The way to make your brain smarter is...
Did you know? Nutrition and sleep fuel and repair your brain, keeping it sharp — but the power of exercise to enhance your brain is even more astonishing! Among all organs, the brain — weighing just about 1.4 kilograms — is the most unexpected beneficiary of physical activity.
This “little universe” contains around 100 billion neurons, a number comparable to stars in the galaxy.
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Why is the brain exercise’s “biggest winner”?
From an evolutionary perspective, the brain’s need for exercise is encoded deeply in our DNA. In ancient times, our ancestors ran to hunt and climbed to avoid danger. Every muscle contraction sent survival signals to the brain.
Modern research reveals three fascinating effects of exercise on the brain:
- Accelerated blood flow: With every heartbeat, blood flow to the brain increases by 20%, like fueling brain cells with an energy drink.
- Surge of neurotrophic factors: BDNF, known as “brain fertilizer,” surges, strengthening connections between neurons like glue.
- Neurogenesis: Critical regions such as the hippocampus generate new neurons, reversing age-related brain shrinkage.
Simply put, while your body endures exercise, your brain quietly “levels up.”
When you sweat on a treadmill, your brain is throwing a “neural remodeling” celebration.
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Five cognitive powers improved by exercise
- Stress resilience: Building an “anxiety shield”
Stress reflects an imbalance between the brain’s “gas pedal” amygdala and “brake” hippocampus. Chronic stress shrinks the hippocampus, like worn-out brake pads. Aerobic exercise promotes hippocampal “reverse growth.”
A Pittsburgh study showed that walking 40 minutes thrice weekly for a year increased hippocampal volume by 2% — effectively making your brain 2 years younger! A stronger hippocampus better suppresses the amygdala’s alarms, reduces cortisol secretion, and helps you stay calm under pressure.
- Focus: Installing a “spotlight” on the brain
Dopamine is not just the “pleasure hormone” but also the commander of attention. Exercise boosts dopamine secretion from kidneys and brain, like hosting a concert for brain cells.
Studies show dopamine levels stay high for 1–2 hours post-exercise, boosting learning efficiency by 40%. Try a brisk 15-minute walk before studying — suddenly, the words on the page become clear.
- Memory: Activating your brain’s “hard drive”
In The Brain Gym, an intriguing question arises: Can running help you play piano better?
It sounds odd, but understanding BDNF’s role clarifies it. Before learning new skills or knowledge, moderate exercise primes the brain to secrete BDNF, “laying the cement” for memory formation.
- Anti-depression: Clearing the “mental fog”
Depression often causes “pattern confusion,” making everything appear as a “blurry gray mass.” This roots in hippocampal dentate gyrus dysfunction, which hampers subtle discrimination.
Exercise-induced BDNF activates this area, restoring the brain’s “spot-the-difference” ability — like refocusing a blurred world, allowing patients to see colorful details again.
- Creativity: Opening the “inspiration valve”
Stanford research found that walking increases creative output by 60%. This may relate to loosening the thalamus’s “information filter” — during exercise, more unconventional information floods consciousness, sparking cross-domain associations.
Jobs’s walking meetings and Murakami’s “running-writing” method exemplify breaking mental inertia through movement. Next time creativity stalls, try walking in a park while thinking.
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Scientific exercise guide: Feeding your brain right
- Duration: Each session over 30 minutes, ideally 45 minutes.
- Frequency: Three times per week is ideal.
- Intensity: Heart rate should rise to 70%-75% of your max (for a 40-year-old, about 130-140 bpm) to boost attention.
- Type: Prioritize aerobic exercise (running, swimming); strength training effects need more research.
- Notes:
- Avoid overtraining — extreme fatigue post-exercise suppresses brain function.
- Consistency matters. To change brain function fundamentally, you need months of regular effort. Realistically, maintaining thrice-weekly exercise for six months or more is likely to yield cognitive improvements.
Conclusion
Exercise is not “time wasted” but “anti-aging insurance” for your brain.
While we sweat in the gym, our brain undergoes silent “deep renovation.” Swedish neuroscientist Anders Hansen reveals in The Brain Gym that exercise is the ultimate key to unlocking brain potential.
Starting today, treat exercise as your brain’s exclusive gym. In six months, you will find your thinking sharper, emotions steadier, and inspiration knocking at your door.
Buddhist Insight
As the Diamond Sutra teaches, “All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning; thus we shall perceive them.” The brain’s plasticity reminds us of impermanence and non-attachment — even as it transforms, we need not cling to fixed notions of self.
The Heart Sutra says, “Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” Exercise embodies this truth: the body (“form”) moves and changes, while the mind (“emptiness”) adapts and renews. In harmonizing body and mind through movement, we embody the wisdom of “body-mind unity” — a living meditation.
If you’re looking to deepen your understanding of how to care for your body while maximizing your running performance and brain health, I highly recommend the book Healthy Running Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Healing Injuries, Running Pain-Free, and Unlocking Your Full Potential. It offers practical insights and proven strategies to help you run smarter, stay injury-free, and unlock your full potential — a perfect complement to the journey of boosting both your body and mind.
Feel free to share this article with friends or loved ones who might benefit from understanding the amazing connection between exercise and brain health. Together, let’s embrace movement as a path to a sharper mind and a healthier life!
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