Different Exercise For Different Brain Skills

Want to improve your memory? Try resistance training. Want better overall brain function? Go aerobic. Different exercises appear to improve different brain skills, and yes, all exercise is good for our brains. That’s the conclusion of a meta study at the University of Canberra that combined data from 39 studies of the influence of exercise on the brains of people over the age of 50. HealthDay reports that the review included 18 studies that looked at the impact of aerobic exercise — such as walking, running and swimming — on thinking, alertness, information processing, executing goals and memory skills. Thirteen studies looked at resistance training, 10 studies looked at various types of exercise done in combination, and few more looked at the impact of tai chi and yoga on brain health. The bottom line: it’s all good, and the best thing, unsurprisingly, is a combination of resistance and aerobic training. The researchers found that the biggest brain boost resulted from moderate to vigorous intensity and conducted as often as possible for between 45 minutes to an hour.