WHY Exercise is so Underrated (Brain Power & Movement Link)

A 2001 Queen's University review of exercise intervention studies found that after 20 weeks, 'the amount of exercise energy expenditure had no correlation with weight loss,' demonstrating that exercise does not reliably cause weight loss as commonly claimed.

“A review of exercise intervention studies published in 2001 by Queen's University in Canada found that after 20 weeks, 'the amount of exercise energy expenditure had no correlation with weight loss'”

Exercise actually primes the brain to learn faster, which is why Taiwan and South Korea's school systems chose to increase PE time rather than add another hour of traditional academic study.

“The reason the Taiwanese and South Korean school systems don't just have students study for another hour is because exercise actually primes the brain to learn faster.”

In a 1999 study, James Blumenthal compared exercise to the anti-depressant Zoloft in a 16 week trial and found that just thirty minutes of jogging, three times a week was just as effective as Zoloft for treating depression.

“In a 1999 study, James Blumenthal compared exercise to the anti-depressant Zoloft in a 16 week trial. They found that just thirty minutes of jogging, three times a week was just as effective as Zoloft.”

Morning exercise can dial down cortisol levels and keep them down for the rest of the day, completing the stress response cycle and preventing chronic cortisol elevation.

“However, by exercising in the morning, you can dial down your cortisol levels and keep them down the rest of the day.”

Movement signals to the brain that something important is happening because, evolutionarily, movement was associated with survival-critical activities like escaping predators, foraging for food, and hunting, making it advantageous for the brain to enter 'learning mode' during movement.

“The reason exercise is a key trigger for all kinds of positive effects in the brain, particularly learning, is because movement signals to the brain that something important is happening. Maybe not in modern times, but originally, when we were moving, it was for the sake of survival. You move to escape a predator, to forage for food, to hunt, et cetera. While moving, it's in your best interest to learn the lay of the land so you don't get lost and can locate forageable food again. You had better remember how an attacking animal moves and what path was most efficient to escape so you can prevent yourself from becoming a carcass next time.”

The stress response system is designed to complete a two-step sequence: IF see tiger THEN jack up cortisol; then after exerting sufficient effort, IF you have exerted sufficient effort THEN lower cortisol levels—but most modern people activate the first part repeatedly without activating the second part.

“You will exert an immense amount of effort, after a couple minutes you will come to rest, then your physiological processes will calm down, and your cortisol will quickly drop and stay down for the rest of the day. This is another example of the body's IF THEN sequencing: IF See tiger, THEN jack up cortisol. After that, it becomes: IF You have exerted sufficient effort THEN lower cortisol levels. Unfortunately for most people they activate the first part of this a lot, but they don't activate the second part.”

Exercise boosts motivation by increasing dopamine storage in and triggering dopamine receptor creation in the reward center, providing non-pharmaceutical dopamine enhancement that increases willpower and focus for uninteresting tasks without producing the intense focus of Adderall.

“But you don't have to go the pharmacy to get your reward center going. Studies show that exercise boosts motivation by increasing dopamine storage and triggering the creation of dopamine receptors in the reward center. Exercise won't have you staying up all night in a studying frenzy like adderall, but it will give you more willpower and focus to do those little things that don't usually feel rewarding.”

Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert argues that the brain exists for one primary reason: to produce adaptable and complex movement, not to think, create art, or solve problems.

“Neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert argues that is not the case. 'We have a brain for one reason and one reason only and that's to produce adaptable and complex movement. There is no other reason to have a brain.'”

The body can be understood as an 'IF THEN' system with triggers that activate specific physiological processes, and most physiological expressions cannot be induced by willpower alone—the relevant triggers must be present.

“One way to understand why exercise would trigger your brain to initiate 'learning mode' like this is to think of your body as the world's most intricate 'IF THEN' system. Your body has triggers for almost every physiological process. For example, IF cold THEN shiver. IF hot THEN sweat. Most of your body's physiological expressions can't be induced just by force of will, certain triggers must be present.”

Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) is a protein that enables neuroplasticity; when BDNF is present on neurons, cells automatically sprout new branches that produce the structural growth required for learning.

“In order to learn something, the brain actually needs to grow and modify its cellular infrastructure to allow neurons to fire more easily. Researchers found that 'if they sprinkled BDNF onto neurons in a petri dish, the cells automatically sprouted new branches, producing the same structural growth required for learning.'”

John Ratey nicknamed BDNF the 'Miracle-Gro for the brain' because it improves neuron function, encourages neuron growth, strengthens neurons, and protects them against natural cell death, and serves as a crucial biological link between thought, emotions, and movement.

