Cognitive & Emotional Fitness
If you’ve ever had a really good workout, you know the emotional feeling you get during and afterword…okay, it’s a particularly intense workout, most likely afterword! There’s a reason for this. Physical activity has a biological impact on our brain. And like it or not, our brain, not our heart, drives our emotional state. Along with positive impacts on our emotions, physical activity can also have a positive impact on our cognitive state as well. As we age, our brain ages too. This creates a natural process of cognitive decline, most notably in memory.
According to a report published the reasons for positive cognitive effects can include:
- Exercise has clear effects on cardiovascular fitness, and many recent studies have provided converging evidence that there is an association between cardiovascular fitness and mental fitness – “what’s good the heart is good for the brain”.
- Exercise helps control blood sugar levels, and a recent study has found that those with impaired glucose tolerance tend to have a smaller hippocampus
- Exercise may increase the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the brain
- Exercise may increase self-confidence, and may reduce anxiety and depression
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