Exercise Resources
The Complete Workout
A well rounded fitness program will emphasize variety and contain the four pillars of fitness: Cardio, Strength, Flexibility and Balance:
Cardio: Also known as aerobic exercise, cardiovascular exercise uses large muscle groups over a sustained period of time to raise your heart rate to an ideal range of 55 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. (Maximum heart rate is roughly 220 minus your age). If you don’t have a fitness device tracking it for you, an easy way to measure your exercise intensity is through the ‘talk test’. If you can talk, but not sing, you are likely in the moderate-intensity zone. If you are ready for a challenge, you may consider adding high intensity interval training to your workout. There is conflicting evidence on how HIIT affects mood, but it clearly releases important growth factors that build up the brain. And as we’ve learned, what’s good for the brain is good for well-being. HIIT alternates short bouts of intense effort with longer recovery periods. HIIT trains the fast twitch muscle fibers which can raise Human Growth Hormone levels by up to 700 percent. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18710818) You can include high intervals in just about any workout. Choose an activity that you can get completely breathless after 30 seconds of full-out effort like running, stairs, or stationary biking. Start out by including just one high interval in your workout 2 times a week. Eventually you’ll be able to perform up to eight sets, 30 seconds “on” and 90 seconds “off”. Here’s an example of a HIIT workout: Start with a warm up for 5 minutes, then sprint at an all-out pace for 30 seconds, then slow to a jog or walk for the next minute or two. Repeat this process up to 8 times and then cool down. Again, this is for the established exerciser, so start wherever you are.
Strength: Most experts recommend strength training two times a week. Resistance training, whether it be with a dumbbell or your own body weight, may be the best exercise for lifelong function. (http://time.com/4803697/bodybuilding-strength-training/) Mark Peterson, assistant professor of physical medicine at the University of Michigan says that maintaining strength “seems to be one of the best predictors of survival. When we add strength...almost every health outcome improves.” In addition to the physical health benefits, research has linked strength training to improved cognitive function, less anxiety and greater well-being. (peig-Chiello et al., The effects of resistance training on well-being and memory in elderly volunteers, 1998, British Geriatrics Society) Cardio is generally viewed as king for its’ beneficial effects on mood, however several studies have found weight lifting to be as effective as aerobics for relieving symptoms of depression. (Doyne EJ, Ossip-Klein DJ, Bowman ED, Osborn KM, McDougall-Wilson IB, Neimeyer IB. Running Versus Weight Lifting in the Treatment of Depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.)
Flexibility and Balance: Balance is an invisible strength that improves coordination and helps prevent injuries. Balance training includes strengthening the muscles that keep you upright like your legs and core. If you don’t think balance is important, talk to the more than two million older Americans that go to the emergency room every year because of fall related injuries. And the solution for losing balance abilities as we grow older is starting balance training while we are younger.
Yoga, tai chi, Pilates, dance. These well-loved forms of exercise that incorporate flexibility and balance (as well as strength and sometimes cardio) focus on the whole person leaving practitioners limber, agile and relaxed. And yet, they are often the last thought in an exercise routine. Anyone who has experienced flexibility and balance fitness knows it’s the difference between walking around feeling like a frankenstein and floating through the day like a ninja cat. Not only does it simply feel good, different types of exercise may have different beneficial effects on the brain. Running rats were compared to rats that performed complex motor skills that included balance such as walking across balance beams, rope ladders, and unstable objects. After two weeks the balancing rats increased BDNF in their cerebellums by 35 percent, whereas the running rats had none in that area (Greenough) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15518646. It seems that cardio produces the new brain cells in the hippocampus, but exercise that involves complex motor skills will use those new neurons for learning in other parts of the brain. There is also some evidence that exercise focusing on flexibility and balance improves mood. A study out of UCLA found that mildly depressed young adults who performed two, 1-hour Iyengar yoga classes each week for five weeks were significantly less negative, depressed, anxious and fatigued than those who didn’t.
Variety: Switch up your workout so you are continually challenging your body. Variety keeps your body and brain on their toes and creates the necessity for adaptation. The body has the ability to quickly adapt to a routine and finds ways to escape into a comfort zone. As a result, muscles stop developing and the brain stops creating new pathways. By varying your workout routines, you surprise the body and brain and ensure that muscles and neurons continue to be engaged. Plus, who wants to do the same thing day in and day out? Changing up your exercise routine keeps it fresh. Cardio, strength, flexibility and balance appear to benefit brain, body and mind in different ways. Why not approach your health with every weapon at your disposal?
Find a Workout
Follow the “Find your plan” link below at bodybuilding.com and fill out your information. They will direct you to one of many workout plans that could work for you:
https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/find-a-plan.html
Explore Fitness Apps
Runkeeper: https://runkeeper.com/running-app
Sworkit: https://sworkit.com/
FitnessBuilder: https://www.pumpone.com/fitnessbuilder
Videos
Books
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by John Ratey
A groundbreaking and fascinating investigation into the transformative effects of exercise on the brain, from the bestselling author and renowned psychiatrist John J. Ratey, MD.
