The Best Exercise plan for brain health, according to a neuroscientist
This workout plan will boost your brain health and reduce your dementia risk!
Check your status, check your progress!
How much risk reduction? – View this video!
How will you know if your exercise program is improving your brain function? – View and do this test!
The following is summarised with slight additions and modifications from
An article by:
Julie Floyd Jones
Published on January 31, 2022 and
reviewed by Dietitian:
Victoria Seaver, M.S., RD
from advisory information compiled by:
Ebony Glover, Ph.D
Contents
How Exercises Improve Brain Health
Variety and Consistency is Key.
How Much Exercise Do You Need to Improve Brain Health?
An Exercise Plan for Brain Health
Summary of advice
How Exercises improve Brain Health
An estimated 40% of people ages 65 and older experience some degree of age-related cognitive decline. Research overwhelmingly shows that exercise is one of the most important daily habits to prevent cognitive decline.
Exercise works in two ways:-
Protects the brain
Enhances neurogenesis (whereby new neurons are formed in the brain) via the production of neurotrophins.
Neurotrophins are proteins that act as growth factors within our nervous system and are critical for the development and maintenance of new brain cells.
Variety and Consistency is Key.
A 2017 research review found that both aerobic exercise and resistance training were important. Aerobic exercise was shown to improve cognitive ability (acquiring knowledge and understanding), while resistance training was effective at enhancing executive function, (high level executive function helps you efficiently make decisions and get stuff done – a large part of executive function is the ability to stay calm no matter what). Also,
Any type of physical activity that promotes balance, coordination, agility and flexibility would be beneficial, especially when done consistently over time," says neuroscientist Ebone Glover.
Consistency over six to 12 months is key!
How Much Exercise Do You Need to Improve Brain Health?
To achieve the cognitive benefits of exercise, you need to get a good mix of the right exercises, to make up the following weekly quotas:
150 minutes of low to moderate aerobic exercise per week (ref: The American College of Sports Medicine)
One hour of resistance exercise
20 to 40 minutes of heavy breathing exercise at a rate that is sustainable week by week for you (not more.
Rates of Perceived Exertion (RPE) is provide us with useful guidlines. RPE is on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest intensity. The rates of perceived exertion should be low (2-4) for item 1 above, a little higher for item 2 (3-7), and higher again for item 3 (5-9).
An Exercise Plan for Brain Health
This is a weekly template (sit down and modify it for your own use):
Two or more sessions of walking/jogging/swimming/gardening (2- 14 hours at RPE 1 to 3 – it’s hard to overdo gentle exercise)
Two to three sessions of resistance training (not more than one hour, it could be weights at the gym, Pilates, or an at-home workout)
Two sessions of moderate to high-intensity cardiovascular exercise (10 to 30 minutes each, one at 4-7 intensity and one at 7-9 intensity - do not exceed one hour).
Relaxed breathing exercises, and self-massage (60 to 180 minutes). A little every day, plus a therapeutic massage, plus a relaxing group exercise class such as yoga, wo0uld make a good mix.
Suggestion 1:
Take the above template and sit down with a sporty friend, sports club member, or fitness coach and use it to develop and write out your own plan. Make sure it is something you can do. Repeat every month
Suggestion 2:
The social aspect of exercise adds to the brain benefits. Time with your dog, your team, or your sports club friends, prevents social isolation and boosts your confidence and happiness, and is good for your brain.
Suggestion 3:
Track your brain health improvement with an online cognitive test.
Summary advice
Make exercise for your brain a daily habit
Keep going for 6 to 12 months
Track your brain health progress
Make it fun so you’ll never want to stop!