FITNESS Exercise can make you smarter

Bag yourself a brain boost


Personal trainer
Paul O'Brien

Most people come to exercise to lose weight or generally tone up. A few might list feeling better or trying to lower cholesterol or blood pressure as one of their goals. Though exercise can help them achieve these aims, there are many other, less-lauded benefits from exercising. People regularly report that they have more energy, sleep better, find it easier to concentrate and feel ‘more connected’. Exercise’s positive effect on learning can be added to this group. To my mind, these benefits represent the real gold in taking up exercise. They are, quite simply, life changing because they allow us to glimpse our vast inner potential.

Exercise and IQ
Exercise kick-starts the brain in a few different ways. Without boring you with the science (fascinating though I think it is), exercise improves alertness and motivation; it increases the brain’s ability to store information by increasing the rate at which nerve cells (neurons) bind together, and it even helps create new nerve cells, thus helping us take in even more information.
Exercise does all this by helping to balance the level of neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine) in our brains. This balance is vital for the health of your grey matter. When people describe the feeling of  ‘runners’ high’, they are in fact talking about the elevation of these neurotransmitters in the brain, the cause of the ‘high’.
The real truth lies in the fact that the brain, just like the body, was designed to move, be pushed and challenged. An inactive brain will slowly waste away, just as will an inactive body. The great news is that by pushing our bodies, we also push our brains.
Some research shows that as little as 20 minutes of aerobic exercise (such as jogging or cycling) three times a week can stimulate brain ‘growth’. That’s not much outlay for a potentially huge payback. To get your nut working as efficiently as possible, include complex movements in your exercise routing – these will challenge the brain further. Good examples would be learning to dance, any martial art or even balance exercises prescribed by a trainer.
Whatever your age, you can do something to protect your brain and improve it’s longevity. Now that is good news!

Next Week Training for the West of Ireland women’s mini-marathon

Paul O’Brien is a certified personal trainer with the American Council on Exercise and a qualified life coach. He runs his own business in Westport and is the creator of Bootcamp West, an exciting and challenging exercise programme in Westport. For details of upcoming classes, visit www.bootcampwest.com or e-mail paul@bootcampwest.com or telephone 086 1674515.