Regular exercise is not only good to lose some unwanted pounds, it also boosts your productivity, brain power, and immensely improves your energy, making you the ultimate success machine. A good 30-minute cardio workout session pumps blood to your brain, delivering the nutrients and oxygen it needs to work at maximum efficiency. Cardio exercises also fill the brain with chemicals that improve functions like problem solving, decision making, and memory. These are all important ways of how the brain works. Below, we take a further look at how cardio works to boost brainpower:
Cardio Nourishes the Brain
When you exercise, circulation to the brain increases and the blood fills the brain cells with vital nutrients and oxygen hence they function more effectively. As muscles contract and relax while exercising, hormones are sent to the brain where they interact with the chemical brain-derived neurotrophic or BDNF factor that is responsible for mood regulation, learning and brain cell growth.
Exercise triggers the release of certain vital hormones including dopamine, which influences attention and learning; serotonin, which is famous for boosting your mood; and norepinephrine which affects arousal, perception and motivation. Elevated neurotransmitter levels in the brain help us feel better, focus and release tension. From all these, it is safe to say that exercise improves memory, attention accuracy, all of which enable you to make smarter decisions.
The Mental Upside
Studies have shown that people who exercised during their workdays were more productive on those days than on the days they did not exercise. A good cardio workout works like a cup of coffee. Your heartbeat spikes up, blood flow and circulation increases, your energy levels increase, and your thinking grows sharper and clearer.
More Sweat, Less Stress!
Exercise has been proven to have a positive effect on your mental state and overall outlook on things. A study on a group of 18-25 year olds who rode a stationary bike for about 20 minutes showed they had a positive change in mood almost immediately. This is because while exercising, the body produces euphoria-inducing chemicals that lead to a positive mood. To de-stress, it is important to capitalize on your cardio exercises to yield results.