Women Over Fifty—Work Out and Feel Great
A note to senior couch spuds–get active! Movement is good for your brain. Increased blood flow, resulting from aerobic activity, brings greater amounts of nutrients and oxygen that feed brain tissue. Aerobic exercise has been shown to significantly enhance cognitive skills in areas such as scheduling, planning, and task coordination. Vigorous movement raises levels of a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This chemical is instrumental in developing new capillaries in the brain as well as boosting the number of connections between neurons. It is also believed that BDNF protects nerve cells from free radical damage and can lead to the construction of new neurons.
Working out gives us plenty of additional brain benefits as activity leads to improved mood and emotional outlook. Thirty minutes of moderately vigorous exercise will boost the release of endorphins during the workout and continue to elevate mood throughout the day. The deep limbic system, the brain’s center for many of our emotions, is rife with endorphin receptors and these become very happy campers when they are well nourished with adequate exercise. Similarly, exercise enhances the brain’s ability to take in tryptophan, the precursor to serotonin, which is the feel good chemical.
So there’s no way around it: get off the couch and get your blood circulating. You’ll feel all the happier for it and much smarter too!
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October 4th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I agree wholeheartedly!
The days I work out I am much better able to handle the day’s stresses.
September 30th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Absolutely–I am on board with you. It is my belief that too many people die too early because they do not get out and stay active.
Instead, they say they are too old for all that foolishness and sit around waiting to die and content to complain about their aches and their bowels.
Not me!! I want to drink every drop out of life before the reaper comes and drags me off kicking and sreaming.