How exercise boosts your daily mental performance and productivity

Could a few weekly gym sessions elevate your brain power? The answer is yes; there are many ways to enhance mental performance through physical activity, writes Sharlee Young, personal trainer and online fitness coach at AF Training Studios.

Maintaining a sharp mind isn’t just for those at risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Suppose you’re going to remain competitive and competent in the workplace. In that case, you’ll need mental acuity – the brain’s ability to rapidly generate a high-quality and relevant response to any given stimulus.

In our personal and professional lives, problems are becoming less linear and more multifaceted, with a demand for 360-degree thinking. This involves a simultaneous adoption of multiple perspectives, such as hindsight, foresight and insight, plus the variables that exist within them.

Optimal problem-solving requires us to consider masses of information all at once. When operating without cognitive acuity or mental sharpness, this diverse range of information can’t be accessed fast or effectively enough when presented with a problem that demands our response.

Enter the hippocampus. Its function is related to learning and memory recall – specifically, facts and events and how they’re interlinked. You can think of this part of your brain a bit like an inner hard drive, and like that of a computer, its speed and capacity can be improved to boost performance.

How? Exercise – particularly aerobic training.

How exercise gives your brain a boost

Through repeatedly slogging it out in the gym, the swimming pool or on local pavements, our cells are newly generated, and the connections among them are fortified through neurogenesis. This causes the grey and white matter of the hippocampus to physically expand, actively reversing the one per cent annual volume decrease that begins to occur in the non-exerciser during their early 20s.

Even further, new studies have shown that brain changes can also reach the genome, where there’s potential to influence epigenetic adaptations positively. Put simply, through exercise, we can ultimately up-regulate our DNA, helping us live longer and combat disease.

However, the more immediate effects of exercise on cognition are owed to a surge in blood flow as your heart rate increases. Blood is pumped directly to the brain along with oxygen and nutrients essential for focus, concentration and decision-making.

From a feel-good perspective, greater blood flow promotes a massive release of endorphins, which interact with the brain’s receptors and trigger a euphoric feeling known as ‘runner’s high’. This helps us feel motivated and approach critical thinking with greater clarity.

It’s an accepted notion that exercise is good and healthy for our minds. Still, the neurological and chemical adaptations that occur within our greatest physiological asset are not so commonly referenced. Regular exercise is the key to maintaining high-functioning brain power, enabling greater confidence, success, and the competency to respond productively when faced with multifaceted challenges.

This article was first published on Flying Solo, read the original here. 

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