How Physical Activity Improves Brain Function
Physical activity, even in small doses, improves brain function, making your day easier and saving you time. We don’t just need movement in our day to maintain our mental and physical health, but our cognitive health too.
We all know that physical activity is good for the body and awareness is increasing around its benefits for mental wellness as well. What’s less commonly known is how physical activity improves our memory, learning capacity, and ability to think clearly. These benefits are seen in all age groups. So whether you’re 83 or in grade 3, building movement into your day is going to improve how well your brain is working, also known as your cognitive performance. If you’re at school, at work, or sitting down at home to read or do a puzzle, getting your blood flowing beforehand is going to make your tasks easier.
How Physical Activity Improves Brain Function
When you exercise you get a boost of dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline which, particularly in combination, hyperstimulate the mind. This state of enhanced focus, attention span, concentration, and reaction time usually lasts for several hours.
Even a short walk causes heightened brain activity. Moving the body increases blood flow to the brain and other organs, nourishing them with crucial nutrients.
The link between brain function and nutrients is huge and plays a major role in the impact physical activity has on our minds. The mental health benefits of exercise, such as reduced stress, anxiety, and depression, free up our minds to be present in the moment and focus on the task at hand. In other words, the more active you are, the more productive you are too.
Studies have definitively shown that students who are more active perform better in school. And it’s not only higher grades and memory retention we’re talking about. Active students also have better attendance and are involved in fewer behavioural and disciplinary issues.
This would be great news if we weren’t in the midst of an inactivity crisis. In the United States inactivity has surpassed smoking as the number one cause of death. If things don’t change, the current generation of kids and youth may be facing shorter lifespans than their parents.
In Canada, 15 per cent of those aged 5-17 were meeting the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines before the pandemic. With restrictions shutting down many of the physical activities we depended on, the number of children aged 5-11 reaching the guidelines plummeted to 4.8 per cent; for youth the picture is even worse with a mere 0.8 per cent getting healthy levels of movement.
Overall, the ParticipACTION Report Card graded children and youth at D+ in both overall physical activity and sedentary behaviours.
Physical Activity Boosts Productivity
To change this, we need to change the relationship our youth have with physical activity, both in and out of school. Studies demonstrate that introducing regular brief movement breaks to the classroom leads to better behaviour, increased concentration, higher academic achievement, and improved mood among students. Recess breaks have similar benefits. Even 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity can increase students’ problem solving efficiency by up to 10 per cent.
The main takeaway here is that taking time away from studying and lessons to activate your body doesn’t hurt learning or academic outcomes. The same applies for those at work. Building movement breaks into your day will help you perform your job better and get more done.
The brain cycles through various stages of productivity roughly every two hours during the day. Performance is high at first, but starts tapering off because the brain needs to replenish the ions and nutrients it's been using to function at a high level. This isn’t much different than athletes needing water to keep going.
Breaking for 15 minutes every hour or two to move around or do some exercises will help restimulate the brain and get your blood flowing, carrying essential nutrients with it. Interspersing a little activity into your work day can help you stay in the highest zone of productivity.
Using Lifestyle to Improve Brain Function
Following an active lifestyle as we age has the additional benefits of preventing cognitive decline and the onset of some neurological conditions. While it was previously thought that neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons, ceased after a certain age, we now know that exercise stimulates neurogenesis at all ages. Furthermore, it improves neuroplasticity and neurochemistry.
Part of the reason for this is that most physical activities are also brain exercises that involve reaction skills, balance, or strategic thinking. The more activities you do, the more variation you get as well as chances to try new things.
When we learn and hone new skills, we develop new neural pathways in the brain which are then strengthened if we keep at it.
Each of us has a role to play. We are all more active when we are active with others. We’re also more healthy when we are active with others as we get to socialize and learn new skills. So whether it’s with family or friends (or both!), take advantage of physical activity to improve your brain function and strengthen your social and neural connections at the same time!
