Are you the kind of person who doesn’t work out at all? If so, the idea of exercise may make you tired.
Maybe you even get stressed when people say you should go to the gym.
On the other hand, maybe you love to exercise. If so, then the idea of missing a day at the gym might make you sad.
You may even run your life around your workouts for the lift that it gives you.
Whether you love to workout or hate it, science shows that going for a walk can lift your mood after a bad day. Researchers at New York University just completed a study on exercise.
The study showed that even one workout gives a real boost to your brain.
TweetYour mood gets a lift too.
The study’s author is Wendy A. Suzuki, PhD. She says,
“Exercise interventions are currently being used to help address everything from cognitive impairments in normal aging, minimal cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer’s disease to motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease and mood states in depression.”
Doctors already use exercise to treat disease and mood disorders. Dr. Suzuki decided to see why and how working out helps.
She also wanted to see if just one workout was enough to make an impact.
Dr. Suzuki found that exercise does more than just lift our mood.
There are real changes that take place in our bodies when we exercise.
The scientists looked at brain scans and MRI scans.
They took blood samples and ran other tests to see what was happening in the body after a workout.
What they found was that when people exercise — even once — they show a boost in their ability to think. Their mood improves and their stress levels drop.
The researchers found other changes that are less obvious. They saw shifts in the brain’s structures and hormone levels. These shifts may have long-lasting effects that heal disease.
According to Dr. Suzuki,
“The studies presented in this review clearly demonstrate that acute exercise has profound effects on brain chemistry and physiology, which has important implications for cognitive enhancements in healthy populations and symptom remediation in clinical populations.”
If you’re already working out, this study just affirms what you already know — there’s nothing like a good workout to put a smile on your face.
If you aren’t working out, this study is a great reason to start.
If you’re interested in these brain changes, you don’t need to run a marathon for it to work.
Start with an easy walking plan. It will get you out of the house and out into the fresh air.
If you feel better, the next step is to look for a program that makes you feel better and helps you lose weight too. Try high-intensity interval training or HIIT.
HIIT lets you get a lot of impact out of a short workout. It gets your heart pumping for short periods, then gives you time for recovery. Best of all, HIIT helps you burn calories.
In fact, the burn from your HIIT workout session lasts longer because you burn calories long after the workout is over.
Yours in health and happiness,
Danette
P.S. Please share this encouraging information with your loved ones and I love hearing from you so leave me a comment below. Did you realize that even one workout has this much impact on your brain?
