Exercise has various positive effects on the brain. With the rise of neuroscience and physiology, experts are constantly discovering new health effects on the brain, from the exercise itself. The potential effects of strength training on the brain are endless. From neuroprotection, mood balance, and energy boost to memory and focus, exercise can help.

Physical Activity on Brain Health

Exercise benefits extend far beyond body re-composition, muscle building, and fat loss. It can assist neuroprotection, reduce oxidative stress and DNA damage and make out brain stronger and more resilient.

Physical activity is shown to not just boost brain health, but significantly improve brain performance. The basic brain functions like executive thinking, sensation, movement control, memory recall, language understanding, and awareness.

The new era brings new challenges, to which superior brains are highly favorable (in terms of evolution). Improving one’s attention span, boosting one’s mood, improving focus & concentration, both short-term and long-term memory as well as neuroplasticity are various potential benefits shown to be initiated by exercise.

Brain Evolution

• Brain Shrinkage
• Modern Limitations
• Primal Brains
• Complex Brains

As we age, our brains age too. This causes brain shrinkage and makes everything slower, harder, and less efficient. The aging brain slowly dies and with it our activity. This makes a lot of sense. Back in our monkey-days, we had to move to find food in order to survive. We were driven by Adrenalin and cortisol, by fear of the unknown. We had to provide, find shelter, hunt for food, and travel distances to find a better climate and environment.

Exercise from Neuroscientist’s Perspective

Many Neuroscientists these days are talking about the importance of exercise when it comes to brain health. By listening to the professor of neurology Alvaro Pascual-Leone and Wendy Suzuki I found out the three most important things.

Brain Anatomy

The brain is an organ that controls all functions of the body. It controls movement, perception, and sensations, and enables us to walk, eat, speak, and understand. The most important organ governs many other functions and sub-functions in the body.

There are different parts of the brain, all specialized in different functions. It is a complex neurological structure that has millions of connections inside. The brain can feel sensations from our sensory organs and then program feedback on it which is sent as an afferent signal. Each intentional movement or pattern goes through the brain first.

The brain is composed of two hemispheres: right and left. The right one controls the left side of the body and is more specialized in creativity, emotions, abstractness, art, and musical skills. The left hemisphere controls the right side of the body and is specialized in logical solution, execution, arithmetics, statistics, writing, and speech.

Brain Lobes and Functions

The brain consists of different parts, each having a unique set of skills and functions, each responsible for different actions. These parts are called brain lobes. Here are the brain lobes and their main functions.

Frontal Lobe	problem-solving, executive function, speaking, reasoning, voluntary motor control and activity, behavior control, creativity, expression, orientation
Parietal Lobe	right-left differentiation, sensation, reading, body orientation, multi-sensory information, skin and muscle sensation, initiation of movement
Occipital Lobe	vision and color perception
Cerebellum	Balance, Coordination, fine muscle control, feedback loop control, speech, posture
Temporal Lobe	understanding language, memory, behavior, hearing, smell, equilibrium, emotion
Brain stem	breathing, body temperature, digestion, alertness/sleep swallowing

Effects of Resistance Training on the Brain

We all know that Strength training is great for muscle growth and strength gains but science shows many other potential benefits of both Aerobic and Anaerobic exercise on the brain. This includes:

• enhanced neuroplasticity
• boost in mood and alertness
• improved cognitive function
• hormonal balance
• endorphins release
• improvement in executive function
• memory recall
• improved focus
• anatomical changes associated with white and grey matter volume.
• aids in neuroprotection
• may delay or prevent neurodegenerative diseases.

Not all studies presented in the next sections will cover weightlifting in particular, but anything labeled under exercise, both aerobic and anaerobic can help.

1. Focus, Concentration & Attention Span

To focus mean to indulge your attention and mental energy in it. The longer your attention span the better your focus. This benefit allows you to stay concentrated for a longer duration which can improve your productivity. How can exercise help with that?

It turns out that aerobic exercise seems to improve attention span.

There are also numerous studies showing that after exercise the brain’s ability to learn new information, generate new brain cells, and increase connections to establish new patterns, increases.

• Tested in Dutch schoolchildren, a 20-minute moderate-intensity physical activity was shown to significantly impact their selective attention. (3)
• High-speed resistance exercise training in older adults with cognitive frailty improved executive function, processing speed, muscle strength, and cognitive function. (4)

2. Structural & Anatomical Brain Changes

As we age, our brains shrink and age too. After all the thinking, working, and memorizing our brains had to do, they want to rest. But science shows that the more we work our brains and physical body, the better they will adapt to keep doing it.

Exercise has been shown to initiate brain changes on an anatomical level. Basically, the brain has grey matter that contains most of the brain’s neuronal cell bodies and white matter that contains nerve fibers.

