Hello Rockstar Nation!
Welcome to another wonderful month of health, wellness, and the best drug prescribed to the world to date…Fitness! 🙂
Today we jump into one simple thing we can do each day. A simple new habit that can re-awaken our brains, gain back energy lost from sitting in your next meeting, or waiting for another court case to be called before the judge.
*Standing
*Walking
*5 minutes
March is the start of spring and just like nature, building a new habit takes time. 1 day at a time.
Research shows that exercise significantly improves brain plasticity, which is the ability of our brain to change its structure and cognitive function [1].
What does that mean in real time, and in the keep it simple rule I love so much?
When we exercise, the brain receives more blood flow to support cognitive abilities such as memory and increased learning.
So YAY for fitness and getting some sweat flowing, right?!
The next question you probably have already thought of was, what about when I am sitting staring at the computer screen for a 2-hour meeting or class at school?
Not to worry Headliners and Rockstars I have got you!
Researchers from MIT looked at fatigue control during mentally demanding tasks and found that using brief, 6–7 min physical activity breaks, led to decreases in fatigue and increases in vigor, work engagement and productivity for at least 20 minutes following the break and presumably longer [2].
Rockstar Nation we can take advantage of this really important and cool science too.
Every 1-1.5 hours stand up, walk around your house for 5 minutes.
Want more!?! Take advantage of a nice sunny day and walk your local neighborhood block, or do 10 push-ups and 10 split squats. The key is to change the environment and get your heart rate elevated a little to let the fact we learned earlier help, blood flow to the brain!
Keep it Simple. Keep it Fun Rockstars Nations!
-Jake Cheney
Rockstar Fitness, LLC.
References:
[1] JJ, Loehr JE. The positive impact of physical activity on cognition during adulthood: a review of underlying mechanisms, evidence and recommendations. Rev Neurosci (2011) 22:171–85. doi:10.1515/RNS.2011.017
[2] Blasche, Gerhard et al. “Comparison of rest-break interventions during a mentally demanding task.” Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress vol. 34,5 (2018): 629-638. doi:10.1002/smi.2830
Dan McGinley, Using Exercise to Improve Learning-
2021