

Aerobic exercise can increase brain size, keeping you mentally sharp - nopinsight
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/la-heb-exercise-hippocampus-20110131,0,5920236.story

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evilmushroom
I'm a software engineer... and being tired of being out of shape and gaining
weight, I joined an extreme workout program/class a number of months back
where we do kickboxing and resistance training alternating 6 days week.... and
I absolutely love the results. I feel amazingly better, I sleep better, I lost
my belly completely, and actually have abs! My heart rate went from the upper
60s to the upper 40s. (athlete range... and I code all day/night!)

But more interestingly I've found that I can focus a lot better... I feel way
more productive.

I really recommend to all my fellow tech people to try some program like this!
We spend a lot of time stationary in chairs...

We're all highly analytical, and like engineering whatever we're working on to
best fit our goals. Think of exercise as some important performance module for
the human framework? :)

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berntb
What he said -- but start a bit slower than six days a week!

Let the body adapt slowly (weeks to months) to a heavy exercise regimen!! You
will not feel better if you hurt a should or knee, which is hard to repair.

Edit: My point is not to avoid feeling bad, but to avoid damage which will
hinder exercise and/or lower life quality.

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evilmushroom
True.. I did feel like a tank ran over me for the first two weeks. :)

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michaelcampbell
I have been reading this sort of advice for quite a few years now, and I'm
glad to see that study after study seems to agree. Having lost my mother to
Alzheimers a few years back, I'm somewhat paranoid about losing my faculties
as I get older, so I've been exercising a lot more. Not sure if I'm getting
any smarter, or just getting stupider slower... but even if it doesn't help my
brain, it's helping other things healthwise.

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zeteo
A much more accurate title would be "walking shown to reverse the decline in
hippocampus size and function after the age of 55".

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mhartl
I'd bet dollars to doughnuts this is true even with s/aerobic
exercise/exercise/. "Cardio" is overrated; if you do one kind of exercise, it
should probably be strength training.

