Short bursts of intense exercise for as little as six minutes can improve brain function including memory, planning and organisation. Photo / 123rf
Short bursts of intense exercise for as little as six minutes can improve brain function including memory, planning and organisation. Photo / 123rf
A new study shows that a short, sharp blast of exercise could help improve memory and brain power, says Jack Rear.
A new study from University College London has found that short bursts of intense exercise for as little as six minutes can improve brain function including memory, planning andorganisation.
The study looked at a cohort of nearly 4,500 46 and 47 year olds from across Britain assessing their daily habits and asking them to take part in cognitive tests for verbal memory.
The scientists found that those who performed best in cognitive tasks spent more time doing moderate to vigorous physical activities (MVPA).
Replacing nine minutes of inactivity with nine minutes of vigorous activity improved cognition by 1.31 per cent. On the other hand, replacing six minutes of vigorous intensity activity with six minutes of light intensity activity or sleep could cause falls of one or two per cent in cognitive performance.
“The study is unique in that it uses 24-hour, thigh-worn accelerometer devices to explore the role our 24-hour movement habits may play in shaping our cognitive performance, specifically very short-term memory, problem solving and processing,” explains the study’s author, John Mitchell, Medical Research Council (MRC) doctoral student at the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health, UCL.
“We did identify that even minor differences between participant’s daily behaviour appeared meaningful for cognition,” says Mitchell, adding that randomised controlled trials are needed to “determine cause and effect”.
Scientists found that those who performed best in cognitive tasks spent more time doing moderate to vigorous physical activities. Photo / 123RF
The research, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, adds to a growing body of evidence that small increases in vigorous physical activity may delay the onset of age-related neurological conditions like dementia.
“These exercises shock the heart and the cardiovascular system into waking up,” explains Dr Brendon Stubbs, a senior clinical lecturer of neuroscience at King’s College London who has worked with the same cohort as the UCL study is based on.
“It’s like a cold bath for your brain. As soon as you start to engage in these types of exercise, the brain releases a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which is essentially fertiliser which helps develop new connections between individual brain cells and key areas of the brain, strengthening cognition.”
The easiest way to identify whether you’re exercising at a moderate or intense level of activity is how easily you can chat with someone, says Dr Stubbs. “A moderate intensity would be a physical activity or exercise where you find it difficult to hold a conversation but you still can, panting but still communicative,” he says. “During a vigorous intensity exercise you won’t really be able to talk because you’re panting so much.”
What constitutes vigorous will vary depending on the person’s age and physical fitness level, but moderate activity might be a jog, Pilates, yoga, or lifting weights. Vigorous activities would be going for a sprint, doing a HIIT workout at the gym, or running up a flight of stairs, but for anyone who is generally sedentary, even a brisk walk could qualify.
Importantly though, the study did not look into whether the all-important six minutes or exercise needed to be continuous, however, “there’s plenty of evidence out there now which reports health benefits for a whole host of health factors garnered from as little as a few minutes more vigorous movement in your day”.
Mitchell’s supervisor at UCL, Professor Mark Hamer, last month published research following people who did short, intense bursts over the day without even really being aware that they were doing exercise such as running for the bus. Often these activities were less than a minute, but the study found that if they even added up to four minutes per day, they helped promote better cognitive function.
Six easy ways to add six minutes of exercise into your day
1. Skip the lift and run up the stairs
Don’t spend time waiting for the lift, if your home or office has a flight of stairs, run up to your office.
“Dance is an excellent form of moderate and vigorous intensity activity,” suggests Dr Stubbs. “Do it in the office, at home or in a bar, plus if you’re having fun you’ll be more likely to do it.”
3. Do bicep curls with your shopping bags
Don’t just let them hang by your sides when you’re leaving the supermarket, curl your biceps and use your shopping bags as weights. “Strength training really improves areas of the brain such as the hippocampus and strengthens pathways between the muscle and the brain,” explains Dr Stubbs.
4. Walk like you’re late for a court appointment
It might feel a bit strange to call it power-walking, but if you imagine you’re late for an important appointment, you’ll find it easier.
5. Make yourself late
Get off the bus a stop early then force yourself to walk briskly the rest of the way
6. Do your own chores more thoroughly
Put away that robot vacuum cleaner and get moving with your old model. Use a push mower instead of a power mower. Wash your car by hand rather than going to a car wash.
Six easy high-intensity workouts to do for six minutes - do for one minute each
1. Mountain climbers
Start with your toes and palms on the floor and arms directly under your shoulders. Bring your right knee to your left elbow, then return to the starting position. Then bring your left knee to your right elbow. Then increase the speed.
2. Burpees
Start in a press-up position, then quickly hop your knees to your chest, and jump up, then go back down into a press-up. Repeat and increase speed.
3. The inchworm
From a standing position with feet slightly further than shoulder-width apart, place palms on the floor, walk your hands out until you’re in a press-up position, then walk hands back to your feet and come up into a standing position.
4. Squats
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and your hand on your hips, bend your knees until the back of your thighs are parallel with the floor. Pause for a moment, then drive up through your heels back to a standing position.
5. Speed skaters
From a standing position, place your weight onto your right foot and bend your right knee. Lift your left foot off the floor and hold it behind your right calf. Hop onto your left foot with your right foot behind your left calf. Hop back and forth between right and left foot.
6. Sprints
From a standing position, drive one knee up to your chest, then drop it and do the same with the opposite knee. Keep your knees high and increase speed until you’re in a running-type state.
