Although the Brain is not technically a muscle, it still needs a work out physically and mentally with a good dose of sleep every day to help it restore. It is an incredible organ when you start thinking about it, we probably take this super computer for granted everyday. Just think about all the processes it performs.......
Physical exercise
Weight/resistance training – good for improving the elasticity in our muscles which improves the blood flow around the body and the brain. As we grow older this elasticity reduces making our cardio vascular system work harder. Weight/resistance training 2/3 times a week has also been so far shown to offset the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. In a recent study of rats it was proven that resistance training helped to improve their cognitive memories, even when they were clinically disadvantaged,
Cardio – good for overall fitness even helps to release endorphins and generally helps to create new neurons and reduce inflammation.
Yoga – good for relieving stress. A recent study showed, with the aid of brain scans, that with regular practise the “amygdala” reduced in size. This part of the brain is involved in processing stress, fear and anxiety.
Mental exercises
Good to play games with your brain such as Sudoko, Chess etc
Try new things, its good for the brain to learn new things and experiences, test yourself.
Languages are often listed as good for the brain and can lead to new cultural events.
Sleep
It's very important to get at least 7 to 8 hours sleep every night.
While we sleep our brain processes all of our memories and helps to puts them into storage by making connections as well as getting vital rest.
Sleep is so understated, we have so many bright night time distractions preventing the body to fall asleep naturally. We have a natural body clock the Circadian rhythm that we seem to want to fight against every day.
Summary
If feels that nature is confirming we were born to hunt, by having a mixture of physical and mental activities and then plenty of sleep. Although, we try to resist with modern life, the old saying and active body is an active mind rings true. If you can try and find a nice balance between exercise (physical & mental) along with sleep that should bring some healthy benefits into later years.
Brett’s view:
With both the weather and lockdown creating the perfect excuse to stay inside. I have tried to complete a mind game or two, sadly the win/loss still favours the games !!
David View:
I made it my 2020 New Years resolution to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep every night, and feel better for it. I try to do weight training 3 times a week after hearing a discussion between 2 doctors on how our muscles start to degenerate after 40. Hopefully this will assist my cognitive retention as my father had dementia, For the past several years, mainly for this reason, I have been learning French on Duolingo as well as I believe languages are a good memory work out.