We’ve all heard the saying, “Use it or lose it”. Most people understand the meaning and can relate to the experience of not using and therefore ‘losing’ certain skills, memories and abilities.
How about the saying, “Move it or lose it”? It runs along the same vein (pun intended) and refers to the necessary and positive impact that movement has on our health, well-being and cognitive functions. As well, in contrast, when we don’t move, we lose those very benefits.
WE ARE MADE THIS WAY
Our brains have been designed by our ancestors and made to survive in the harsh environments of jungles and grasslands with challenging weather conditions and life-threatening predators.
Due to this environmental instability, our brains became wired in an extremely flexible manner, allowing us to solve problems through experience, on demand, as needed.
Historically, we didn’t have modern-day technology or transportation; so, our bodies would move a lot. A sedentary lifestyle was unheard of by our ancestors and walking was common at 10 to 20 kilometers per day for men and 5 to 10 kilometers per day for women.
To meet our needs and stay alive, our brains developed while moving and problem solving, not while sitting for hours on end, staring at computer screens entranced by our technological devices. Instead, we were constantly interacting with our three-dimensional reality.
MOVEMENT AND BRAIN FUNCTION GO HAND IN HAND
Movement is so fundamental to our brain that many neuroscientists believe that we have a brain because we move in space. This makes sense. In order to stay alive, we need to navigate our environments and prioritize our most fundamental needs, such as locating food sources, finding and making shelter, engaging and collaborating with others, and, of course, procreating.
Nowadays, we have become reliant on modern-day comforts and conveniences at the expense of our well-being:
- Fast foods have replaced homemade and prepared real foods.
- Online interactions have replaced in-person conversations.
- Outdoor activities have been traded for indoor couch time.
This reduced physical activity and engagement within daily life translates into brain health issues and cognitive decline, affecting people of all ages. With the rise in various forms of dementia, and learning and developmental challenges, we can’t afford to ignore the “elephant in the room” any longer. We need to take action – literally!
LIFE-CHANGING RESEARCH
Thankfully, research consistently has found that when sedentary individuals got involved in exercise programs, a plethora of mental abilities came back online, in as little as a few months of engaging in the activity!
Not to mention, studies show that those who exercise will outperform those who don’t, in areas such as:
- Attention
- Reasoning
- Problem solving
- Fluid intelligence
- Abstract thinking
- Long term memory
- Applying prior learned material to solve new issues
On the health front, exercise improves cardiovascular fitness and clears stress from the body. It improves the blood delivery system of oxygen, by increasing the blood vessels’ access to oxygen and by improving blood flow across the tissues of the body. This creates better health, elevates performance of all human functions, improves thinking and mental acuity, and reduces the risk of stroke and heart attack.
According to the Alzheimer’s association, people who engage in regular exercise may be up to twenty percent less likely to develop dementia than those who don’t participate in regular exercise. This can be largely attributed to the strengthening of one’s “Cognitive Reserve”, which refers to the health and synaptic density of one’s brain’s wiring. The thicker and lusher the synapses, the better able we are to ward off disease, manage stress, and recover from physical and mental health challenges. Exercise activates the growth of new neurons and neural connections, to make them healthier, happier and more abundant.
MIRACLE GROWTH FACTOR
This is, thankfully, largely due to the fact that exercise stimulates BDNF – brain derived neurotrophic factor. You can think of ‘trophic’ as a ‘trophy’, because it is a ‘win’ for your brain.
The reasons for this:
- It has a ‘fertilizer-like’ growth effect on certain neurons in the brain.
- It keeps existing neurons young and healthy, making them much more willing to connect with one another and form new pathways (synaptogenesis).
- It encourages neurogenesis, the formation of new cells in the brain. This happens especially in the hippocampus, the region involved in human learning and memory.
Additionally, exercise upregulates a powerful molecule called Nitric Oxide. This is a gaseous communication molecule, that acts as a vasodilator, opening up blood vessels to improve blood flow and supply. It also stimulates the secretion of growth factors (VEGF – Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor) of new blood vessels, referred to as angio-genesis.
Basically, the more you exercise and move, the more body and brain tissues you feed. This leads to healing, growth and repair, and the removal of toxic waste.
How exciting that we can make a species-wide comeback in our physical, mental and brain health. All we need to do is move our body, which activates our brain, and fuses new connections!
To Your Fit Brain & Fit Life,
Jill