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Why Exercise is a 'Must'
“The body achieves what the mind believes.”
– Napoleon Hill
A Free Prescription to Change your Life
What if I told you that there was something you could do right now that could have an immediate and positive benefit for your brain, and could improve your mood and focus.
What if I said this same thing will last a long time and could protect your brain from Depression, Alzheimer's, and Dementia.
Would you do it? Obviously you would, unless I was telling you to eat some magic mushrooms or something weird.
All those benefits are the results of physical activity, which has both short-term and long-term effects.
Yes, our newsletter is about personal development, but we’re also about showing you why these methods work so you can understand your body and mind even better. With that being said, we're going to break down the intricacies of exercise on the brain.
Exercise is the most transformative action that you can do for your brain
Short-Term Effects
A single workout immediately increase levels of neurotransmitters in the brain like dopamine, serotonin, and noradrenaline.
A single workout can improve ability to shift and focus attention that lasts for at least two hours.
A single workout will improve your reaction times.
These immediate effects are just transient.
For consistent workouts, exercise actually changes the brain’s anatomy, physiology, and function.
Long-Term Effects
For the portion of the brain called the hippocampus, exercise actually produces brand new brain cells that increase its volume and improve your long term memory.
The most common findings in neuroscience studies of long term exercise is improved attention function dependent on your prefrontal cortex.
You not only get immediate effects of mood with exercise, but you get long lasting increases with those good mood neurotransmitters
The most transformative effect of exercise - It's the protective shield it puts around your brain. Picture your brain as a muscle – the more you work it out, the beefier and sturdier your hippocampus and prefrontal cortex become.
These areas are like the superheroes, warding off neurodegenerative diseases and the regular fade-out in cognitive abilities as we age.
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Exercise for your Personal Development
Personally, as someone who is an athlete and exercises on a daily basis, I have a hard time getting my work done when I don't work out. That feeling is a privilege.
On days where I don’t get a workout in, I feel clustered, anxious, and I usually have a tough time focusing. That’s one day, so imagine how people who don’t exercise at all feel all the time.
For those of you that don’t exercise, I’m not asking you to compete in a triathlon.
Rule of thumb is you want to workout 3-4x/week - a minimum 30 minutes each session and the key part is getting aerobic exercise - get your heart rate up.
Add an extra walk around the block, take the stairs, go on a little uphill hike.
Your body and mind will thank you
The Assignment
For this week, I ask you all to do some form of exercise, then journal your mindset directly after.
And if possible, do some work within two hours after your workout and monitor your production level.
Reply to me with a 👍️if you’ll be participating in this assignment and if comfortable, don’t be afraid to send me your progress during the week!
- The Perspective
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