I’ve talked before about the benefits of exercise and the brain. Although crossword puzzles and other mental exercises can help keep your brain sharp, only the increased circulation and oxygen from exercise can actually build NEW brain cells. Aging is basically cell death, losing more cells than you create. Exercise is the only way to add new cells, by allowing blood to flow more freely throughout the body, boosting immunity, improving the health of all the organs, carrying toxins out of the body, and keeping the skin healthy. Regardless of age, exercise increases cell-growth in the brain, providing an increase in memory, and the ability to think calmly and with more clarity-for me it makes planning things much easier. I know that when I feel groggy and sleepy before my morning workouts, even a short, intense session of 10 minutes can jump-start my day. Exercise also helps to get rid of negative thoughts and anxiety. No matter what your age, what we call exercise is really just part of our normal biological makeup-probably why it feels so right.
I’ve been saying for a couple of years that you don’t have to do long, boring workouts, that you can do short, higher intensity ones that give you equal or greater benefit; it is now backed up by research (and it’s more fun and easier to fit into a schedule). I think we all appreciate things that are beneficial and convenient. Give it a go.
Stay well, John R Blilie, M.S.