Which Type of Exercise Is Best for the Brain?

[maddiesmum]

Here's an excellent article that suggests that all those who remove steady state cardio from their training regimes in favour of HiiT training only are seriously short-changing their brain and long term protection against neurological diseases. Keep on running, powerwalking, cycling, swimming and stepping folks!

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/...best-for-the-brain/?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Personally, I'm about to fly back to the UK, London area, for 3 weeks to see all my family, so have fun everyone and see you in March. I'll be back with more book reccies by then ...

Clare

 

[Beth-B-Fit]

Clare,

I saw this article too and it reaffirmed my belief that a good mix of workouts is best. Have fun in England. Do you follow a soccer team?

Beth

 

[FireLight]

Have a safe trip @maddiesmum with family & friends. Come back stronger and with a large list of book titles.
Tally Ho!

 

[SRP]

Bless you, Clare. This is music to my soul.

I did think, as I was reading, that the way the rats were made to lift weights and do HiiT was not natural for them, whereas the wheel running was. I imagine they had to be forced in some way to do the HiiT and climb that wall. I thought, that's probably pretty stressful to them, which could account for the lower new brain cell formation. But then this was near the end of the article:

As for high-intensity interval training, its potential brain benefits may be undercut by its very intensity, Dr. Nokia said. It is, by intent, much more physiologically draining and stressful than moderate running, and “stress tends to decrease adult hippocampal neurogenesis,” she said.

It's true that HiiT is more stressful ... so maybe the unnatural stress the rats faced is offset by the built-in stress of HiiT?

Anyhow, I'm very happy that research says steady state work is good for me. Because I love it.

Have a great trip to the UK!

 

[Justinef]

Thank you Clare!
Hope all goes well with your travelling- anything I can do for you whilst you're over here, just let me know xx

 

[maddiesmum]

Thank you Clare!
Hope all goes well with your travelling- anything I can do for you whilst you're over here, just let me know xx

Thanks Justine, you're a sweetheart!

Clare

 

[~Elsie]

Hey Clare, have a fabulous & safe trip! So nice to visit with family.

 

[cher54]

Really interesting article.....thanks, Clare!!