Did you know you can beat stress, lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect, and function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate and breaking a sweat? The evidence is incontrovertible: Aerobic exercise physically remodels our brains for peak performance.
In SPARK, John J. Ratey, M.D., embarks upon a fascinating and entertaining journey through the mind-body connection, presenting startling research to prove that exercise is truly our best defense against everything from depression to ADD to addiction to aggression to menopause to Alzheimer's. Filled with amazing case studies (such as the revolutionary fitness program in Naperville, Illinois, which has put this school district of 19,000 kids first in the world of science test scores), SPARK is the first book to explore comprehensively the connection between exercise and the brain. It will change forever the way you think about your morning run---or, for that matter, simply the way you think.
We start out with the best intentions. We're going to exercise more and get in shape! Then five days a week at the gym turns into two... then becomes none. We hit the snooze button and skip the morning run.
We really do want to be healthy and fit, but we're over whelmed and overextended—and exercise feels like another chore to complete. Is it any wonder we don't stick with it? Behavior expert Michelle Segar has devoted her career to the science of motivation. In No Sweat, she reveals that while "better health" or "weight loss" sound like strong incentives, human beings are hardwired to choose immediate gratification over delayed benefits. In other words, we're not going to exercise unless it makes us happy right now.
So what's the solution? To achieve lasting fitness, we have to change our minds—before we can change our bodies. In No Sweat, Segar shows us how. Translating twenty years of research on exercise and motivation into a simple four-point program, she helps readers broaden their definition of exercise, find pleasure in physical activity, and discover realistic ways to fit it into their lives. Activities we enjoy, we repeat--making this evidence-based system more sustainable in the long run than a regimen of intense workouts. Even if we don't sweat, we really benefit.
The success of the clients Segar has coached testifies to the power of her program. Their stories punctuate the book, entertaining and emboldening readers to break the cycle of exercise failure once and for all. Complete with worksheets, tips, and techniques, getting in shape has never been so easy—or so much fun.
Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being by Michael Otto & Jasper Smits
Exercise has long been touted anecdotally as an effective tool for mood improvement, but only recently has rigorous science caught up with these claims. There is now overwhelming evidence that regular exercise can help relieve low mood-from feelings of stress and anxiety to full depressive episodes. With Exercise for Mood and Anxiety , Michael Otto and Jasper Smits, well-known authorities on cognitive behavioral therapy, take their empirically-based mood regulation strategy from the clinic to the general public. Written for those with diagnosed mood disorders as well as those who simply need a new strategy for managing the low mood and stress that is an everyday part of life, this book provides readers with step-by-step guidance on how to start and maintain an exercise program geared towards improving mood, with a particular emphasis on understanding the relationship between mood and motivation. Readers learn to attend carefully to mood states prior to and following physical activity in order to leverage the full benefits of exercise, and that the trick to maintaining an exercise program is not in applying more effort, but in arranging one's environment so that less effort is needed. As a result readers not only acquire effective strategies for adopting a successful program, but are introduced to a broader philosophy for enhancing overall well-being. Providing patient vignettes, rich examples, and extensive step-by-step guidance on overcoming the obstacles that prevent adoption of regular exercise for mood, Exercise for Mood and Anxiety is a unique translation of scientific principles of clinical and social psychology into an action-based strategy for mood change.
Most of us have no idea what's really going on inside our heads. Yet brain scientists have uncovered details every business leader, parent, and teacher should know--like that physical activity boosts your brain power.
How do we learn? What exactly do sleep and stress do to our brains? Why is multi-tasking a myth? Why is it so easy to forget--and so important to repeat new information? Is it true that men and women have different brains?
In Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina, a molecular biologist, shares his lifelong interest in how the brain sciences might influence the way we teach our children and the way we work. In each chapter, he describes a brain rule--what scientists know for sure about how our brains work--and then offers transformative ideas for our daily lives.
Medina's fascinating stories and sense of humor breathe life into brain science. You'll learn why Michael Jordan was no good at baseball. You'll peer over a surgeon's shoulder as he proves that we have a Jennifer Aniston neuron. You'll meet a boy who has an amazing memory for music but can't tie his own shoes.
You will discover how:
- Every brain is wired differently
- Exercise improves cognition
- We are designed to never stop learning and exploring
- Memories are volatile
- Sleep is powerfully linked with the ability to learn
- Vision trumps all of the other senses
- Stress changes the way we learn
In the end, you'll understand how your brain really works--and how to get the most out of it.
Articles
The Exercise effect—an article with supporting evidence on exercise and mood enhancement, and a section on why we don’t do it. (2011): http://www.apa.org/monitor/2011/12/exercise.aspx
Tips on how to tailor your exercise to boost your mood: https://blog.itriagehealth.com/10-ways-boost-mood-work/
10 ways to make exercise a habit: http://www.webmd.com/women/features/exercise-habits#3
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