Press Releases

The body content of your post goes here. To edit this text, click on it and delete this default text and start typing your own or paste your own from a different source.Behind the Scenes: How Physical Exercise Impacts your Cognitive Abilities and Brain Function Jacob Rasmussen At STRONGSIDE one of our 5 core pillars is enabling our members to have strong and sharp cognitive abilities. This can include your thoughts, learning, emotions, and behaviors (all pretty important, right?). You may have wondered a time or two; What does exercising have to do with my ability to focus on work, retain information, be creative, or anything else cognition-related? Well actually, working out and being physically active has everything to do with those! Your Brain gets a Workout too We all know how our body feels after a burner of a workout, and typically (at least for me), it feels like a great time to shut off our brain during the workout and just get after it. While this feels good to “turn off our brain” after a long day of work, or before our work day, our mind is actually getting just as much of a workout as our body, making it stronger and building it! Research shows that exercise actually stimulates the production of neurochemicals in our brain, such as endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin, which we often refer to as our “feel-good” hormones! This is why when you finish a workout it feels so good, and not so much when we miss days. These chemicals in your brain don’t just make you feel better, but they also help to sharpen your mind, so next time you’re doing a burpee or a box jump, just know your muscles aren’t the only thing you're building, but your mind as well. The Neurochemical Symphony in our Brain Let’s dive a little deeper into the impact that those neurochemicals have on our brain. First off are endorphins, these are the chemicals that are in charge of that pleasurable feeling of working out (typically felt in a “runners-high, or post workout euphoria feeling). Endorphins are specifically released in high intensity workouts, just like we do at STRONGSIDE when we are kicking names and taking butt… or something like that. When these endorphins are released they act as natural painkillers and mood elevators, making your day all the better! Second off we have dopamine, which we may have heard a lot about in society from friends or social media. Dopamine sometimes gets a bad wrap, because drugs and other negatively addictive things play on dopamine in your brain to get you hooked. When dopamine is actually used correctly though, it can be a great thing! When you finish a challenging workout at Strongside, dopamine is released, giving you a sense of motivation and satisfaction (sounds great to me! More Strongside, less drugs!). Lastly we have Serotonin, the chemical in charge of a whoooole lot of things in your brain. The key roles that serotonin plays in your body are in digestion, mood, sleep, and more. The most important out of these functions is actually our mood! If you have ever heard of antidepressants, they are called SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), meaning they increase the amount of serotonin in your brain by inhibiting the nerve cells from being absorbed. I mention all of this because it is exactly what working out does for your brain! When you workout your serotonin levels rise naturally, giving you a better sense of well-being and stability. How STRONGSIDE Fits into Cognitive Ability At STRONGSIDE, our functional fitness model fits into this cognitive ability model perfectly. Our high intensity interval workouts with varied movements is like a cognitive playground for the brain. The workouts challenge your coordination, balance, mental resilience, and plenty more, which is crucial for your brain health and longevity. Because of this, the research all points towards our workouts to improve not only physical fitness but cognitive flexibility, memory retention, and executive functions. In conclusion, next time you lace up those trainers, grab that kettlebell or pick up that deadlift, we’re not just training your body but your mind too. It is essential we understand the deep interconnection that our body and minds have together, and that they are not two separate entities that do not impact each other throughout our work, school, or even rest days. Embrace those neurological rushes, relish in your cognitive abilities, and enjoy your mental gains just as much as your physical. Keep sweating, keep challenging yourself, and witness the incredible synergy between your mind and body every rep you get done in all of those rev-style workouts! Coach Jacob Razz jacob@the-strongside.com