How to stay alert & sharp for 10 years longer

The not very well kept secret: Exercise

Wellness professionals and the American Heart Association (AHA) tell us to exercise for good heart health.  But now, recent studies show the benefits of exercise are not just for physical health.

New research demonstrates how exercise makes a dramatic difference in how you think as you age. Even after adjusting for demographics from race and gender to heart disease risk and MRI’s of brain health, people who were less physically active could not think, remember or choose as wisely.

One study in the journal Neurology found vigorous exercise stimulates mental cognition. “Our results suggest that for older people, getting regular quite intensive exercise may help them keep their cognitive abilities longer,” says senior author, Clinton B. Wright, MD, University of Miami, per Medscape Medical News.

“Individuals who reported low levels of leisure time physical activity in their mid-60s showed greater cognitive decline when assessed several years later compared with those who exercised to a moderate or intense level. The difference in cognitive decline between the two groups was equal to 10 years of aging.”

Another study from the AHA supports keeping active to stay sharp as we age, adding a really intelligent guideline they call “Life’s Simple Seven”:

• Avoiding tobacco
• Ideal weight
• Physical activity
• Healthy diet
• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol
• Blood glucose

Bottom line: If you want to be old and senile, sit in front of the TV, play on your phone, eat soda and chips and don’t bother exercising.

In other words:  Keep on moving to keep on moving, and to remember what you did.

StrongPosture® message: Keep on moving well to keep on moving well.  And how you move begins with your posture, and knowing how you move.