According to a new study, a mid-day walk or household chores may improve cognitive processing speed, equivalent to four years younger.
Exercise has been shown to improve brain health and reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia over the long term. However, engaging in everyday physical activity has immediate benefits for brain health, according to a new study by Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
The team found that middle-aged people who participated in everyday movement showed improvement in cognitive processing speed equivalent to being four years younger, regardless of whether the activity was lower intensity, like walking the dog or doing household chores, or higher intensity, like jogging.
“You don’t have to go to the gym to experience all the potential benefits of physical activity,” said Jonathan Hakun, assistant professor of neurology and psychology at Penn State and the Penn State College of Medicine. “All movement is important. Everyday movement is a source of accumulated physical activity that could be credited toward a healthy lifestyle and may directly impact cognitive health.”
Previous research that has examined the relationship between physical activity and cognitive health typically looked at the long-term relationship, for example, over decades for a retrospective study or months to a year for intervention studies. Hakun said he was interested in connecting the dots sooner to understand the potential short-term impact of physical activity on cognitive health.
The research team leveraged smartphone technology to interact with participants multiple times during their daily lives using ecological momentary assessment. Over nine days, participants checked in six times a day, approximately every 3.5 hours.
During each check-in, participants reported if they had been physically active since their last check-in. If they were active, they were asked to rate the intensity of their activity — light, moderate or vigorous. For example, walking and cleaning were considered light intensity while running, fast biking and effortful hiking were considered vigorous. Participants were then prompted to play two “brain games,” one designed to assess cognitive processing speed and the other designed to evaluate working memory, which Hakun said can be a proxy for executive function.
The team found that when participants reported being physically active sometime in the previous 3.5 hours, they showed improvements in processing speed equivalent to being four years younger. While there were no improvements in working memory, the response time during the working memory task mirrored the improvements observed for processing speed.
“We get slower as we age, both physically and cognitively. The idea here is that we can momentarily counteract that through movement. It’s compelling,” Hakun said. “There’s the potential for a brief walk or a little extra movement to give you a boost.”
Additionally, people who reported being active more often experienced more incredible short-term benefits than those who reported less physical activity overall. Hakun said this suggests that regular physical activity may increase cognitive health benefits. However, he explained that more research is needed to understand how much physical activity and the frequency and timing of being active influence cognitive health.
Getting fit when you’re in college can be quite challenging for most students, particularly if you’re a freshman. Until now, you’ve lived with your parents who took care of you, advised about diet, physical activities and encouraged you to be fitter. It’s easy to “fall off the track” once you go away and live on your own. You get caught up in classes and exciting student life. Fitness isn’t on the list of priorities anymore. But at the same time, you still want to look your best. Is there any way a college student can balance everything? There are many things you can do to get fit and avoid feeling your life revolves around classes and exercises. Scroll down to see different things you can do to stay in shape.
Have a routine
Although routines are, safe to say, boring in other aspects of our lives, it’s paramount for your fitness. That’s why establishing your own routine is the first and the most powerful thing you can do on your way to get fit or stay in shape.
When it comes to exercise, most of us usually wonder when is the best time of the day to work out. If you browse this topic on Google, you’ll get hundreds of results. Some say the best workout time is in the morning; others claim it’s in the afternoon, and so on. However, sticking with a workout routine is more important than the time of the day you exercise.
Consider your schedule at college or job, in case you work, and determine the exact time of the day when you can spare a few minutes to exercise. Then, make sure you do it every day during that period. You can create a schedule of different activities to do during that time of the day e.g. today jog, strength exercises tomorrow and so on. Doing different types of exercises will target different muscle groups and help you get in shape faster.
Stay hydrated
It’s confession time, how many glasses of water you drink on a daily basis? Your answer probably shows you don’t drink enough water to keep your body hydrated and energized. The truth is, you’re not alone. Most people, in general, don’t drink enough water. And no, drinking all that coffee doesn’t really count.
