Can Exercise Truly Make One Smarter TV shows, movies, have all used the theme of “brains versus brawn. ” As a result many people believe that they are exclusive to one or the other. Many believe that to become strong you work out and to become smart you study. They are always separate activities and the ways in which a person builds up either are very different and exclusive to what they would like to become. This leads to the belief that when one exercises their body the only thing bulking up is one’s muscles and not one’s brain. I disagree. I believe that there is a correlation between academics and exercise.
Thus, I assert that physical activity positively affects one’s focus, intelligence, and mental health. Exercise can indeed make for a smarter, healthier mind. With today’s busy clicking society who are in constant need of some form of stimuli, whether it be Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, or Twitter, it is hard to keep focused on one task without clicking away to a new one. This results in many growing children losing focus in class and causing our memories to run a little less. After all, it’s easier to just look it up on google than try to remember anything.
To fix this growing issue all one has to do is throw in a little exercise. If students were to stay a little more active and physical their focus and thus their memory would increase. Joanne Eglash starts off her article saying right away that “It’s NOT called “jogging your memory” for nothing… ” (Eglash 1). Her article goes on to explain that so many studies on exercise and physical fitness today have found that exercise helps one calm their mind to focus which results in a stronger memory and builds to a higher intelligence. Her article takes direct quotes from Dr.
Larry McCleary, author of the Brain Trust Program. He states through his studies that when one exercises everyday “You’ll become less forgetful and more optimistic… ” (Eglash 1). A healthy and physically capable body will help stretch the muscle that is one’s mind. If one moves their bodies more than one’s muscles will get a work-out. When keeping up with regular physical and bodily health the next time one sits down to do a task they will realize that they will have become more alert, focused, and efficient. Most modern day studies will reinforce the idea that exercise will in fact make one smarter.
It’s a little obvious if one thinks about it and healthy body and healthy mind naturally make sense to go hand in hand and correlate with each other. According to Mary Carmichael a study done to fifth graders that tested and compared physically fitness of a student against their standardized test exam scores and found that those who ended up being the most physically fit also had the higher exam scores is just one of many in this growing research. She states that in most of these tests “… exercise can make people smarter” (Carmichael 1).
Carmichael states how exercise can have such a positive effect on one’s brain easily enough, “… aerobic exercise helps the heart pump more blood to the brain, along with the rest of the body. More blood means more oxygen, and thus better-nourished brain cells” (Carmichael 1). Stated like that it is pretty understandable that there are benefits of exercising to the brain. Physical fitness improving brain function and intelligence has been a topic that has been discussed for many years. It is only because today there are machines like MRIs and CAT scans that give concrete proof of the benefits on exercising for a healthy brain. Carmichael).
In a comprehensive description of a specific study done by ASK (Active Smarter Kids) the specific brain waves and reasons behind why exercise could make children smarter was examined (Resaland 1). The study, which lead to much valuable evidence because of the experiments concrete professionally done measures proved that exercising helps increase brain function. The study which gives lots of scientific terms and reasoning to the results and the way in which they conducted the experiment is just further proof that exercising helps increase one’s intelligence.
The study’s goal was to prove all of this so that there would be increased pressure on schools to encourage more physical fitness in children and adolescents (Resaland 8). With all the research done it is hard to argue against physical fitness being so vital. I believe in ASK’s goal with the study and that physical education and fitness should be further pushed and performed in school. More students should be encouraged to become healthier and eat better. When this happens the students will perform better in schools and our nation’s test scores will go up.
The biggest thing exercise can do for one’s brain, even beyond intelligence, is increase mental health. More and more research has produced results that show how being physically fit helps with many mental illnesses, especially in regards to Alzheimer’s and depression (Carmichael 1). Working out and moving your body can just make you happier. This is especially true within schools. When people are able to get out and about and do not have to spend all day cooped up sitting inside a classroom, this will help to alleviate pressure students might be under and clear their head.
Physical activities reduce stress, and stress is one of the highest causes of many illnesses. Another specific study that proved how physical fitness is helping the brain by examine many different scans in various subject’s brains. Right at the beginning of this study it is stated that “Regular exercise and adequate physical fitness have proven to be important for the immune system, metabolism, prevention of infectious disease, skeletal functioning, and risk of cancer” (Douw). Stress weakens one’s immune system so it makes perfect sense that while exercise is decreasing one’s stress level, one can become healthier as a result.
Exercising even beyond one’s childhood will help many years down in the future. Exercise helps push back Alzheimer’s and either prevent or help reduce effects of many other diseases. Pushing oneself and bringing the pain might seem hard today, but many years from now it is going to lessen the pain of getting a disease in one’s latter life. Beyond that it can simply make one happier and improve one’s life. In conclusion with all of the research done on the effects of exercise on brain function and health, it is very conclusive that physical fitness directly correlates with a healthy and happy brain.
This proves that brawn and brains do go hand in hand. Being brainy or being brawny should not be exclusive. One does not have to be one or the other. In fact a happier healthier person is both. Brains and brawns help build each other up and show that one can study how to exercise and exercise to better study. If one’s brain isn’t feeling as healthy as it once was I highly recommend working out. Exercise will help optimism, happiness, focus, memory, intelligence and just all around mental health. Go out and train for a healthy body and thus a healthy brain.
