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Newsweek – March 26th, 2007- Headline- Exercise and the Brain… Research says exercise will make you smarter.
Yes, finally a study that shows that you can actually generate nerve endings from working out. Charles Hillman is a PhD at the University of Illinois and he was tired of the stereotype of the “dumb” jock so he did something about it. He has been an athlete all his life and it just didn’t make sense. He knows a lot of smart athletes and in the classes he currently teaches, often times it is the athletes who set the curve on his exams.
I am not going to re-write the information in this newsletter, but I think it is important that if you get a chance to pick up the issue that you take the time to read the articles. We all know that exercise will lower your risk for just about every ailment from coronary artery disease to battling Alzheimer’s and ADHD. Now there is proof it will make you smarter too.
This study is a personal trainer’s dream. Remember the ad on TV during the Reagan years, “This is your brain; this is your brain on drugs?” I have a whole new slogan.
This is your brain:
(show picture of a black and white brain)
This is your brain on exercise:
(now show a picture of the stimulated brain with parts of the brain colored to show activity).
Someone from the Center for Disease and Prevention, please steal this idea!
Hillman has even gotten a Senator from Kentucky to sponsor a bill putting in ½ an hour of exercise a day back in schools. We can only dream that it passes. The abilities that the initial studies proved for children in the ages of 3rd through 5th grade are so encouraging. I am pleased to have something concrete to show parents to help them get their children more active.
So what does this all mean for you? It just gives you another reason why making time for exercise is so important. With an astonishing low 31% of the American population 18 and over choosing to exercise, (yes that means that almost 70 % don’t do anything), why would you want to fall into that category?
I know part of the reason you subscribe to the Catalyst Coaching newsletter is because you are not one of the almost 70%.
What is a good protocol?
It is important to get activity period, but the Newsweek article and many other studies are proving that short bouts of High Intensity Training is the most beneficial for your body, your mood, your health, and now your mind.
Gee, where have you heard that before? Right here, that’s where.
It can be as short as 25-30 minutes or as long as 60 minutes depending on your goals and your motivation. I believe that one of the greatest ways to get the most bang for your buck is to do circuit training. You get so much done, in a short amount of time and you receive the benefit of it all.
You can alternate an upper body move with a lower body move. Let’s say you use a set of bicep curls and alternate with squats. You do 12- 15 of each and while one body part is working, the other is resting. This is not rocket science. It’s just good educated structure.
Many of you are probably accustomed to trying some of this training but for those of you who are not, you can always take a look at the membership site where we have custom made workouts designed with this exact principle.
These carefully planned programs are exactly timed with the proper work rest ratio and will get you in and out of the gym in 30 – 45 minutes if you stay focused. With studies like Dr. Hillman’s coming out, along with an epidemic of obesity in our country, why be average? Making time for fitness will not only save your health, make you look and feel great, add years to your life, but now it makes you smarter too.
Now you know why I said you would have to be crazy not to start now.