FITNESS Exercise makes you smarter

Exercise makes you smarter


Personal Trainer
Paul O'Brien

We all know that exercise is beneficial for our health. Improving health is a key motivator for many people in returning to exercise and increasing their level of physical activity. But exercise doesn’t just make us healthier, it makes us smarter too.
If you’re looking for yet another reason to incorporate more physical activity into your life, or if you want to know how exercise may help your children’s academic performance, there’s good news ahead. Recent research has shown that students who are physically active perform better academically. A study at the University of Madrid tested for any connections between certain types of physical fitness – motor ability, cardio-respiratory capacity and strength – and academic performance.
The findings showed a clear correlation between cardio-respiratory capacity, motor ability and academic performance. The researchers found that implementing a school exercise programme that includes cardiovascular exercise and motor tasks may improve academic performance and thereby improve the potential for occupational success in later life.
Further research also points to an improvement in attention and comprehension.
A study carried out in the US used tasks designed to test the selective visual attention of students as well as reading comprehension. Two groups of students were initially tested. One group was then assigned 12 minutes of aerobic exercise, while the other was told to watch a 12-minute DVD. The group assigned to the aerobic exercise improved their scores in both selective visual attention and reading comprehension. The group that watched a DVD showed little or no improvements.
Further ground-breaking research conducted by a group of physical-education teachers helped to turn around the fortunes of an academically ordinary school. Before they started their revolutionary ‘Zero Hour’ physical exercise programme, a group of students from Naperville High School in Illinois were academically undistinguished. Supported by their teachers, who wanted to establish concrete links between exercise and academic performance, these students showed clear improvements in attention, reading comprehension, behaviour and overall academic performance. Though there are other factors involved, the improvements shown after a couple of months of regular pre-school exercise were too stark to ignore.
The body of research showing the clear association between levels of physical fitness and the performance of our brains continues to mount. The message appears to be very clear: In order for our brains to grow and improve, our bodies need to move. A simple programme of aerobic exercise and tasks that improve motor skills could help make the difference in our children’s academic lives. It could give our own brains a boost too.

Paul O’Brien is a personal trainer and life coach based in Westport.