This book was really fascinating. As I’ve gotten older, I have certainly come to appreciate exercise more, and to cultivate a strong habit (or at least make an attempt).
Here are some highlights of the data presented in the book:
- Exercise can improve your brain function and learning
- students that did cardio in the morning before school did better in english class than students that did not exercise
- students who had english immediately after exercise did better than students that exercised but had english class later in the day
- Exercise can improve your mental health
- depression, stress, anxiety, ADD/ADHD can all (to some extent) be lessened/improved by exercising
- Exercise can prevent / delay symptoms of neurological disorders Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
- The current public health guidelines for exercise are probably too low. “Americans are so inactive that the experts are wary of providing guidelines that are too stiff, for fear that the whole country will give up”
If you are looking for motivation to exercise more, or to start exercising, I highly recommend reading this book. As a whole, our society could certainly stand an increase in physical exercise, and it seems as though all the mental health benefits would also be a positive!
After reading this, I’ve tried to pay more attention to how I feel immediately following exercise, throughout the day after, and on days that I don’t exercise. And what I’ve noticed is that I have more energy on the days I run in the morning, despite getting up earlier to fit it in. I’m also a little less stressed (and more patient on those days). Oh, and if I don’t run at all for a few days, I can definitely see a difference there too. Right now I have a broken toe, and I haven’t been able to run for over a week, and it’s been tough coming up with alternative things to do. It’s nice to do yoga again, but it’s not the same level of intensity.
What exercise do you enjoy?