Staying hydrated throughout the day and during your workouts is essential. In fact, lack of hydration has a negative impact on your performance. How? It’s because you get tired more quickly. Also, water intake poses as one of the most efficient ways to get fit, stay in shape, and avoid weight gain. For example, the study published in the Annals of Family Medicine showed that people who don’t drink enough water had increased chances of becoming obese.
Take a bottle of water wherever you go and make sure you sip on it when you’re studying or working on your assignments. Don’t wait to feel the thirst first because the dehydration signs already start to appear in the form of fatigue or sleepiness. Since it’s very easy to forget to drink water throughout the day, you can always download an app which will remind you to do so. There are many of them available for Android and iOS devices.
What’s your goal?
If you don’t have a fitness goal, then you probably won’t stick to the schedule. Goals pose as some sort of commitment; we want to accomplish them, and feel like winners. Who doesn’t want that? Lack of targets also means there’s no motivation, or direction that shows which way you’ll go.
Besides establishing a routine, you should also take a few moments to think about goals you’d like to accomplish. It can be just about anything; weight loss, more endurance, more flexibility, being able to do a certain number of reps in a particular period of time, etc.
Divide your goals into smaller milestones that are easy to accomplish. This will boost your motivation to stick with your schedule and get fit as soon as possible.
Take a walk
Don’t like going to the gym? Not a fan of complicated exercises? Finding it difficult to motivate yourself to exercise properly? Yes, we’ve all been there! Until you get motivated to do something specific, you can just walk. That’s the easiest (and the cheapest) way of staying in shape.
Make sure you take a walk around your campus, or a block, after all, big meals. Walking after a meal helps you maintain your weight at a healthy range. Also, instead of driving a car, taking a bus, using elevators, opt to walk instead or ride a bike.
Pay attention to your diet
Physical activity means nothing if your diet consists of pizzas, doughnuts, French fries, and other unhealthy foods. Regardless of how delicious they are, it’s important to pay attention to your nutrition and opt for healthier meals.
Food is fuel for your body; it provides energy which is why things you eat should have great nutritional value. Typical student food, or entire Western diet for that matter, is quite unhealthy and doesn’t supply our body with healthy nutrients it needs to function properly. Besides fitness, the unhealthy diet also affects your health, productivity and so on.
Does this mean you should follow some strict diet program? No, not at all. In fact, thebest diet plan for every college student should be:
Eat regularly, don’t skip meals
Opt for healthier alternatives to favorite meals
Reduce portion size
Eat plenty of calcium-rich foods
Limit sugar intake
Read labels to see nutrient content, whether there are any suspicious ingredients etc.
Include variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet
Instead of chips and fries, opt for carrot sticks as your snack of choice
Get a buddy
Yet another practical and useful way to stick to your routine is to exercise with someone. You can work out with your friend, colleague, or even set up a club where all students can meet and exercise together. Why is this important? It’s because when you have a commitment and opt to work out with someone, you are more likely to achieve the goals you set.
In fact, a study published in the Psychology of Sport and Exercise revealed that the workout habits of people you know have a positive influence on your own habits. Therefore, buddy up to become fit!
Have sex
Sex is yet another way you can get fit more easily, but when you pair it with the regular physical activity of course. The Electronic Journal of Human Sexuality published a study which showed that physical activity and sex life are correlated. Those who exercised more also reported feeling more desirable as well as improved performance. Also, it’s a well-known fact that sex can help you burn calories.
No, this doesn’t mean you should hop from one bed into another because let’s face it, that would bring you more harm than good. Instead, you should work on your endurance in bed. One way of doing that is to build your momentum, do cardio, and try performing Kegel exercises for men, which are very easy to do.
These exercises improve your bladder control, address premature ejaculation which is a major problem for college students who are still trying to work on their performance, and improve your sex life in general. To do these exercises you just have to tighten pelvic floor muscles, contract them, and release after a few seconds. You can do Kegel exercises just about anywhere at any time.
Conclusion
Staying in shape or getting fit in college isn’t the easiest task in the world. You feel lazy and aren’t sure how to fit gym trips into your busy schedule. This article showed you how to get into perfect shape without going to the gym (unless you want to) or struggling to do some vigorous activities. All you need is to set up a strategy that works for you and stick to your routine. Good luck!
