Ditching exercise hurts your brain the most

In the summer, it’s easy to stay on top of your exercise routine. The weather’s nice and you feel like going out for a run, walk or bike ride.

But once the weather gets cool, it’s tempting to settle into the couch for the season. You may even convince yourself that it’s natural to be sedentary in the cooler months… like a bear going into hibernation.

But here’s the thing: Falling off the exercise wagon for even a short time can spell disaster for your health. In fact, according to the latest research, it only takes ten days of no exercise before your body starts to suffer.

Now, it’s no secret that your cardiovascular endurance goes down the tubes quickly when you’re not exercising. That’s something researchers have known for a while. It’s also something you can observe yourself firsthand (just try going for a run after taking a week or two off).

But avoiding exercise quickly wreaks havoc on another less obvious but equally important part of your body too: your brain.

Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Public Health found that healthy adults between the ages of 50 and 80 who stopped exercising for 10 days experienced a significant decrease in blood flow to their brains.

And the decreased blood flow didn’t happen in just any part of the brain… it happened in the hippocampus, the part of your brain responsible for memory and learning. The hippocampus is also one of the first parts of your brain to begin shrinking when you get Alzheimer’s. So it’s like the canary in the coal mine of your cognitive health.

Peak PS^™

It’s a mouthful, but Phosphatidylserine, or PS for short, is a nootropic that promotes brain health, memory, clarity, reasoning and comprehension. This nutrient is a key building block for the cells in your brain, that scientific literature has shown can… MORE⟩⟩

⟨www.PeakNatural.com⟩

«SPONSORED»

A lack of exercise also impacted study participants’ “default mode network” — a neural network that’s like the brain’s version of autopilot. Unless you’re doing something mentally demanding, your brain is using this default mode network to operate. And it’s another part of your brain that deteriorates quickly when you have Alzheimer’s.

Now, it’s no news that there’s a connection between exercise and Alzheimer’s. That’s been scientifically proven before. But this study shows how quickly these brain changes begin to take place.

Of course, study participants didn’t show any symptoms of dementia in the short 10-day time period. But their brains were measurably different… and not in a good way.

“We know that if you are less physically active, you are more likely to have cognitive problems and dementia as you age,” said lead author of the study Dr. J. Carson Smith. “We did not find any evidence that cognitive abilities worsened after stopping exercising for just 10 days. But the take home message is simple — if you do stop exercising for 10 days, just as you will quickly lose your cardiovascular fitness, you will also experience a decrease in blood brain flow.”

Another important point to note about this study is that these brain changes happened in really healthy older adults. These study participants were “master athletes” who participate in high-endurance exercise and run an average of 36-miles per week.  So just imagine what 10 days of not exercising can do to the average Joe whose body’s not in tip-top shape…

It’s probably not a pretty picture. That’s why you need to stick to your exercise routine like your life depends on it. Make sure you get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Research found that was enough to significantly improve your memory in as little as 12 weeks.

Sources:

1. J. Alfini, J. Carson Smith, et al. “Hippocampal and Cerebral Blood Flow after Exercise Cessation in Master Athletes.” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2016; 8.

2. “Here’s How Much You Need to Exercise to Prevent Alzheimer’s.” Prevention. http://www.prevention.com. Retrieved August 30, 016.