• Resistance training was shown to elicit significant functional brain changes that lead to improved executive function. Weight training was shown to reduce white matter atrophy and improve brain health. (5)
• There is a positive correlation between exercise and brain health. While exercise type and dosage are important, overall the changes in brain structure and function in older adults were positive. (6)

3. Neuroplasticity and Learning

Neuroplasticity is the plasticity of one’s brain also called neural plasticity. It refers to the ability of our brains to adapt, change, and learn. The more plastic our brains are, the healthier they are.

BDNF or Brain-Derived-Neurotrophic-Factor is a protein that stimulates nerve growth, differentiation, and maintenance. It is what helps our brains to adapt and learn.

It turns out that our brains can become more plastic through strength training, long and short-term skill training. (7) It is pretty logical to say that learning a new physical skill like riding a bike, rollerblades, or skating can enable our brains to become plastic and learn new things.

Aside from the physiological benefits of training on the brain (hormones, blood pressure, endorphins), any training has skill maintenance, memory recall, and learning abilities activated on. While research is sometimes controversial on BDNF, most of the time fitness favors healthier brains.

• 10 weeks of strength training didn’t have a significant effect on BDNF levels. (8)
• extreme conditioning workout was efficient in acutely raising BDNF levels. (9)

In an article published in “Journal of Applied Physiology” both HIIT (high interval intensity training) and CON (continuous exercise) have been beneficial for increasing levels of BDNF. Intense strenuous activity had a higher effect than continuous. (10)

4. Mood, Depression & Anxiety

One of the hottest topics in terms of training on brain effects is its effect on mood. Exercise, both anaerobic and aerobic were shown to significantly improve one’s mood, and pain perception, reduce stress and anxiety, and reduce depressive symptoms.

• 8 weeks of training (aerobic, anaerobic, and resistance training) had a significant impact on the outcomes of happiness in humans. (11)
• resistance training positively affected and reduced anxiolytic symptoms in a diverse range of populations. (12)
• In individuals at risk of type 2 diabetes, weightlifting was shown to improve depressive symptoms. (13)

One of the main reasons why exercise is so powerful in improving your mood is its ability to stimulate the secretion of good-feeling chemicals like dopamine and serotonin. These neurotransmitters are very important and they give us the feeling of motivation, satisfaction, and happiness.

5. Memory recall | Short-term and Long Term

The temporal lobe is the main part of the brain associated with memory or retrieval of information. Exercise, as explained by neuroscientists can mainly impact the prefrontal cortex and the temporal lobe of the brain.

Many problems that arise in older people with brain aging have to do with a limited supply of nutrients, oxygen, and energy to the brain. Exercise can improve blood circulation and increase oxygen transfer. Aerobic training was shown to improve long-term memory and cerebral blood flow. (14)

Hippocampus is a brain structure in the temporal lobe that plays a major role in memory and learning. Research has shown that exercise can increase hippocampal volume, and hippocampal perfusion and may be effective against volume loss, which can theoretically improve memory. (15)

The more skills we learn in the physical world, the more plastic our brains are. If we learn to ride a bike, swim, lift weights, or skate, every time we choose to do it, “to perform an activity” so to say, we are initiating the automatic brain control of technique-posture and so on, which turns on the long-term memory recall mechanism.

6. Neuroprotection & Brain-Aging

Physically active people have healthier brains in general. One of the reasons why is that higher activity leads to improved blood flow that brings new nutrients and oxygen to the brain, optimizing its function. Another reason is increasing neuroplasticity by providing more BDNF protein.

Evidence shows that vigorous activity may be favorable for preventing or delaying Parkinson’s disease. Physical activity should be part of the therapy, but for deconditioned patients, there must be proper structure, guidance, and progress. Increasing dopamine levels through Levodopa may also be great for improving motivation, to maintain fitness levels. (16)

Active Alzheimer’s Have Reduced Mortality Risk

In fact, they found out that Alzheimer’s patients who were physically active have significantly reduced mortality risk, compared to sedentary and physically fit seniors who had better cognitive scores than unfit seniors. (17)

• Activity helps with the cellular and capsular system, supporting healthy brain aging. It facilitates neural transmission and elevates neurotrophic factors in both cortical and hippocampal regions. (18)
• Activity is linked to slower decline and supports optimal brain function. It’s one of the reasons why exercise can be beneficial for both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
• Strength training, balance, and coordination training along with aerobic exercise were significant in reconditioning and improving motor functions. (19)

The substantia nigra is the brain structure that plays a major role in movement, reward, and motivation. The first sign of Parkinson’s Disease is the progressive death of dopaminergic neurons. Since exercise can stimulate dopamine and BDNF, both neural plasticity and reward system function can theoretically be improved. (20)  Further research is needed to determine the dosage, intensity, frequency, and duration.

Key Points

Frequently Asked Questions