Video:-Functional Fitness: Learn Fitness Functional Exercises from Dr. Adam Friedman
Via:-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eadXMR7hNJ4
Author Bio:- Annie Lizstan works as a health and beauty consultant for online websites and an independent researcher by profession. She always like to explore her ideas about health, fitness and beauty . In her recent period ,she got an opportunity to explore on anti-aging product like Instaflex. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
And one of the easiest to do is of course walking.
So to get you up and at ’em I thought I’d share this great infographic showing how walking can help with diabetes, dementia and depression among others.
Welcome to our latest guest post from Dr. Sonya Doherty. You can read the original post on her blog here. Dr. Sonya Doherty is a licensed and board certified Naturopathic Doctor who is an active member of the CAND. Sonya Doherty completed her undergraduate training at the University of Western Ontario in a Bachelor of Science Honors Kinesiology program.
She writes “How’s that for a blog title?????
Children diagnosed with autism and ADHD have tremendous difficulty with motor planning. New areas of research are showing that motor planning problems can be prevented, treated and reversed. So, what does that mean for your child? Better communication, less sensory issues (which means more social interaction), openness to new foods, improved eye contact, restored focus and attention, better coordination, enhanced fine motor and gross motor skills….
Are you with me? Are you ready to immerse yourself in a little cellular physiology so I can introduce you to a wonderful researcher who has helped in the recovery of thousands of children by improving their motor planning?
Okay, let’s get started. You may be asking, what the heck is motor planning and how does it impact my child?
Motor planning is the steps the brain puts in place to allow the body to move. Many neuroscientists believe the reason we have a brain is to produce adaptable and complex movement. Every way we affect the world relies on contraction of muscles. Speaking, walking, focusing, eye contact and even having a bowel movement! Another important piece of information about movement is that contraction of muscles requires a plan. That plan is formulated by the brain relying on both experience and sensory input. In the case of autism, sensory processing is impaired and the overwhelming sensory stimuli reduce the brain’s effectiveness when creating a motor plan. I believe this is what drives many repetitive behaviours. Repetition is very important to motor planning. Without the ability to rely on sensory input, children with autism “bank” their experiences. They attempt to memorize enough information as possible to compensate for the sensory overload, with the goal of stabilizing motor planning.
Problems with motor planning are not the lack of desire or ability to move, they are caused by inconsistent instructions from the brain. Imagine that you want to blow a bubble. If the parts of your brain that control motor planning are intact, your mouth will receive a succinct plan to coordinate the muscles of your mouth to get in the right position and then contract synergistically to create the movement needed to blow a bubble. If your child’s motor planning systems are not strong or have been damaged, blowing a bubble or sucking from a straw can be extremely difficult. Because the instructions from the brain are inconsistent, some skills can be strong and others more difficult. You may also find that one day your child can perform a motor movement and the next day it is very difficult for them. As in saying words or making eye contact.
As many of you know, two and a half years ago our youngest son regressed after his first surgery to repair a severe birth defect. A birth defect that is linked to mounting toxicity in our environment and, like autism, ADHD, speech delay and other developmental issues, is on the rise. There were many researchers and medical practitioners who have helped us in our pursuit to recover as many skills as possible for our son. Dr. Claudia Morris, who will be presenting at Autism Canada’s upcoming conference, developed a motor planning therapy that helped her own son using omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids in addition to therapeutic doses of vitamin E. These nutritional treatments address toxic damage to the cells, including cell membranes and the energy producing mitochondria. Despite over two years of biomedical treatment, we are still not 100% sure what caused the regression for our son. What I am sure of is that the combination of anesthetics, antibiotics, Tylenol and morphine he was given changed the way his cells were functioning.
