The Aristocracy of Cardio: "More than a gut buster
It can make you smarter in 30 minutes. Not the kind of smart that's acquired through learning something new, like small-engine repair or quadratic equations. I'm talking about improving your brain from the inside out, the kind of smart that leads to faster and more accurate decision making, yields greater productivity, and inspires innovation. If you want to be calculating about it, it's the kind of smart that makes you money. And all you'll need to invest is a half hour, three or four hundred calories, and 80 bucks for a decent pair of running shoes.
For years, aerobic exercise has been touted for its many health benefits; it's no leap to suggest that it can reduce your risk of nearly every known disease. And this is especially true concerning heart health. But the effect of cardio reaches far beyond lipid profiles and blood-pressure readings. In fact, it may do as much for your brain as it does for your ticker; maybe more.
[...]
There have been thousands of studies on how aerobic exercise affects cardiovascular health, but there are equally powerful ones that assess its impact on mental performance. Of course, intuitively, one could argue that cardio is just mentally arousing, like a Starbucks double latte. Exercise, after all, raises your heart rate and increases the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout your body, including your brain. This is a partial explanation, but the whole picture is more complicated.
One of the first studies to find that exercise improves brain performance was a 1986 investigation of 30 women at Purdue University. During the study, the women boosted their fitness levels by 17 percent and simultaneously netted a 12 to 68 percent improvement in their ability to process information and make sound decisions. This suggested, for the first time in a laboratory setting, that exercise improves high-level cognitive function. The women in the study weren't simply more alert; they were, in effect, better thinkers.
In 1991, a Kent State researcher named Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko proposed that the more complex the mental task, the more beneficial the effect of aerobic exercise. Over the next few years, his theory gained currency, and a name was given to the thought process he described: Appropriately enough, it became known as executive control.
Twelve years later, scientists demonstrated the effect of a single session of exercise on these higher mental processes.
[...]
The results of the electroencephalograph may explain the difference in brain activity. The data showed that the single 30-minute bout of cardio had two major effects on an electrical system of the brain called P3. First, the exercise session "decreased P3 latency," which means subjects were able to process information faster. Second, Hillman found that the cardio session "increased P3 amplitude," a measurement of brain activity related to memory and focus. So their aerobic exercise helped them concentrate better and recall information faster.
A follow-up study in 2004 yielded similar results, although this time, Hillman used both younger and older adults. The study found that 60- to 70-year-olds have worse memory and attention spans than 20-year-olds and are slower at processing information. No surprise there. But, just as in the earlier research, older adults who regularly exercised showed faster reaction times and better accuracy than the sedentary seniors.
So, if you're keeping score, hard science shows that running for 30 minutes three times a week leads to an improvement in decision-making proficiency, better memory, a longer attention span, and greater mental longevity. Yet it's arguable that data collected in milliseconds with a sci-fi skullcap don't necessarily manifest themselves in the real-world mental tasks you perform at your job.
[...]
There is more lab-based support for the notion that more cardio in your life means more success in the office. In June of this year, researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University, in the United Kingdom, released findings of a new study that looked at how exercise affects job performance. It worked like this: They asked 210 workers to provide feedback on their job-related duties and time management, on a day when they participated in an exercise program and again on a day when they did no exercise. They simply reported observations of their own behavior based on a 7-point scale. For example, they were asked to rate their ability to work without stopping for unscheduled breaks, and how effectively they were able to stick to their "to-do" lists. They also provided details about their workloads and exercise sessions. When the results were tallied, even the researchers were surprised.
Workers scored 15 percent higher in their ability to meet both time and output demands on the day they exercised. "What we found staggered us, and we were left wondering what companies might do otherwise to produce these 15 percent improvements," says Jim McKenna, Ph.D., the lead researcher."
It can make you smarter in 30 minutes. Not the kind of smart that's acquired through learning something new, like small-engine repair or quadratic equations. I'm talking about improving your brain from the inside out, the kind of smart that leads to faster and more accurate decision making, yields greater productivity, and inspires innovation. If you want to be calculating about it, it's the kind of smart that makes you money. And all you'll need to invest is a half hour, three or four hundred calories, and 80 bucks for a decent pair of running shoes.
For years, aerobic exercise has been touted for its many health benefits; it's no leap to suggest that it can reduce your risk of nearly every known disease. And this is especially true concerning heart health. But the effect of cardio reaches far beyond lipid profiles and blood-pressure readings. In fact, it may do as much for your brain as it does for your ticker; maybe more.
[...]
There have been thousands of studies on how aerobic exercise affects cardiovascular health, but there are equally powerful ones that assess its impact on mental performance. Of course, intuitively, one could argue that cardio is just mentally arousing, like a Starbucks double latte. Exercise, after all, raises your heart rate and increases the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout your body, including your brain. This is a partial explanation, but the whole picture is more complicated.
One of the first studies to find that exercise improves brain performance was a 1986 investigation of 30 women at Purdue University. During the study, the women boosted their fitness levels by 17 percent and simultaneously netted a 12 to 68 percent improvement in their ability to process information and make sound decisions. This suggested, for the first time in a laboratory setting, that exercise improves high-level cognitive function. The women in the study weren't simply more alert; they were, in effect, better thinkers.
In 1991, a Kent State researcher named Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko proposed that the more complex the mental task, the more beneficial the effect of aerobic exercise. Over the next few years, his theory gained currency, and a name was given to the thought process he described: Appropriately enough, it became known as executive control.
Twelve years later, scientists demonstrated the effect of a single session of exercise on these higher mental processes.
[...]
The results of the electroencephalograph may explain the difference in brain activity. The data showed that the single 30-minute bout of cardio had two major effects on an electrical system of the brain called P3. First, the exercise session "decreased P3 latency," which means subjects were able to process information faster. Second, Hillman found that the cardio session "increased P3 amplitude," a measurement of brain activity related to memory and focus. So their aerobic exercise helped them concentrate better and recall information faster.
A follow-up study in 2004 yielded similar results, although this time, Hillman used both younger and older adults. The study found that 60- to 70-year-olds have worse memory and attention spans than 20-year-olds and are slower at processing information. No surprise there. But, just as in the earlier research, older adults who regularly exercised showed faster reaction times and better accuracy than the sedentary seniors.
So, if you're keeping score, hard science shows that running for 30 minutes three times a week leads to an improvement in decision-making proficiency, better memory, a longer attention span, and greater mental longevity. Yet it's arguable that data collected in milliseconds with a sci-fi skullcap don't necessarily manifest themselves in the real-world mental tasks you perform at your job.
[...]
There is more lab-based support for the notion that more cardio in your life means more success in the office. In June of this year, researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University, in the United Kingdom, released findings of a new study that looked at how exercise affects job performance. It worked like this: They asked 210 workers to provide feedback on their job-related duties and time management, on a day when they participated in an exercise program and again on a day when they did no exercise. They simply reported observations of their own behavior based on a 7-point scale. For example, they were asked to rate their ability to work without stopping for unscheduled breaks, and how effectively they were able to stick to their "to-do" lists. They also provided details about their workloads and exercise sessions. When the results were tallied, even the researchers were surprised.
Workers scored 15 percent higher in their ability to meet both time and output demands on the day they exercised. "What we found staggered us, and we were left wondering what companies might do otherwise to produce these 15 percent improvements," says Jim McKenna, Ph.D., the lead researcher."
Comments