Physical activity has powerful effects.

Simply moving your body can protect your brain.

It can improve your mood, sharpen your focus.

It can prevent conditions like dementia, Alzheimer’s, depression.

The brain’s structure

That thing in our heads is the most complex structure known to humankind.

The prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus are two of its key areas :

• The prefrontal cortex is located right behind our forehead :

it’s critical for decision-making, focus, personality, attention. 

• The hippocampus is a structure located deep in the temporal lobe :

it’s critical for the ability to form new long-term memories for facts and events, and retain information.

The brain-changing effects of exercise

Exercise has immediate effects on our brain. 

A single workout will immediately increase the levels of neurotransmitters.

Dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline are going to give us a mood and energy boost.

They are going to improve our reaction times and our ability to shift and focus attention.

If done regularly, exercise can change the brain’s anatomy, function, and physiology.

Regular aerobic activity can have long-lasting effects and improve our long-term memory.

Increasing our cardiorespiratory function helps produce new cells in the hippocampus,

which increase the brain’s volume making it bigger and stronger.

Exercise protects our brain.

The brain is like a muscle : the more we work out, the bigger and stronger it gets.

The strongest and biggest our prefrontal cortex and hippocampus are,

the longer it takes for them to be impacted by neurodegenerative diseases and natural cognitive decline.

The amount of exercise needed

We do not know yet the optimum exercise prescription.

It probably depends on our age, fitness level, and genetic background.

But we do know that all the exercise we include and add to our lives can change our brain.

It can improve our mood, energy, focus, memory, and attention.

It is recommended to exercise 3 to 4 times a week,

to get our heart rate up with 30-minute sessions of aerobic activity.

No need to become a triathlete or get an expensive gym membership :

power walks, active chores, taking the stairs can do the trick.

Moving our bodies has immediate, long-lasting and protective benefits.

All we have to do is realize how powerful exercise is.