5 Ways Your Brain Benefits From Physical Exercise

Throughout the years, much research has suggested that exercise can encourage excellent physical and mental health. Even though movement is also referred to as medicine for the mind, most of us do not completely understand the ways in which the brain can benefit from exercise. The key is to have a daily exercise routine that is not too rigorous because engaging in strenuous activity can actually damage your memory circuits. Here are the five main advantages of exercising to improve your brain health at aged 50 and over. 

Improves Mood
Exercise has long been shown to improve mood by reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression. When you exercise regularly, the body increases the production of endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine. These brain chemicals are crucial to maintaining a happy mood. The absent of these brain chemicals may result in depression and anxiety, which can ultimately lead to memory problems, concentration issues, and low energy levels. One study performed by researchers at Duke University concluded that those who engaged in frequent physical activity improved their moods just as much as people who are regularly taking the prescription drug Zoloft. 

Reduces Stress

When your body produces more endorphins, you are likely to be less stress. Therefore, people who exercise often may experience less stress than sedentary individuals. Studies have indicated that regular physical activity can significantly lower cortisol levels. This stress hormone has also been linked to forgetfulness and slow/irrational thinking, so low levels of cortisol may actually improve memory as well as decrease stress. The next time that you feel overwhelmed by the day-to-day activities, simply engage in activities with movement to put your mind at ease. A few examples of great activities include yoga, dancing, walking, running, and more. 

Enhances Cognitive Function
Many researchers have found that regular exercise is essential for optimal cognitive capabilities. In order to function to your fullest potential, the brain requires certain chemicals and a constant supply of oxygen. Physical activity promotes healthy blood vessels that are able to deliver these chemicals and oxygen to the brain properly. The result is the ability to think faster, remember information, and concentrate longer. In general, exercisers of any age can enjoy these benefits of great cognitive function. 

Stimulates Brain Growth

Since the production of new brain cells tend to decrease as we age, it's important that we exercise to increase brain volume. Known as the hippocampus, this part of the brain can grow in size with frequent exercise. The hippocampus is the area of the brain where memory and learning is processed. Additionally, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor or BDNF is often produced when physical activity has improved. BDNF is responsible for the stimulation of brain cells. In fact, an increase in cardiovascular fitness will generate more brain cells that may be able to slow signs of aging by providing the brain with oxygen. 

Provides Energy

Frequent physical activity like short walks and jogs can increase the production of mitochondria. These cellular structures provide our muscles and our brains with energy. As a result, those who exercise tend to be more productive then their sedentary peers. This is especially true in the workplace where regular exercisers often have the best time management skills and great work performance. Even simple activities like washing dishes, vacuuming, and stepping up the stairs can produce more energy on a cellular level. 

Not only is exercise a great way to get in shape, build strong bones, and improve nightly sleep, your brain can also greatly benefit from the activity. Optimal brain health will drastically decrease the chances of memory problems as we age.

Can You be Addicted to Exercise?

It may seem like a strange idea, but you can get addicted to exercise. Or maybe it is not so strange when you consider expressions like "runner's high."

Most of us aren't getting enough exercise. For this reason, most messages surrounding exercise concern trying to encourage people to work out more often. But some people are actually working out too much. They are taking things so far that their lives are coming unraveled, just like with any other form of addiction.

Working out every day is not a problem per se. But if your social life is dwindling away, your career is being harmed and you are working out until it hurts you, you are probably suffering from exercise addiction. You should seek help.

If a person meets three of the following criteria, they may well have an exercise addiction.

1. They have developed a tolerance.
It takes more exercise to get the desired effect, such as an improved mood. This is called tolerance. It works much the same way as developing a tolerance for alcohol works.

2. They experience symptoms of withdrawal.
If they try to take a break from exercise, they experience withdrawal symptoms. Because exercise impact brain chemistry, this often expresses itself as anxiety, frustration or depression in the absence of exercise. 

3. Loss of control.
They may have good intentions of having a limited workout, but they can't stick to it. They just can't stop. They keep going, well past the point where it makes sense. They may plan to run for 30 minutes, but an hour or more later they are still at it.

4. It accounts for an excess of their time.
Exercise begins to eat their world. There is less and time for anything else. In fact, they may plan their entire life around exercise. They may take vacations that revolve around fitness activities. They may choose a career that involves fitness activities. 

5. They experience conflict.
Their friends or spouse may start complaining that they are unavailable because they are always at the gym. They cannot manage to make time for training to further their career because all their time is taken up with exercise.

6. They can't stop, even when it is harming them.
Exercise addicts often persist even after a doctor has told them to take a break. The first sign that there is a problem may show up after they get a repetitive stress injury. They go to a doctor who tells them to take a break from their workout so the injury can heal. But they can't. They keep going, even while the injury gets worse.

Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health, but that doesn't mean it can't get out of hand. If you are finding that exercise is eating your world, causing conflict, and you seem just incapable of stopping in spite of it hurting you, you should speak to a professional about it.

Going to Bed Early Can Help You Reach a Healthier Weight

Working out for hours on end and cutting out high-calorie foods are the most common pathways that people take to lose weight. However, there's actually a simple solution to some of your weight-loss issues. Your sleep quality also plays a huge role in whether you have a healthy or overweight appearance. In fact, an early bedtime is one of the most effective ways to lose weight on a long-term basis.

Less Time Awake
The simplest reason why an early bedtime is better for your body is basic math. If you sleep for eight hours, you're only awake for 16 hours. You'll eat a certain volume of foods during this time, and there's no temptation to eat junk food when you're fast asleep. Reduced sleep deprivation also gives you a clear mind about what to eat. Instead of grabbing that bag of chips, you might look for fruits and vegetables as a healthy alternative.

Balanced Hormones

You have two main hormones, grehlin and leptin, that regulate your food intake. Grehlin tells you when you should eat while leptin indicates that you're satisfied. When you don't sleep for the optimal eight hours, however, leptin drops in levels while grehlin surges. As a result, you feel ravenous and eat more. Your body doesn't really need these calories when it's tired, so it immediately turns the food into fat.

Improved Metabolic Rate

Your metabolic rate is the speed with which you burn calories for energy. Going to sleep early will ultimately drive that rate upward. You'll burn calories at an efficient rate, and weight loss is the result. Being sleepy only drives this rate down. You'll end up eating more with a lower metabolic rate. It's nearly guaranteed to gain weight in this case. Adding in daily exercise with an early bedtime is a great way to enhance the weight loss too.

You might be ready to go to bed at 9:30p.m., but you're still wide awake. Try to create bedtime rituals that allow your body to unwind before laying down. Turn off those electronics and read a book, for example. Less light entering your eyes will trigger natural melatonin to kick in and lull you to sleep.

Not a Morning Exerciser? You Will Be if you Follow these Tips

Many people like to plan their workouts for the evening hours – what’s wrong with a little more time to sleep before starting a busy day? However, as we all know, things tend to come up that we haven’t planned for. Happy hours, work-related issues, or maybe even a romantic date could put your workout plans on the backburner. Besides, it’s easy to become unmotivated throughout the day when the idea of Netflix and sweatpants sounds a lot better than the treadmill.

If this is something that happens to you, your only solution may be to start working out in the AM. Sounds easy, right? Not so much. It’s a lot easier to hit the snooze button and sleep in than lace up your sneakers and hit the gym. So, how do people reset their bodies and get up for 5am workouts? Here are some lifestyle changes to consider to help you become a new morning person. Early bird gets the worm!

Eat Healthy Dinners

According to Noah Neiman, master trainer at Barry’s Bootcamp in New York City, the meal you eat the evening before a morning workout will affect how you feel. Heavy, rich meals will make you feel sluggish and unmotivated, while lean proteins, vegetables and healthy fats will make you feel energized. Leslie Bonci, RD, founder of Active Eating Advice and the director of sports nutrition at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, recommended that meals are eaten 90 minutes prior to going to bed. This allows your stomach to digest the food before hitting the hay. Bonci also recommended snacking on melatonin-rich roods before bedtime (try walnuts or cherries). Melatonin is linked to helping people fall asleep faster.

Go to Bed Earlier

Experts recommend 7 to 8 hours of sleep, so naturally it’s easier to wake up if this amount is met. Joe Holder, Nike+ trainer and Nike Run coach, explained that the body has an internal circadian rhythm that you should try not to interrupt. Limit screen time before turning in. The blue light is linked to affecting the ability to fall asleep.

Give Yourself Some Motivation

If you’ve got a new playlist you’re looking forward to listening to, you’ll be more excited to wake up in the morning hours. Self-motivation is the strongest form of motivation, according to Neiman. The body will adapt to your new workout times and respond to the stimulus you present it.

Find a Workout Buddy

Make plans to meet a friend at the gym to hold you accountable – you’ll be far less likely to bail if someone is waiting for you!

Prepare

Set out your gym clothes the night before, and make a pre-exercise snack that you can grab. Set up your coffee pot to start brewing, so once you’re up, everything is easy for you.

Intense Exercise Can Help Keep Muscles Young as We Age

A Canadian study suggests "high level" exercise helps keep people's muscles young as they age. The secret to keeping muscles young as the cellular level could be just down the street at your neighborhood gym.

Even non-athletes can benefit from working out on a regular basis; exercise is without a doubt important to maintaining functional performance.

