You already know that regular exercise works out your body--toned muscles, a healthier heart, a smaller waistline. The current issue of Newsweek is making a connection between regular exercise and brain power. That's right--working out helps your noggin. Among the benefits: slowing the aging process; producing new nerve cells, which scientists previously thought impossible; increasing dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine (like taking a little Prozac and a little Ritalin, the article says); and slowing the possibility of Alzheimer's.
The ancient Greeks understood this mind-body connection; they seemed to invent the term scholar-athlete, as it was presumed that to be in shape included a healthy brain. The Newsweek article also makes a connection between kids' performance in school and keeping fit. (Editorial comment: Too bad so many P.E. programs have been cut in recent years. It seems that being a couch potato no longer affects just the body but your grades.)
Read the story here.
Tell me what you think of all this. (After your workout, of course, which might not make you an instant genius, but will help you form thoughts more efficiently.)
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