Your Brain Needs Exercise Too

Hi Team Gray Iron,

Most of us know what exercise can do for our bodies.

It helps preserve muscle, strengthens our bones, improves our cardiovascular health, and helps us stay mobile and independent.

But there's another reason to keep moving that may be every bit as important:

Your brain benefits from exercise too.

And as we get older, that's something worth paying attention to.

Your Brain Is an Active Organ

For many years, we tended to think of the brain as something that simply declined with age.

We now know the picture is much more encouraging.

The brain remains remarkably adaptable throughout life. It can continue changing and forming new connections in response to what we do, what we learn, and how we live.

One of the most powerful things we can do to support that process is surprisingly simple:

Move our bodies.

What Happens to Your Brain When You Exercise?

When you start walking, cycling, swimming, dancing, lifting weights, or doing almost any other form of exercise, you're doing much more than working your muscles.

Your heart pumps faster, increasing circulation throughout your body, including your brain. That's one reason cardiovascular exercise is such an important part of a well-rounded fitness program.

Brain health is a subject that's especially interesting to me. I'm married to a neuroscientist, so conversations about how the brain works have been part of our household for many years. I've learned a lot from those conversations, and one thing that continues to fascinate me is just how closely the health of our brains and bodies are connected.

Exercise is a wonderful example.

Physical activity influences chemicals and growth factors involved in brain health.

One you've probably heard about is BDNF — brain-derived neurotrophic factor.

I like to think of BDNF as a kind of fertilizer for the brain. It helps support the health of existing neurons and the brain's ability to adapt and form new connections.

Exercise is one of the behaviors associated with increased BDNF.

What About Memory?

This is where things get particularly interesting.

Regular physical activity has been associated with better cognitive function as we age, including areas such as memory, attention, and executive function — the mental skills we use to plan, organize, make decisions, and solve problems.

Exercise has also been associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

That doesn't mean exercise guarantees that we'll never develop dementia.

Unfortunately, nothing can promise that.

But it does mean physical activity is one of the modifiable things we can do to support our brain health as we get older.

And that's empowering.

Your Muscles and Brain Are Constantly Talking

Here's something I find fascinating.

Exercise isn't simply your brain telling your muscles what to do.

Communication goes both ways.

Contracting muscles release signaling molecules that can influence other tissues and organs throughout the body.

Meanwhile, exercise challenges your brain to coordinate movement, maintain balance, judge your surroundings, and continually make tiny adjustments.

Even something as ordinary as walking involves an extraordinary amount of communication between your brain, nerves, muscles, eyes, inner ear, and joints.

Movement really is a whole-body activity.

Give Your Brain an Extra Challenge

Some types of movement ask even more of the brain.

Think about:

• Dancing
• Learning a new exercise
• Walking on an unfamiliar trail
• Playing pickleball or tennis
• Practicing tai chi
• Doing exercises that require coordination

These activities combine physical movement with learning, reaction, balance, or decision-making.

Instead of always doing exactly the same exercise in exactly the same way, occasionally give your brain something new to figure out.

You might even choose a new movement from our Exercise Demonstrations and give both your muscles and your brain something new to practice.

You don't need to make your workouts complicated.

Just keep learning and moving.

Walking Counts

Here's more good news.

You don't have to become an athlete to give your brain the benefits of physical activity.

Walking counts.

So does gardening.

Cycling counts.

Strength training counts.

Dancing in your kitchen counts.

And those little Exercise Snacks we've been talking about count toward keeping your body moving throughout the day.

The best exercise isn't necessarily the fanciest one.

It's the one you'll continue doing.

This Week's Brain + Body Snack

Let's combine movement with a little brain challenge.

Try this:

Take a 10-minute walk somewhere slightly different from your usual route.

Notice what's around you.

Change your pace occasionally.

Look ahead rather than down at your feet.

If it's safe, choose a route with a few turns, hills, or different surfaces.

You're not just exercising your legs and heart.

You're asking your brain to navigate, observe, adjust, balance, and respond to your environment.

That's a lot happening during one little walk.

Keep Moving for Your Brain

We often exercise because of what we can see.

More muscle.

Better posture.

A healthier weight.

The ability to climb stairs or carry groceries.

But some of the most important benefits may be happening where we can't see them.

Inside our brains.

So the next time you go for a walk or pick up a dumbbell, remember:

You're not just training for a stronger body.

You're training for a healthier brain, too.

Keep moving,

Jennifer

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Logan Franklin
The Gray Iron Fitness Newsletter
www.senior-exercise-central.com