The 5 physical activities that give you strong mental health

No, it's not about doing crossword puzzles, learning a new language or playing guessing games. It's about practices that not only allow you to maintain your mental acuity, but also your good mood and physical fitness.

To get you excited, according to experiments by a medical team in Sweden, more than 1,400 new neurons are produced in the human brain every day, and the rate of these neurons decreases with age unless stimulated, as is the case with the rest of the human body.

According to specialist Jonas Frisén, “For a long time it was thought that we are born with a certain number of brain cells and that it is impossible to generate new neurons after birth. Later, it was thought that there is a certain rate of renewal, but the amount and its importance for brain health were unknown. This study has provided evidence that neurogenesis (the birth of new neurons) occurs in the hippocampus throughout life, suggesting that new neurons can contribute to the optimal functioning of the human brain.”

 

Get moving for the good of your brain!

Need more motivation?  In a recent study, 454 older adults who underwent physical exams and annual cognitive testing for 20 years and who agreed to donate their brains for research after they died were given accelerometers (a device that measures vibration or the acceleration of motion of a structure) to track their movements and physical activity 24 hours a day.

Those who were more active performed better on memory and thinking tests, and each standard deviation increase in physical activity was associated with a lower risk of dementia of up to 31 percent, the researchers found.

The association between physical activity and cognitive function remained consistent even after the study authors accounted for participants' brain pathology and whether or not they suffered from dementia.

 

How does physical exercise affect your brain specifically?

Directly, physical exercise increases the thickness of the cerebral cortex and improves the integrity of white matter, nerve fibers that connect areas of brain nerve cells rich in gray matter. It also promotes neuroplasticity, that is, the brain's ability to form new neural connections and adaptations throughout life.

According to Aaron Bonner Jackson, a neuropsychologist at the Cleveland Clinic, USA, one of the key places where neuroplasticity occurs is in the hippocampus, which is an important area of ​​the brain for maintaining the quality of memory .

What is especially encouraging is that you don't have to do exaggerated sports practices or meet certain requirements to obtain these benefits for the brain . ( 2 )

 

Benefits of physical activity for the brain

Science continues to study activities such as athletics, which provide what they call a “runner's high” or that zen-like state produced by endorphins that allows a runner to continue even when exhausted. Or, the practice of yoga, which allows one to enter a state of meditative relaxation while practicing, since it has profound effects on the brain.

1. Physical exercise can increase memory

The part of the brain that is strongly activated by aerobic exercise (vigorous walking, running, swimming, cycling) is called the hippocampus. Because the hippocampus is at the core of the learning and memory systems in the brain, this finding would partly explain the increased effects on memory from a trained physical state.

2. It would help maintain focus and attention span when performing a task

A randomized study in the United States looked at the effects of daily physical education classes throughout the school year. Not only did students become more fit, they also improved their multitasking skills, ignored distractions, and improved their ability to process complex information.

3. Exercise would help the mental processes that control stress and mood

You may have heard of or experienced the “runner’s high,” that feeling of happiness and clarity that follows exercise. Well, it’s real and has been observed in mice with evidence indicating a pleasurable and sedative stimulation of the endocannabinoid system (aka the psychoactive cannabis receptor).

Lately, science is corroborating the “relaxation response” that comes with practicing yoga. A 2010 study had participants practice yoga and meditation daily for 8 weeks. The results concluded “…participants reported a significant reduction in perceived stress. Reductions in perceived stress were positively correlated with a decrease in the density of the right basolateral gray matter of the amygdala.”

Another study showed that exercise is an alternative to overcoming depression. Both aerobic and strength training were found to be “moderately effective” in treating symptoms of depression. Of particular interest, the researchers noted that exercise appeared to be as effective as antidepressant drugs and psychological treatments.

