- Image via Wikipedia
I was thinking… always dangrous, right?
Everyone thinks exercise means running or going to the gym. I never liked running much, and since my daughter was born, I don’t have time for the gym. But that doesn’t mean I don’t get plenty of exercise.
I was cleaning my beach today. We had another major algae bloom and let me tell you – that is some back breaking work. I need one of these harvester things 😉 But I was thinking –
I was building my muscles
I broke a good detoxifying sweat
I got plenty of vitamin D
Some of you play volleyball. Some of you golf, or garden, or bowl, or walk the dog. You don’t really need some fancy workout program for basic healthy exercise.
Now toning and advanced stuff, I guess you might want something a little more advanced, but for the most part – get out and do something you like to do.
So then, while I was cleaning up my emails, I ran across an article that Jon Benson sent me that I never published. oops. It was a pretty good one too – and its on the topic of exercise and your brain. So here it is…
Exercise And The Brain
Jon Benson
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If you ever needed another good reason to exercise, I’ve got one for you:
Exercise makes your brain bigger.
Actually this isn’t entirely accurate. To be more specific, exercise was found to increase brain size slightly, but far more important to increase “spatial reasoning.”
This is the ability to recognize patterns, remember phrases, numbers, and so-on. This was discovered by researchers at the Universities of Chicago and Pittsburgh.
It is also one of the most important factors to the prevention of Alzheimer’s and dementia.
My mom suffered with dementia the last ten years of her life. But unlike most dementia patients she was fully functional thanks to exercise. She drove and had a mind that was unbelievably sharp right up until an accident injured her beyond the ability to exercise.
After that, she mentally went downhill rapidly. Thankfully, she passed in peace… and she had ten wonderfully active years thanks to her willingness to take up weight training at the age of 71.
She eventually walked up to 3 miles per day and trained in the gym 3 days per week.
That kept her mind sharp, along with fish oil and N-Acetyl L-Carnitine, a wonderful brain nutrient.
Once again, we see the power of exercise. It increases the QUALITY of your life.
Quantity is no where near as important to me as quality.
Your brain will thank you, as will the rest of your body.
One of the best ways to start exercising when you are over 40 is by using the routines covered in “Fit Over 40”.
This book profiles 53 different men and women, age 40 to 80, all sharing their workouts, nutrition plans, and mental empowerment techniques.
It is a MUST-HAVE for anyone wanting to begin exercising or improve their level of fitness after the age of 40.
For a free fat-burning course from Fit Over 40, go here —
When the weights Your pushing get manageable move up, but consider moving up in small increments. Lots of Folk hurt themselves by pushing to hard. It’s important to define Your goals early as well. If Your strength training You need more weight lower reps and if Your into tone and endurance then it’s the other way around. Best of luck with it!