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— John F. Kennedy
Even before the wealth of scientific evidence we have today, people suspected that how we move profoundly impacts how we think, feel, and act.
Humans are essentially perpetual motion machines. Our ability to move drives nearly every physiological function in our brains and bodies.
When we don’t move enough, we atrophy—both physically and mentally.
While exercise sculpts nice biceps and butts, it also creates a brain capable of high-level beliefs, thoughts, and behaviors.
Neuroscientist Amy Suzuki, dean of arts and sciences at NYU, states:
“Exercise is the most transformative thing you can do for your brain today.”
Regardless of your age, you can upgrade your brain to improve your memory, mood, focus, and resilience with as little as 20 minutes of exercise a day or 150 minutes a week.
You can immediately change your mental and emotional state within mere seconds of becoming physically active.
While many researchers believe in the global impact of exercise on the brain, some specific structures play a critical role in the exercise-brain function relationship:
This region governs rational behaviors such as reasoning, problem-solving, impulse control, and creativity, known collectively as “executive function.”
➡️ Exercise enhances the prefrontal cortex, leading to improved problem-solving, emotional regulation, and innovative thinking.
Responsible for controlled movement, learning, cognition, and decision-making, the basal ganglia play a critical role in regulating the space between stimulus and response.
➡️ Regular aerobic exercise increases basal ganglia volume, resulting in better emotional control and decision-making.
This brain structure is essential for memory, spatial navigation, and behavioral inhibition.
➡️ Aerobic exercise can increase the size of your hippocampus, which has been linked to improved memory, emotional regulation, and spatial ability.
An area within the prefrontal cortex that plays a role in motivation, emotional regulation, and attention.
➡️ Challenging exercise enhances ACC function, sharpening focus, boosting motivation, and improving emotional control.
The amygdala drives fear, anxiety, and stress responses.
➡️ Regular exercise places mild, controlled stress on this brain structure, teaching it to be less reactive. This adaptation reduces how daily stress impacts your mood and performance.
When it comes to optimizing brain and body function for a lifetime of high performance, a few minutes of daily exercise offers one of the best returns on your investment of time and energy.
An active body builds an active brain.
