Originally published September 14 2005
Exercise for the body is exercise for the mind
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Science suggests physical exercise can actually improve your mental abilities as well, and one study showed that more physically fit fifth, seventh and ninth graders typically scored better on standardized math and reading tests than other students.
Lost amid the controversy is a growing body of evidence showing that exercise is good for the brain as well as the body.
Ever since a physical exam in July deemed the 59-year-old president to be extraordinarily fit, a series of columns and cartoons have portrayed him as riding a bike when he ought to be running the country.
This criticism would be unimportant if it were merely political.
But anyone who works out an hour a day is likely to discover that many people in sedentary America regard exercise as the province of the vain and irresponsible.
Yet the science behind exercise increasingly shows that it provides a short-term boost to the ability to process data, among other functions.
Acute bouts of exercise have also been found to reduce depression and anxiety, illnesses that can dampen mental functioning.
A 2005 study in the Journal of Exercise Physiology looked at how 884,715 fifth-, seventh- and ninth-graders scored on a state-mandated fitness test in California.
Then it compared those numbers to the reading and math performance of those students on a standardized achievement test.
For example, the average math score of students who achieved only three of six fitness goals was 48; kids who achieve all six fitness goals had an average math score of 60.
A 2003 article in the journal Acta Psychologica analyzed dozens of studies on the instantaneous cognitive consequences of exercise.
In one such study, researchers measured the ability of about 50 senior citizens to distinguish relevant from irrelevant data in a visual exam.
The study, published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that aerobic exercise yielded a 20 percent improvement in performance.
"There were substantial effects of exercise on cognition," says Arthur Kramer, a University of Illinois psychology professor and a co-author of that and many similar studies.
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