Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/510259
Page 40 | Abby's Magazine - www.AbbysHealthAndNutrition.com stronger in the first place. Researchers hypothesize that the human brain responds to exercise by increasing growth factors that lead to more blood vessels, more neurons and more connections between the neurons. All of which can lead to a healthier brain. And the more exercise the 7-11 year old children in the study got, the better the result. Intelligence scores increased an average of 3.8 percent in the children who exercised 40 minutes a day after school for three months. While children who exercised only 20 minutes a day saw smaller gains. MRIs on the children in the study also showed an increase in activity in the pre-frontal cortex, an area associated with complex thinking, decision-making and social behavior. Is it any coincidence that in this era of budget-related curtailed physical education in schools the rates of learning problems have increased? According to these new studies, this lack of exercise in our schools might be producing not only less active brains in our children, but also less developed brain regions that control complex thinking and social behavior. Getting our children moving again might be just what we need to help turn the tide on the alarming rise of attention deficit related disorders currently afflicting our youth. Brain-Boosting Exercises The question is -- what is the best exercise that you can start today to immediately begin increasing your brain health? There are many different types of exercise and they all provide benefits that extend well beyond benefitting your brain. When you're planning your exercise routine, try to incorporate the following types of exercise: • Aerobic: Jogging, using an elliptical machine, and walking fast are all examples of aerobic exercise. This is the most common type of exercise being done and the one I would caution people against and to replace it with the ones below as they are more effective and time efficient for most. • Interval (Anaerobic) Training: Research shows that the BEST way to condition your heart and burn fat is NOT to jog or walk steadily for an hour. Instead, it's to alternate short bursts of high-intensity exercise with gentle recovery periods. That is one of the primary reasons I am so fond of the exercises my personal trainer has shown me. This type of exercise, known as interval training or burst type training, can dramatically improve your cardiovascular fitness and fat-burning capabilities. Another major benefit of this approach is that it radically decreases the amount of time you spend exercising, while giving you even more benefits. So, short bursts of activity done at a very high intensity can help you reach your optimal weight and level of fitness, in a shorter amount of time. • Strength Training: Rounding out your exercise program with a 1-set strength training routine will ensure that you're really optimizing the possible health benefits of a regular exercise program. You need enough repetitions to exhaust your muscles. The weight should be heavy enough that this can be done in fewer than 12 repetitions, yet light enough to do a minimum of four repetitions. It is also important NOT to exercise the same muscle groups every day. They need at least two days of rest to recover, repair and rebuild.