Staying active throughout your life, even when you are older, can help reduce muscle loss. The researchers explained that as people age, they lose strength and muscle mass. This process gets quicker after people turn 60 years old.

In the study, researchers found muscle decline was slower in older adults who were elite athletes. They compared the muscles of 80 year olds who had been world-class track and field athletes with other 80 year olds who were not athletes.

The athletes' legs were about 25 percent stronger with 14 percent more muscle mass. Moreover, they elderly athletes has nearly 30 percent more nerve and muscle fibers in their leg muscles. This means greater strength and muscle mass, according to a news release about the study.

It is critical to find ways to intervene and delay potential loss of motor units. The ability to move easily and independently as you age is of the upmost importance. Physical ability helps prevent falls, fractures, and other potentially life-threatening challenges. In addition, it helps keep quality of life high by allowing people to maintain their independence.

More research should be conducted to figure out how big a factor genetics is in this equation. Is the higher muscle mass found in former elite athletes a result of genes, training, or both?

The study was published in the Journal of Applied Physiology.

• Easy strength training exercises include:
•  Knee extensions while sitting in a chair
• Partial or full squats, in the air or against a wall
• Half or full wall sits
• Bicep curls, with or without weight
• Tricep extensions, with or without weight
• Overhead press, with or without weight

The Importance of Cardio

We've all heard the phrase "cardio is king." Recently, researchers seem to be making an argument that strength training offers greater health and fitness gains than steady-state cardio workouts.

One study showed that a 20-minute interval strength-training workout burned 15 calories per minute, on average. Compared to a long run, that's almost twice the calories. And in a Harvard 2015 obesity study, researchers found that men who strength trained gained less belly fat than those who spent the same time doing cardio workouts over the course of 12 years.

This is because strength training workouts build muscle during your workout but continue to burn calories after leaving the gym and continuing to strengthen your heart. Steady-state cardio work burns calories from both fat and muscle. 

Lifting weight is without a question incredibly important for overall health. If you can do only one thing, then lift.

You Still Need Cardio

Cardio workouts, including swimming, cycling, or running, make your heart and lungs work harder and faster than strength training, which forces them to become stronger and more efficient than if you did only strength training.

Cardiovascular exercise is definitely the most important kind of exercise for cardiometabolic health.

Moreover, performing both cardio and strength workouts offers the most benefits for weight loss. You'll get a major calorie burn from cardio and improve your metabolic rate from strength training.

If you consider the treadmill more of a dreadmill, rest assured cardio workouts will benefit your strength training, too. A stronger heart and lungs will help ensure better gains in muscle and strength. Cardio will increase your capillary and mitochondrial density, or your body's ability to better fuel your muscles. 

Following every strength workout, your lungs, heart, and vasculature (all of which are strengthened through cardio workouts) help your body recover, replenishing energy levels and delivering amino acids, oxygen, and nutrients to your muscles to promote healing and build strength.

Finding the Right Balance between Strength and Cardio

It's ideal to get some cardio daily, even if it's just a 15-minute walk. Just move. It doesn't have to be a marathon or even two miles. Just be sure to move every day. Above that, your fitness goals will help determine how much cardio and weight training you need. If you're a runner, be sure to strength train to avoid injury. If you prefer strength training and just want to run to the squat rack and no more, simply work for that 10 minutes of cardio a day. Consider it your warm-up (or cool down) from your weight training. 

Pelvic Floor Exercises Reduce Incontinence Episodes

According to a clinical trial in Canada, muscle training for the pelvic floor can reduce incontinence problems significantly.

Many women who have osteoporosis also struggle with leakage due to the fractures in their lumbar spine. These fractures cause slumping, which puts added pressure on the pelvic floor.

The study was published in the online version of Menopause: The Journal of the North American Menopause Society.

Forty-six women who had passed menopause and who had low bone density, as well as occasional incontinence, were able to reduce incontinence episodes by 75 percent by completing physical therapy sessions once weekly for 12 weeks.

The comparison group, who did not complete any physical therapy, did not improve.

After a year, the group who had undergone physical therapy had maintained the improvements, while the comparison group had actually worsened in incontinence.

The findings stress the importance of exercise in treating osteoporosis and that, even though exercise can cause an incontinence episode in women with osteoporosis, the physical therapy regimen can improve this situation.

The regimen used in the trial included a one-our session that comprised pelvic floor muscle training. After the first week, sessions lasted 30 minutes.

Pelvic floor muscle training is widely prescribed for women who struggle with incontinence; this was the first study to examine its effects on older women who have both incontinence and osteoporosis.

The bottom line is that pelvic floor exercises are important to preventing the fractures that eventually lead to incontinence. Thus these exercises are important regardless of whether you struggle with incontinence.