How exercise can boost your performance at work

How exercise can boost yur performance at workWere all familiar with the obvious benefits of exerciseregular physical activity can keep us looking and feeling fit and healthy, increase our energy levels and confidence, and help us maintain high levels of self-esteem. Staying active can also help us fight off a wealth of potentially life-threatening illnesses, including strokes, diabetes, and heart disease. Whats more, conquering the often overwhelming exercise obstacle and overcoming excuses, apathy, and laziness can remind us that were capable of bravely facing any challenge that life throws our way. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) In contrast, avoiding exercise and all forms of physical activity like the plague can have the reverse effect. Embracing laziness and inactivity can leave us feeling unhealthy and unfit, send our confidence and energy levels plummeting to the basement, and eat away at our self-esteem. Letting the exercise obs tacle win the day will surely not inspire and motivate you to set and go after major life goals.It may seem clear by now that exercising on a regular basis is in your best interest. However, if youre leise not sold, perhaps this will help seal the dealnot only does exercise help fuel and maintain a healthy body, it can actually improve your ability to think and retain information. Its trueyour mind and body are interconnected in amazing ways, and nurturing one will benefit the other.According to a recent article in The New York Times, many scientists suspect that exercise alters the biology of the brain in ways that make it more malleable and receptive to new information, a process that scientists refer to as plasticity, and that many past studies have shown that exercise prompts the release of multiple neurochemicals in the brain that increase the number of new brain cells and the connections between neuronsansicht effects improve the brains plasticity and augment the ability to le arn.What exercise doesAlthough research regarding how exercise and brainpower work together is continual and ongoing, recent studies have shown the following exciting cognitive benefits.Boosts brainpower If youre looking to take your brains ability to the next level, you cant do much better than regular exercise. Studies have shown that exercise can actually increase the volume of key areas in your brainhows that for a real boost?Enhances thinking ability Regular workouts will help kick away the dreaded brain fog that keeps you from thinking clearly and keep your mind and thoughts razor sharp all day long.Helps you process and remember new information more effectively If youre trying to acquire a new skill or task, like learning a new language or tackling a new job responsibility, combining it with regular exercise can be an unbeatable combo. New research suggests that physical activity can increase the size of the medial temporal and prefrontal cortex of your brain, key areas that regulate and control thinking and memoryso youll be able to master that new skill faster than ever before.Improves ability on cognitive tasks Do you have an important test for work or school coming up? Or maybe you just want to perform better on puzzles and board games? Whatever your mental goals are, you better believe that exercise will help you succeed on all sorts of cognitive tasks that test your intelligence and brainpower.Keeps away the negatives Yes, its trueregular exercise will help keep your mood positive and upbeat, help you achieve more restful sleep at night, and help reduce anxiety and stressall things that can help your brain work at its absolute best.When, what, and how much?Sonow that you know it does work, lets explore how you can make it work for you.This includes the when, what, and how much regarding exercise and brainpower.Although theres some debate regarding the type of exercise that best serves to promote brain function, according to a recent article by Har vard Medical School, researchers found that regular aerobic exercise, the kind that gets your heart and your sweat glands pumping, appears to boost the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning. Resistance training, balance and muscle toning exercises did not have the same results.Research also suggests that although youll receive a brain benefit regardless of when you decide to exercise, the most promising results typically occur when you do your workout before or even during a cognitive task. This suggests that we all might learn best while were being active, and it may have interesting consequences on how our institutions of learning are set up. Perhaps classes on treadmills or exercise bikes arent too far off in the future?Another big question you might be wondering about is how much exercise you should do in order to receive a cognitive benefit. The same Harvard Medical School report suggests that standard recommendations advise half an hour of moderate physical activity most days of the week, or 150 minutes a week.So how can you incorporate exercise into your life? If youre worried that youre simply too busy to exercise or find the very idea of exercise daunting, a great way to take a step forward towards a regular active lifestyle is to start small. Try taking a brief yet brisk walk for 1015 minutes each day, and gradually increase your workout in both length and intensity as time passes.Listen to your body, it will tell you when youre ready to take on more and bigger physical challenges. Remember, every journeyno matter how long or arduousstarts with a single step, and the best way to go nowhere is to stand still and do nothing.Now that you know all about the many benefits, both physical and mental, that exercise will bring to your life, put the excuses aside and get up and get moving towards your successful future