate into your life if you want to improve your health and overall quality of life.
As hard as it may be at times to get yourself up off that couch and get moving, there are few things that will do the body as much good as exercise does.
You probably already know some of the main benefits exercise brings, such as decreasing your blood pressure, combating heart disease, stabilizing blood glucose levels, and helping to increase your insulin sensitivity.
These are all good things for warding off conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
But did you know that regular exercise also boosts your brain function and power? Many people don’t. But if you’re concerned about your overall well-being, this could serve as a powerful motivator to get you physically active.
So, how does exercise help? Let me share with you why it’s high time you started moving.
Exercise increases your hippocampus region
The main way that exercise helps boost brain function is that it can actually increase the overall size of your hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that is most involved in verbal memory as well as learning.
Note that the best kind of exercise to accomplish this task is aerobic exercise. When you compare strength training or balance exercises to aerobic exercises, we don’t see the same results. It appears getting that blood pumping throughout the body is key to your success with this.
Over the long haul, partaking in aerobic exercise on a day-to-day basis could, in fact, help lower your risk factor for dementia.
Exercise and growth factors
Another way that exercise helps is that it may actually help to boost growth factors that are found in the brain that influence the overall health of brain cells. When these growth factors are higher, there will be new blood vessels in the brain and an abundance of new brain cells, all of which contribute to a healthier mind.
Furthermore, many researchers have noted that, in those who exercise regularly, it appears that they have greater control over their thinking and a higher capacity for memory than those who don’t exercise.
Reduced risk of depression
Finally, let’s not forget those feel-good neurochemicals that are released in the brain when you perform intense exercise. If you’ve ever pushed yourself hard during a workout session, you’ve likely experienced this effect. It’s almost like a euphoric high that you experience once you’re finished – you feel great, less stressed, more calm, and just have an all-around, feel-good sense about you.
This, over time, can help to combat depression. Exercise has proven to be a very positive way to reduce your chances of suffering from depression.
So, as you can see, there really are so many great benefits to getting involved in physical activity. If you want a brain boost, you don’t want to let a week go by without doing something to keep yourself physically active.
The even better news is that you don’t have to exercise for long periods of time to see benefits. Just 30 minutes three times per week is enough to start noticing positive effects taking place, so carve out that time in your agenda and consider getting started. It’ll do you a world of good.