What's Good For Your Heart, Is Good For Your Brain
Physical activity is one of those things that many of us know we should be doing more of! Did you know that regular physical activity is associated with lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia as we get older? The ISLAND Project wants to make all Tasmanians aware of how they can reduce their personal risk of dementia. Taking more exercise is one such way. We know there are wide ranging benefits of engaging in regular physical activity including maintaining a healthy weight, improving your sleep and managing cholesterol and blood pressure. It is now clear that regular physical activity also directly benefits brain health. Research now tells us that people who are physically active throughout their lifetime have a lower risk of developing cognitive decline as they get older. Interestingly, it seems that the evidence points towards not every type of cognitive performance benefiting in the same way. Results show that exercise is especially beneficial for frontal lobe functions and processing speed. Whereas for memory, the findings are much more diverse and controversial. The type of exercise is also important, and a combination of aerobic exercise and strength training is thought to be of most benefit for our brains. Aerobic exercise has to be intense enough to increase our heartbeat and breathing rate in order to be of benefit. We don’t yet know the right amount of exercise that benefits out brains but at least 150 minutes per week is recommended. Trying to do 30 minutes of exercise every day of the week is perhaps a good way to think about that. Strength training is also known to be beneficial. This is training where you might use weights to strengthen your muscles but it also benefits our brains. We’re not yet seeing the same level of benefit for exercise that helps balance or relaxation such as yoga. However there are other benefits of this type of exercise such as reducing risk of falls and improving balance. Organised physical activity groups in your community may have suspended during this time of social-distancing to combat the spread of COVID-19. But there are many ways to be active in your own home. Click on these links and watch these videos to get some ideas: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSilverSneakers/videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz0go1pTda8 It’s never too late to start exercising. Just get moving to reduce your risk of dementia, have fun and start to see some benefits for your health, including your brain. Check out the infographic here for a summary of latest evidence relating to exercise and lets all start moving a little bit more today than we did yesterday!
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