“This impressive result had John Ratey nickname BDNF the 'Miracle-Gro for the brain.' 'BDNF improves the function of neurons, encourages their growth, and strengthens and protects them against the natural process of cell death. ...BDNF is a crucial biological link between thought, emotions and movement.'”

The California Department of Education has consistently shown that students with higher fitness scores have higher test scores.

“The California Department of Education has consistently shown that students with higher fitness scores have higher test scores.”

Exercise increases muscle mass and improves insulin sensitivity, setting up a healthier body composition, but these effects may not manifest as weight loss if diet is not managed, leading to discouragement if weight loss is the primary expected outcome.

“The right kind of exercise increases muscle mass and improves your insulin sensitivity, setting you up to have a healthier body composition. However, if you begin exercising without managing other factors like diet, you may be very discouraged by poor weight loss results.”

Exercise causes muscle gain and muscle tissue contains mitochondria that burn energy, making exercise 'the single best thing you can do for yourself,' but it should not be expected to produce weight loss on the scale.

“It causes muscle gain. Muscle have mitochondria, mitochondria burn energy. So, exercise is the single best thing you can do for yourself, but if you think it's gonna show up on the scale, think again.”

Exercise has been shown to help people learn much more efficiently, better deal with stress, drastically reduce anxiety, improve mood to the point of lifting people out of depression, and strengthen focus such that some ADHD patients choose to discontinue their prescriptions.

“Exercise has been shown to help people learn much more efficiently, better deal with stress, and drastically reduce anxiety. It improves mood to the point of lifting people people out of depression, and it strengthens focus to the point that some ADHD patients elect to throw out their prescriptions.”

The brain's reward center, mediated by dopamine, is fundamental to motivation and decision-making; without functioning reward systems, organisms lack reasons to engage in activities, and the absence of reward motivation can lead to severe depression and suicidal ideation.

“We owe our motivations and entire 'will to live' to the brain's reward center. With almost any activity we choose to do, we do it because we expect some sort of reward. We strive for success in life because we expect the reward of fulfillment, we eat candy bars for the rewarding taste and we do taxes for the reward of not getting audited by the IRS. Without reward, our brains don't have much reason to do anything.”

Rimonabant, an endocannabinoid antagonist designed to suppress appetite by inhibiting reward from food, produced severe adverse psychiatric effects: 20 percent of users experienced serious depression and there were several suicides, demonstrating the danger of disrupting reward systems.

“An anti-obesity drug called Rimonabant was a tragic example of this. Rimonabant is an endocannabinoid antagonist- it's an 'anti-marijuana' medicine, which also means it's 'anti-munchies' medicine. It gets you to stop eating by inhibiting the sense of reward from food, and unfortunately everything else. 20 percent of users experienced serious depression and there were several suicides.”

Brain imaging shows that people with frequently high cortisol levels degrade their brain tissue much faster than normal; as cortisol rises, electrical signals in the hippocampus deteriorate, impairing learning, memory, and stress control.

“But there's a much more important area affected by stress. Brain imaging has shown that people with frequently high cortisol levels degrade their brain tissue much faster than normal. As cortisol rises, electrical signals in your hippocampus deteriorate. The hippocampus is associated with learning, memories, and of course stress control.”

Frequent exercise allows the body to become much better at reacting to stress, presumably through repeated practice completing the stress-exertion cycle and building cortisol resilience.

“Frequent exercise allows your body to become much better at reacting to stress.”

The sea squirt uses its nervous system early in life to move around and find a suitable rock to attach to; once attached and sedentary, movement is no longer necessary for survival, so the sea squirt digests its brain for energy.

“Early in its life, the sea squirt has a nervous system. It will use this nervous system to move around and find a suitable rock to attach itself to, then it will spend the rest of its life there. At that point, movement is no longer a necessity for survival, so the very first thing the sea squirt does is it digests its brain for energy.”

A 2007 study showed that subjects who did high intensity exercise beforehand could learn vocabulary words 20% faster than those who remained sedentary.

“A 2007 study showed that subjects who did high intensity exercise beforehand could learn vocabulary words 20% faster than those who remained sedentary.”

A 2013 study in the journal of sports science and medicine showed that just 20 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise increased BDNF in the blood by 32%.

“A 2013 study in the journal of sports science and medicine showed that just 20 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise increased BDNF in the blood by 32%.”

The stress response system (fight-or-flight) is originally adaptive: when encountering a threat like a tiger, the pituitary gland secretes adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol is released, heart rate increases, digestion turns off, and the organism mobilizes for physical exertion.

“Let's take a look at the original stress scenario: You're chilling out eating berries or whatever and then you see a tiger advancing towards you. Your fight or flight response switches on, the pituitary gland secretes adrenocorticotropic hormone, cortisol is released, your heart rate shoots up, your digestion turns off and you really start moving.”