Cells are like any living organism, they are designed to communicate with each other. Disruption in this communication impacts the signals that go back and forth. A significant toxic insult will cause the cells to all start “screaming” at each other. Chronic toxic exposure over time will have the same result. Alert signals will escalate and in the end, in an effort to protect themselves, the cells stop communicating in some ways so they aren’t overwhelmed by the alert signals coming in from their neighbours. As an isolated entity, the cell is much less effective. Things slow down. The brain has trouble communicating clear instructions to the muscles, disrupting motor planning. Motor planning becomes very difficult without smooth cellular communication. A recent study used a century old drug to improve cell signalling in an animal model of autism. The results was nothing short of incredible. The drug reversed all autism symptoms for a few weeks by blocking “danger” signals thought to come from damaged mitochondria.
Dr. Morris has shown, that motor planning can be improved by repairing cells, and restoring cellular communication. You see, one of the thousands of children Dr. Claudia Morris has helped is my own. Her research and brave foray into nutritional therapies for motor planning is the treatment approach that helped reconnect our son’s mouth to his brain, allowing him to chew, swallow and speak. Two and half years ago, Magnus would gag at most foods, choke on many others, couldn’t suck on a straw or blow. He certainly couldn’t coordinate his articulation muscles to speak. The words he had weren’t clear and he could use only one word at a time and with great effort. Repairing his cell membranes and supporting mitochondrial function with Dr. Morris’s program has allowed cellular communication to return. Once his cells were again communicating, we were able to see progress through introducing new foods and textures. His speech pathologists were able to expertly advise us on the fastest way to get his muscles caught up by strengthening them and training the motor planning centers to be able to perform better. Today, Magnus can eat anything and is beginning to speak in sentences as long as 7 words. In practice, I have seen the same results time and time again. If a child has motor planning problems, improving the cell’s use of essential fatty acids and repairing the cell membrane consistently results in improvements that are life changing.
We know that many toxins can damage the body on a cellular level. There are too many to list here but one that I feel is really important to mention is Tylenol. Tylenol is toxic to cells because it depletes glutathione, which is the body’s most important antioxidant. Antioxidants protect cells, so the depletion of glutathione by Tylenol is one way cells get damaged. Women who take Tylenol in pregnancy are more likely to have a child diagnosed with ADHD. Tylenol has also been linked to asthma. Dr. William Shaw wrote a ground breaking paper that identifies Tylenol as one of the major causes of autism, ADHD and asthma.
We also know that genes can be damaged by toxins and that damaged genes are passed along to the next generation. Epigenetic damage to some genes directly weakens cell function. The microbiome, the ecosystem in the gut, also plays a crucial role in protect cells from toxicity. Our gut is the most important detoxification organ. Diarrhea and constipation increase risk of toxicity because heavy metals, pesticides, PCBs and even breakdown products of microbes are removed when we have a bowel movement. Overgrowth of certain microbes can damage cell membranes. Research by Dr. Derrick MacFabe has shown in an animal model, overgrowth of the species clostridia, will deplete carnitine. Carnitine is a shuttle that fuels the energy producing mitochondria with much needed essential fatty acids. Low carnitine levels negatively impact motor planning and disrupt cell signalling. These are just a few examples of how toxicity directly impacts cell function.
While hundreds of millions worth of research dollars are investigating what is contributing to disorders such as autism, very little research is focused on treatment. We now know incontrovertibly that environmental toxicity is picking off at risk children with increasing devastation each generation. Repair of the cell membranes is an elegant treatment strategy. It is so simple. It is so beautiful. We have 100 TRILLION cells. We have 100 TRILLION cell membranes. If a treatment can help to repair 100 TRILLION cell membranes; guess what? Motor planning will improve. Eye contact will improve. Focus, hand writing, walking up stairs, chewing food, blowing bubbles, speaking. They will all get better. And I am delighted to tell you that just as it did for our son, this approach has helped hundreds of children in my practice.
Simple. Elegant. Effective. I for one, can’t wait to hear Dr. Morris speak this October at the Autism Canada Foundation. I hope you will all join me there as we continue to learn how to help our children get better and feel better.
Dr. Sonya Doherty, ND FMAPS (candiate)
To hear Dr. Claudia Morris at this year’s conference – REGISTERHERE!
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