4. Physical activity stimulates your creativity

Creative people throughout the ages—Aristotle, Beethoven, Kierkegaard, and many more—have claimed that walking boosts their creative process, and psychologists have recently given these claims empirical support. A 2014 paper titled “Give Your Ideas Legs: The Positive Effect of Walking While Thinking Creatively” showed that walking, whether on a treadmill or around the Stanford University campus (where the study took place), boosted creative thinking. Curiously, it didn’t help convergent thinking—the kind that filters ideas to identify those with real value—the skill used to provide the “right” answer to standard questions that don’t require much creativity.

5. Exercise improves circulation

Because exercise increases heart rate, this process allows more oxygen and glucose to be delivered to the brain, which in turn stimulates neuronal synapses (structures that allow one neuron to transmit an electrical or chemical signal to another neuron) by preserving the number of acetylcholine receptors found at the junction of muscle and nerve. This is reflected in the fact that active people have more receptors in their brains than inactive people.

6. Exercise stimulates the production of more brain cells

Until 1999, it was thought that the brain we were born with was complete and could not produce new cells, but a study by the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, USA, demonstrated through an experiment with mice that physical activity produces chemical changes in the brain that encourage better learning; and associated work suggests that similar mechanisms must operate in humans as well.

Although it is not yet understood how, what is clear is that exercise helps to “build brains.” The theory behind this is that exercise stimulates the production of a brain protein known as Noggin, and that this protein initiates the production of neurogenesis and stem cells.

 

7. Analgesia or increase in pain threshold

This effect is caused by the release of b-endorphins , which inhibit the nerve fibers that transmit pain, which is why this hormone has been called the “happiness hormone” or “natural painkiller.”

In 2017 CNN published an article about the benefits of exercise for the brain.  Among other things, it mentions that there are about 86 billion neurons in our heads, all designed to give instructions to the rest of the body with the help of chemical messengers called neurotransmitters, which regulate EVERYTHING in the body, from mood, to sleep, memory and even hunger.

Studies show that having low levels of these neurotransmitters, in particular glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), leads to depression. But, according to the Journal of Neuroscience, moderate exercise can increase these levels naturally, which can result in progressive endurance and a greater ability to cope with mental challenges. All of this is connected to the concept defined as “mental fitness.”

 

The 5 exercises I recommend for a healthy brain and body

1. Aerobic exercise

Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity such as walking, jogging, cycling or swimming per week, keeping in mind that ANY physical activity benefits your brain.

To achieve this benefit, training does not even have to be extreme. Walking for 30-45 minutes three times a week can help to stave off cognitive overuse and overuse and slow down the onset of dementia. Go for it!

And if walking isn't your thing, you can try weight training twice a week since this activity has a significant neurological impact ( 1 ). Or, how about a little dancing? Studies show that dance can be restorative. Just one hour of dancing once a week for six months increased older adults' cognitive performance, as well as their posture and sensorimotor function.

 

2. Strength training with weights

Every day more experiments are showing that strength exercises stimulate the functioning of the hippocampus, which is responsible for memorization and learning in our brain.

In addition, when lifting weights you have to concentrate on performing a specific movement that in turn stimulates the neural circuits of the brain.

According to Dr. Damian M. Bailey, professor of physiology and biochemistry at the University of South Wales, UK and advisor to the European Space Agency, squats specifically are effective for strengthening the brain because doing them "intermittently challenges the brain with increased blood flow and decreased blood flow."

"This back and forth from high flow to low flow challenges the inner lining of the arteries that supply blood to the brain," he explained on BBC 4's podcast "Just One Thing." "We think this is good because it builds up the good chemicals that the brain needs to be smarter."

Bailey notes that doing three to five minutes of squats just three times a week is better for the brain than doing steady-state exercises like running.

 

3. Yoga

An article from the National Library of Medicine of North America points out that the practice of yoga can positively influence brain health. Studies suggest that yoga practice may have an effect on the functional connectivity of the DMN, the activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex while performing cognitive tasks, and the structure of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, all regions that show significant age-related changes.

The studies mentioned in this article used Hatha yoga, a form of yoga that emphasizes the connection between conscious breathing and movement, as well as meditation.

Yoga practitioners showed greater volume of grey matter in the brain – which has been linked to better mental function, especially during aging – and greater cortical thickness, another advantage when it comes to brain structure, as it is related to greater intelligence.

