EXERCISE FOR YOUR BRAIN

Think exercise is all about toned abs and weight loss? It also makes you happier and smarter

Maybe you exercise to tone your thighs, build your biceps, or flatten your belly. Or maybe you work out to ward off the big killers like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. But how about sweating to improve your mind? "Exercise is the single best thing you can do for your brain in terms of mood, memory, and learning," says Harvard Medical School psychiatrist John Ratey, author of the book, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. "Even 10 minutes of activity changes your brain." If you need a little extra incentive to lace up those sneakers, here are five ways that exercise can enhance your brainpower:

1. It reverses the detrimental effects of stress

By boosting levels of "soothing" brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. What's fascinating, though, is that exercise may actually work on a cellular level to reverse stress's toll on our aging process - cells of exercising women showed fewer signs of aging compared to women who were stressed and not active. Working out also helps keep us from ruminating by altering blood flow to those areas in the brain involved in triggering us to relive these stressful thoughts again and again.

2. It lifts depression

Sustained, sweat-inducing activity can reduce symptoms of depression about as effectively as antidepressants. That may be because exercise has been found to stimulate the growth of neurons in certain brain regions damaged during depression. What's more, animal studies have found that getting active boosts the production of brain molecules that improve connections between nerve cells, thereby acting as a natural antidepressant.

3. It improves learning

Exercise increases the level of brain chemicals called growth factors that help make new brain cells and establish new connections between brain cells to help us learn. Interestingly, complicated activities, like playing tennis or taking a dance class, provide the biggest brain boost because you challenge your brain even more when you have to think about coordination. Complicated activities also improve our capacity to learn by enhancing our attention and concentration skills.

4. It builds self-esteem and improves body image

You don't need to radically change your body shape to get a confidence surge from exercise. Simply seeing fitness improvements, like running a faster mile or lifting more weight than before, can improve your self-esteem and body image.

5. It leaves you feeling euphoric

Yes, that "runner's high" really does exist if you're willing to shift into high-intensity mode. Sprint bursts through interval training work best. Run, bike, or swim as fast as you can for 30 to 40 seconds and then reduce your speed to a gentle pace for five minutes before sprinting again. Repeat four times for a total of five sprints.

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