Imagine you are offered to give up 30 minutes of your morning time in exchange for free
a magic pill.
The pill improves your learning capability reduce your anxiety and stress improves your
mood and motivation and generally it makes you a better version of yourself for the rest
of the day.
So would you take that offer?
Well what I just described is the reason why you should exercise.
When you think of exercising the first things that comes to your mind are the benefits or
maybe losing weight or having a healthier heart.
But the real benefits of exercise happen in the brain.
So what is the brain for anyway?
You may think it's about solving math problems or creating a new smartphone app that will
make you are millionaire.
But neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert says that our brain is for one thing only: To produce
adaptable and complex movement. Thats it!
The Koala is a great example.
In the past it had a much bigger brain but once it adapted it’s digestive system to
derive all the energy it needs from Eucalyptus leaves, it didn’t had to move as much, less
movement meant less brain activity and its brain shrunk.
Studies has shown that there is a very powerful connection between the brain and movement.
A big brain is needed to facilitate complex movements, and executing such movements and
getting your heart rate up enhances your brain power.
Exercise has been shown to help people better deal with stress and anxiety, improved mood,
focus and motivation.
A 2007 study has shown that exercise also primes the brain to learn faster.
Subjects who did high intensity training beforehand were able to learn vocabulary 20% faster than
those who remained sedentary.
This phenomenon is due to a protein called Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor or BDNF
for short.
BDNF helps to support the survival of existing neurons, and encourages the growth and differentiation
of new neurons and synapses.
In the brain, it is active in the hippocampus, cortex, and basal forebrain—areas vital
to learning, memory, and higher thinking.
A 2013 study showed that only 20 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise increased the BDNF in
the blood by around 32%.
So the reason why exercise is a key trigger for all kinds of positive effects in the brain,
particularly learning, is because movement signals to the brain that something important
is happening.
Maybe not in modern times, but in the past the reason to move was for the sake of survival.
You move to escape a predator, to find better shelter, hunt for food et cetera.
And while moving its in your best interest to remember the lay of the land so you don't
get lost and you can locate forageable food again.
When attacked by a predator you better remember which path was most efficient
to escape, so you can prevent yourself from becoming a tigers meal the next time.
When you are sitting on your couch watching television you signal your brain that nothing
important is happening and it's time for rest.
Exercise also affects the areas of the brain responsible for motivation and action.
The reward center is one of the most important areas in the brain.
Dopamine is a key player in the reward system.
From evolutionary perspective dopamine is released when we expect some kind of reward,
it makes us want to do stuff, and it reassures us that the thing we did was worth doing.
So if your reward center is not working properly, you might have hard time to get things done.
If your brain doesn’t expect reward and fulfilment from something it won't justify
doing it.
There are pills that can help with this, but you don't have to buy any kind of drugs to
get your reward system going.
Studies show that exercise boost motivation by increasing dopamine storage and increasing
the creation of dopamine receptors in the reward center.
It might not make you stay up all night in a studying frenzy like adderall, but it will
give you more willpower and focus to do those little things that don't usually feel rewarding.
But even though your reward center might be working just fine, you are feeling great,
and you are satisfied with your ability to learn, you can still improve all of these
areas.
When you exercise you might not feel a drastic change all of a sudden, but later on you will
look back and notice the difference in learning speed, mood, focus and you will get more things
done.
Now that you know all the benefits of exercise, it's up to you whether or not you will take
the magic pill and improve your life or you will stay the same and get the same results
you've always had.
Anyway if you want to learn how muscles work and actually grow when exercising you should
go over to my friend at Food for Thought and watch his video on this topic!
And If you don't want to miss my upcoming videos make sure to subscribe.
Anyway thanks for watching and I'll see you next time.