Hello everybody, it is March 14, 2017. My name is Shameen Lenny. I'm fitness and nutrition expert and owner of Shameen's Model Health here in Urgery, Alberta, Canada. So you may have noticed that there was no podcast last week because for the next few weeks I've decided to do podcasts every two weeks in order for me to get some new equipment and bring you a higher quality of Podcast in the future.
It also allows me to put a little bit more research into topics that I get asked to cover and And speaking of topics this week I got asked to cover if your workouts increase or decrease your brain power So here we go. Most of us intuitively know that when an individual becomes more fit their improved energy and health can contribute to clear thinking and increased mental performance But did you know exercise can fundamentally change your brain and make you smarter? So a study done at the University of Dallas, Texas shows a clear and positive relationship between physical aerobic activity and cognition among adults over the age of 50. The study concluded that even shorter term exercise can facilitate neuroplasticity to reduce both the biological and cognitive consequences of aging to benefit brain health and sedentary adults.
So neuroplasticity, which is known as brain plasticity, is basically the brain's ability to learn, adapt and change. And this study basically shows that even small amounts of exercise help keep your brain young and flexible. So that is awesome because we're now finding newer studies are now showing that we regenerate or grow new brain cells right up until the day we die. So right into our aging we still have that ability to protect our brain and grow new brain cells.
So now finding that exercise amongst other many biohacks can prevent the likes of Alzheimer's or dementia is something that we're now able to utilize and incorporate into our lifestyle to help us stay as young as we can right into our aging. But what does that say about workouts and creativity though? So can exercise improve your ability to paint abstractly? Numerous studies have in fact been examining this question for quite a while and the consensus is clear.
Exercise does in fact improve creativity. So there was a study done in 2005 of 63 college students published in the Creativity Research Journal. Students who did moderate exercise and then immediately took the Tarn's test of creative thinking, a widely used test that measures creativity the abilities, these students scored the highest and then a group that did not exercise at all scored the lowest. So, scientists Christopher Berglen writes in Psychology Today that, sweat is like WD-40 for your mind and lubricates the rusty hinges of your brain and makes your thinking more fluid.
Exercise allows your conscious mind to assess fresh ideas that are buried in the soap conscious. So this is awesome that we are now finding that writers and artists and musicians can seek out activity when they're feeling blocked or hit the wall or just aren't being creative at all. So even Albert Einstein used to exercise to spark his imagination. He said the theory of creativity and activity that he taught about a lot of his ideas while cycling on his bike.
Okay, so now let's talk about hormones and your brain. So countless studies have shown that a good hormone profile will make you feel better and this is common sense. This makes a lot of sense to us. So good hormones make us feel better, think better and perform better.
Immediately post-resistance or strength training, both men and women enjoy a swiping growth hormone and testosterone. And these hormones are feel good hormones that not only create a more favorable, fap burning and muscle burning environment, they also lower baseline levels of stress. And we've seen a lot of studies have shown that elevated levels of stress, hormones like cortisol, adversely affect memory and the ability to pink clearly. We all know this.
When you're stressed, you can't focus, you can't pink clearly and you're not productive. So the positive benefits of exercise can only be achieved, of course, with an effective and appropriate fitness routine. But in saying that all movements, any movements, daily movements, is going to affect how you think and make you feel good. So bearing that in mind, be safe, be active, make sure that the program that you're using applies, exercises, intensity, duration and frequency in proper proportions of that, what you're doing is safe and not contributing to long-term injuries or ailments or anything like that.
So be smart with your movements. Remember that we move to survive. Movement is part of survival. So moving all day, every day, even in natural ways, even playing with your kids is going to be beneficial.
So you don't always just have to hit the gym or attend a class, but move. And remember that overtraining, of course, is going to lead to burnout, which will affect your central nervous system and then lower your energy and decrease these hormones that we're looking for and actually increase stress levels. So watch out for overtraining. If you're worried about training or how you're training, please reach out to me, PM me, talk to me on Facebook, email me.
But in all, what we're seeing now is that movement and exercise and workouts are very beneficial to brain health and productivity and preventing neuro-generative diseases and improving your creativity and quality of life. So move to survive, as I say. And please share this podcast with anyone that you may feel would benefit from it, because there are a lot of people out there that are not fully aware of all these different benefits of hacks and biohacks that are very simple to do yourself. So have a safe, healthy week, everyone.
And I will speak to you again in two weeks time. So feel free to reach out to me though in the meantime and throw a topic my way and I will look into it for you. Okay. Bye, everyone.