10 Benefits of Exercise Beyond Weight Loss: Part II

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Did you miss Part I: Benefits for Your Body? Click!

We're back on the topic of benefits of exercise beyond weight loss. Earlier this week I talked about 5 benefits for your body in part one. For part two, we're going to talk about 5 benefits to your brain!

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5 Benefits for Your Brain

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(1) Stress relief

Last week, I talked about 10 reasons you may not be losing weight and #4 was living with persistent, chronic stress. I provided a number of ideas to help relieve stress, but now I'm going to talk specifically about exercise.

When you are chronically stressed, you have chronically high levels of cortisol (stress hormone) instead of normal fluctuations that let your body relax and perform, relax and perform, and repeat. This hormonal picture sets the stage for weight gain and weight retention.

When you exercise, your body releases cortisol, but I'm going to call this the "exercise response". The cortisol helps your body adapt to the increased workload and provide your muscles and heart with fuel. When you stop exercising, the cortisol returns to baseline (in theory). Regular exercise can help manage the chronic stress response, teaching your body how to move its cortisol levels up and down instead of having them remain elevated (1).

How to stay motivated: At the end of a long day, you may not feel like going to the gym (even though you were awesome and your packed gym bag is sitting in your back seat). You might just want to go home and lie down on the couch. But if you get over that initial obstacle of feeling tired and just auto-pilot drive to the gym, I promise you'll feel better. But here's the compromise: if you normally do 20-30 minutes of cardio, just do 10! Just for that day. Anything is better than nothing, and the exercise will still provide some benefits for you. Put on some high-energy jams and lift some weights, or take a group fitness class.

Another option is to exercise in the morning and start each day off with it, setting the tone for a mindful and healthy day and not having to worry about if something will happen during the day to prevent you from your normal afternoon gym routine.

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(2) Improved memory

Exercise confers some great benefits to your brain in a number of ways. The hippocampus is the part of your brain responsible for memory and research shows that regular exercise may protect the hippocampus from Alzheimer's-related memory loss (2)-(4). Exercises increases the production of growth factors that help your brain make new cells. Even moderate activity, like going for a walk, can help. Have you ever needed a break from work and went for a walk to "clear your head"? There you go!

How to stay motivated: Moderate intensity and duration cardiovascular exercise during the week can confer some of these brain benefits. If you really want to give your brain a challenge, try exercises that require more coordination, such as fitness classes with combination moves (kickboxing, dance) or play a game (tennis, soccer).

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(3) Better mood

Depression can damage certain areas of the brain, and exercise may increase blood flow to these areas, restoring function (5). Exercise also causes the release of certain neurotransmitters, such as GABA, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine which are "feel good" and energizing. It can also improve your self esteem - you are taking charge of your health and make strides in the right direction. If you can do that, what can't you do?

How to stay motivated: Like I mentioned before - don't put exercise on the back burner because you had a bad day. Make yourself move somehow, even for a little bit. Your brain will generate pathways that associate exercise with feeling better, and before you know it you'll be itching to throw on your sneakers when your mood starts to falter.

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(4) Sleep better

There's been a bit of Internet chatter lately on sleep and exercise, particularly at night. Some argue that exercise at night helps you fall asleep, while others say it wakes your body up. In sum, both sides are right. Its a complicated relationship between sleep and exercise, and highly individualized. For people without insomnia, it can be generalized that when you work out you fatigue your body and mind and sleep more soundly and through the night (6). Long term exercise plans and their effect on suppressing the body's stress response may play a role in sleeping better as well!

How to stay motivated: Exercise helps your stress response, and hopefully helps your mind-body connection (see my blurb about body focused meditation in part I) and this is very helpful when it comes to falling asleep. And above all, sleep plays an invaluable role in the aging process, regeneration and healing processes, as well as weight loss and recovery.

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(5) Learn quicker

Similar to the benefits of exercise on memory, as the growth hormone release generates new brain cells, it also helps to generate new connections. Scientists previously thought that our brains only had extremely active brain connections in childhood, and then in moderation as we learned through adolescence, and decreased in adulthood (2)-(4). This is why children can learn foreign languages so much quicker than adults. But research is now uncovering the idea of adult regeneration to make new pathways. So if you are trying to adopt a new habit or learn something new (or if you're a student!) exercise can help you learn.

It also improves your focus, which makes you more productive while you learn!

How to stay motivated: When you've got some notes to read over, or a presentation to watch, hop on the bike or treadmill and go slow. The release of hormones in your body might help your body make those new connections a little faster. And remember that when you exercise (no matter how much you didn't want to that day) it's helping your brain get a little smarter.

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What problem do you have that you think could be helped by exercise?

-Bailey

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References:
(1) Klaperski S, Von Dawans B, Heirnirchs M, Fuchs R. Does the level of physical activity affect physiological and psychological responses to psychosocial stress in women? Pysch of Sport and Exercise. March 2013. Vol 14:2; 266-274.
(2) Kang EB, Kwon IS, Koo JH, Jang YC, Lee J, Cho IH, Lee Y, Cho JY. Treadmill exercise represses neuronal cell death and inflammation during amyloid beta-induced ER stress by upregulating unfolded protein response in aged presenlinin 2 mutant mice. FAEB. 2013. Vol 27.
(3) Spesiman RB, Kumar A, Rani A, Foster TC, Ormerod B. Daily exercise improves memory, stimulates hippocampal neurogenesis, and modulates immune and neuroimmune cytokines in aging rates. Neurogenesis and Inflammation. Feb 2013; Vol 28. pg 25-43.
(4) Sith AM, Speigler KM, Sauce B, Wass CD, Sturzoiu T, Matzel LD. Voluntary aerobic exercise increases the cognitive enhancing effects of working memory training. Behavioral Brain Research 2013;256:626-635.
(5) Mata J, Hogan CL, Joormann J, Waugh CE, Gotlib IH. Acute exercise attenuates negative affect following repeated sad mood inductions in persons who have recovered from depression. J of Abnormal Pysch. Feb 2013;Vol 122(1):45-50.
(6) Reynolds G. How exercise can help us sleep better. New York Times. August 21 2013. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/how-exercise-can-help-us-sleep-better/