Therefore, behavioral interventions such as yoga may hold promise for mitigating age-related neurodegenerative decline.

 

4. Wim Hof ​​Method Air Retention Exercises

The Wim Hof ​​method is actually a type of meditation, and in general, meditation has been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.

A small 2018 study interviewed 16 people about their experiences with the method. These people reported subjective benefits that I personally share such as:

• Improve your mood
• Reducing anxiety
• General feeling of well-being
• Deeper connection with oneself
• Strengthening the immune system
• Less tension and better management of physical stress

How to do it:

The basis of the Wim Hof ​​method is its breathing technique. According to Hof, beginners should start as follows:

• Find a comfortable position.
• Breathe in deeply through your nose and into your belly.
• Exhale and inhale again immediately.
• Take 30 to 40 such breaths.
• Exhale and hold until you feel the urge to breathe again.
• Inhale deeply and hold your breath for 15 seconds.
• Repeat 4-5 rounds.

Hof says people should do this practice daily.

As a person gets used to the method, their initial 30-40 breaths should be closer together so that they are hyperventilating while still breathing as deeply as possible.

Precautions

Wim Hof ​​warns that users may feel dizzy, tingly or lightheaded when hyperventilating.

Hyperventilation poses some health risks such as:

Decrease blood flow to the brain, thereby depriving it of oxygen causing fainting due to lack of blood flow to the brain having a detrimental effect on the brain in people with a traumatic brain injury.

It is important to note that this method is not safe to perform in water or in any context where loss of consciousness could be dangerous. This includes cold showers when a person is alone or unaccustomed to it as they could fall.

 

5. Cold showers complementing Wim Hof's breathing method

Intermediate practitioners of the Wim Hof ​​breathing method apply it at a pace that feels comfortable to them while taking a cold shower.

As a person becomes more comfortable with the method, he or she may take ice baths while performing the breathing exercises. Hof maintains that a number of specific, teachable advanced techniques can help a person tolerate extremely cold temperatures or improve athletic performance.

Wim Hof ​​recommends starting by taking your normal shower and finishing by bathing for 5 seconds with cold water, and doing 5 second increments each day or when you feel ready.

According to Dr. Andrew Huberman , “Exposure to cold causes a significant release of epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) and norepinephrine (also known as noradrenaline) in the brain and body. These neurochemicals make us feel alert and can make us feel agitated and like we need to move or vocalize during exposure to cold. The cold causes their levels to remain elevated for some time and their ongoing effect after exposure is to increase your energy level and focus, which can be applied to other mental and/or physical activities.

Likewise, and although it does not occur with all types of stress, exposure to cold causes a prolonged release of dopamine. Dopamine is a powerful molecule capable of elevating mood, improving concentration, attention, goal-directed behavior, etc.”

 

BONUS: 5 foods  that help you maintain your cognitive function

Leafy greens: Spinach, kale, broccoli, and Swiss chard are rich in nutrients like vitamin K, lutein, folate, and beta-carotene, among others. Research suggests that these plant-based foods slow cognitive decline.

Green tea and coffee: Both coffee and tea provide more than just short-term mental stimulation. In a recent study, participants with higher caffeine intake performed better on assessments of mental function.

Fish oil : Fish oil is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, which are healthy polyunsaturated fats that have been linked to reduced levels of beta-amyloid (a protein that forms harmful clots in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease).

Berries : These berries contain flavonoids which are plant pigments that give berries their red, purple and dark blue colors which, according to science, helps improve memory.

Walnuts : Walnuts in general are an ideal source of protein and healthy fats, and walnuts in particular are said to improve memory function.

As you can see, the cognitive benefits are almost as impressive as the physical benefits of exercise on the body. This reminds us that our bodies and our brains do not function in isolation from each other. What you do with your body, what you feed it, can benefit or harm your mental faculties.

Being a sedentary person all day, every day is dangerous for your physical and mental health, so don't wait! Find an activity and do it, or simply go for a walk.