Quotes About Exercise

Indeed, in a 2007 study of humans, German researchers found that people learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster following exercise than they did before exercise, and that the rate of learning correlated directly with levels of BDNF. Along with that, people with a gene variation that robs them of BDNF are more likely to have learning deficiencies.

Intensity was particularly important in his case because of the evidence that only rigorous exercise alleviates sensitivity to the physical arousal of anxiety.

In October of 2000 researchers from Duke University made the New York Times with a study showing that exercise is better than sertraline (Zoloft) at treating depression

People think of exercise in terms of physical health, but not mental health," says Jennifer Shaw, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Brookline, Massachusetts, who is a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School.

But nutrition affects BDNF, too. Eating a diet high in sugar decreases BDNF. Eating foods with folate, vitamin B12, and omega-3 fats increases BDNF in the brain, just as exercise does.

exercise provides an unparalleled stimulus, creating an environment in which the brain is ready, willing, and able to learn.

One small but scientifically sound study from Japan found that jogging thirty minutes just two or three times a week for twelve weeks improved executive function. But it's important to mix in some form of activity that demands coordination beyond putting one foot in front of the other.... Aerobic exercise and complex activity have different beneficial effects on the brain. The good news is they're complementary.

Exercise is not an instant cure, but you need to get your brain working again, and if you move your body your brain won't have any choice.

What is different about meditation and a number of other practices like talk therapy or exercise or sound nutrition is that we are deliberately shaping our brains, intervening in the building process. Someone once argued that there is no choice

in a 2007 study of humans, German researchers found that people learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster following exercise than they did before exercise, and that the rate of learning correlated directly with levels of BDNF.

A notable experiment in 2007 showed that cognitive flexibility improves after just one thirty-five-minute treadmill session at either 60 percent or 70 percent of maximum heart rate.

physical activity sparks biological changes that encourage brain cells to bind to one another.

study shows that exercise—or at least the resulting fitness levels—can have a powerful impact on that fundamental skill.

Frank Forencich, who lives in Portland, Oregon, and writes and thinks about the role of movement and play in people's lives;

Edward M. Hallowell, MD, author of Shine

Hormesis is a biological response to low doses of a stressor, such as a toxin, that improves the ability of the body to handle that toxin. It can be applied to exercise. Unlike homeostasis, hormesis does not return the body to a normal state. It returns it to a better-than-normal state. When a bodybuilder lifts weights, he is placing

Sedentary behavior causes brain impairment, and we know how: by depriving your brain of the flood of neurochemistry that evolution developed in order to grow brains and keep them healthy.

The evolution of our unique brains was locked into the evolution of our wide range of movement. Mental and physical agility run on the same track.

Public health recommendations, from the Centers for Disease Control to the American College of Sports Medicine, suggest doing some form of moderate aerobic exercise for thirty minutes at least five days a week.

The body was designed to be pushed, and in pushing our bodies we push our brains too. Learning and memory evolved in concert with the motor functions that allowed our ancestors to track down food, so as far as our brains are concerned, if we're not moving, there's no real need to learn anything.

If you're not eating, not caring about your body, letting it waste away, having your mind distorted by being constantly intoxicated, you can't be a serious exerciser. You can't do it.

so as far as our brains are concerned, if we're not moving, there's no real need to learn anything.

If you can get to the point where you're consistently saying to yourself exercise is something you want to do, then you're charting a course to a different future—one that's less about surviving and more about thriving.

How do they feel about being Mr. Duncan's guinea pigs? "I guess it's OK," says Michelle. "Besides getting up early and being all sweaty and gross, I'm more awake during the day. I mean, I was cranky all the time last year." Beyond improving her mood, it will turn out, Michelle is also doing much better with her reading.