There is a growing body of research on the positive effects of exercise on mental acuity and mood. Below are some of the benefits and mechanisms:

Breathing life into our bodies and minds

Just like the rest of your tissues, the brain requires oxygen to live. In fact, the brain requires more oxygen to function than your muscles. Oxygen is carried around the body via blood and exercise causes an increase in blood flow to the brain and a subsequent boost in neural activity.

Here’s to feeling good all the time

Exercise increases the production of mood altering neurochemicals. The higher the intensity of exercise, the greater amount of endorphins released which can help decrease depression, fatigue, and insomnia. Studies also report that most people feel like they have more energy on days when they exercise and experience decreased symptoms of stress. Chronic depression and/or raised levels of stress have been shown to decrease cognitive performance so by exercising, benefits can be experienced.

Growing body, growing mind

Sedentary behaviour can cause the brain to shrink in size, whereas exercise can help with the production of brain cells. Therefore, increasing your activity levels can increase your computing power.

Bring it all into focus

Immediately following exercise, a person’s attention and ability to focus on a task has been shown to improve. So, if you are feeling sluggish after lunch, get out for a quick walk to improve your afternoon productivity. Due to exercise increasing your ability to focus, regular exercise can also help with goal setting and compliance - tell your boss this when you duck out for an exercise session during the day!

To remember, or not to remember - that is the…

Due to its positive effects on insulin resistance and inflammation, exercise can increase your ability to memorise information. Recent studies have shown that people who exercised at a light to moderate intensity while learning a new language had better word retention than those who did no exercise while learning.

Use it or lose it

While there is still much research to be done, exercise has been shown to reduce age related cognitive decline and memory loss as well as reducing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. While it is a great preventative measure, exercise can also help in the management of cognitive decline in those who already have Alzheimer’s.