Good Morning my friends! Happy Monday. The WOW: Workout of The Week for this week is what I can Brain Workouts!
How do you workout your brain?
Physical exercise itself is actually a brain workout. There is tons of research available on this topic! This TED Talk from Wendy Suzuki is very informative. Suzuki talks about how exercise changed her life so much that she changed her entire research program to study the effects of exercise on the brain. I personally went through/life change like Suzuki’s. My life is changed forever because of exercise! Please check out this great talk for more info.
Wendy Suzuki TED Talk
BNDF
One of the most interesting things I have learned about exercise is that it increases a thing in the brain called BNDF, or Brain-derived nuertrophic factor. There is still a lot too study, but they think BDNF is good for learning, long term memory, neurogenisis, and other brain functions. For a long time it was thought that most of the brain’s neurological pathways were formed prenatally, however it has been shown that neurogenisis exists in adult humans in some pathways. The exact effects are debated and still hard to know, however BDNF is said to support neurogenisis.
An article I found published by elifescience.org, talks about study done on exercise and BDNF. The article gets pretty deep, but the basic idea is that they are not sure how exactly it happens, but BDNF is increased in the brain when people exercise and that leads to less anxiety and depression.
The Morning Routine – A Brain Workout
A big part of my brain workout is having a morning routine. Jim Kwik is one of my new brain heroes/mentor-guys. This guy’s story is really cool! He grew up with a learning disability. He taught himself to grow beyond it. Today he is a leading brain and learning expert. Check out his videos and other content please!
In this video, Kwik talks about how to set up a morning routine. He lists many different things you can then do to activate and jumpstart your brain. One of my favorites is brushing my teeth with my non-dominant hand. I have been doing this for about a month everyday. It was tough at first. It’s very easy to go back to my right hand. When I brush with my left hand, I have to focus on it more. It’s hard to prove, but I think Kwik is right that this helps jumpstart the brain! Try it for yourself, or try some of the other things he listed in the video! They work, but don’t take my word for it, experiment with some of them for yourself!
Jim Kwik Video: Jump-Start Your Brain
My Mornings
My life has benefitted in many ways from having a morning routine. When I was in school, as an adult learner with a full time job, I would get up at 5am and read/study for an hour. Now that I am done with school, I still get up at 5 am. Now instead of doing school work, I workout, study things for the blog, practice yoga and breathing, and prep myself for my work days.
Doing little tweaks like brushing my teeth with my left hand (non-dominant) has made the routine stuff actually more fun. I always try to get a “better” workout in. I find that trying to make little improvements in my morning routine keeps me focused on maintaining the routine.
My routines
I start my day with a 16 oz glass of water, pretty much just chug it. Then I workout. Then I drink butter coffee. Then I do some research for the blog. Then after about 45-60 minutes of that, I get ready for work. Then I go off to work and try to be a business pro. That is the basic daily routine. Like I said, I try to add in little tweaks to make improvements. Continuous improvement of my morning routine is totally a goal I pursue!
Have an Awesome Week!
There you have it my friends, The WOW: Workout of the Week for 9/17/18 from GoodAttitudeFood.com. Do something out of the normal routine to jumpstart your brain! Exercise for your brain’s sake! Be happy and healthy my friends! Remember, you can be the hero of your own story!
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