Mindless Exercise Exposed

If you’ve visited your local chrome, mirror and fern workout gym lately no doubt you’ve seen hundreds of people popping on their headphones and listening to some kind of mind numbing music or watching TV while they jump on weight machines, treadmill, stair climber, free weights or elliptical trainer. And the venues usually have something similar blaring over the loudspeakers if you forgot your iPod.

The implication is exercise is so boring you need some kind of droning, repetitive, high volume music to drown out out your thoughts and feelings. Now it looks like you should at least be switching your iPod to Mozart or be doing something that actively uses your mind. At least if you want to maintain a healthy brain that is. And medical science has the proof.

According to David Anzaldua, MD:

You’ve probably heard after your 20’s you’re losing thousands of brain cells every day. But according to research from the late 90’s an even greater number of new neurons are also being created as stem cells every day. There’s a catch though. If those cells don’t take root and grow they will dwindle away and be lost forever.

How do you get those new cells to thrive? In two word, ACTIVE LEARNING. Through taking your brain beyond it’s comfort zone and learning new and complicated material. We’ve had our elderly working on crossword puzzles and other thinking games for that reason.

Now science has found there’s a way to supercharge that process even more. It turns out exercise causes the release of “brain derived neurotropic factor” (BDNF) , and “BDNF is to neurons what Miracle Grow is to plants.” Exercise combined with challenging mental activity maximizes the health and growth of the new neurons being created.

Kind of takes the bloom right off of ‘mindless exercise’ doesn’t it? What good are muscles and a strong heart if your brain is growing dull? Why not be building your brain and the intelligence distributed throughout your body, and gaining longevity too? That’s a true no-brainer.

But, how do you do that?

Classical music has been proven to help stimulate the brain. If you’re addicted to music while you move try substituting Mozart. And any exercise where you have to think and concentrate is ideal. Martial arts practice is a great one, yoga another, and the Tibetan 5. Anything that enhances mind/body integration through intention and controlled breathing is a winner. And what about dance? Ballet, ballroom, jazz, tap, etc. As long as you’re challenging yourself to learn it’s great for your brain.

My former Mastermind teacher Matt Furey’s East-Meets-West body weight exercise program is fantastic, and Matt has attracted many talented, like-minded people to him who are all the antithesis of dumb jocks. People like Eddie Baran, John Wood, and Garin Bader. Garin is a world class pianist, magician and fantastic athlete who’s ‘Core Force Training’ is empowering like nothing else I’ve ever seen. I was sold the day I saw him pumping out push-ups with hands overhead only using one finger and thumb on each hand.

Larry Hochman on Facebook and in the Manifest Mastermind community is also a great source for empowered exercise. And Dr. John Spencer Ellis, producer of ‘The Compass’ movie and President of the National Exercise & Sports Trainers Association is a sure-fire, world-class authority on wellness through mind-body integration. His bio reads like something 4 or 5 men would have done.

You can’t go wrong with any of these great people if you want to train your brain. Or maybe you already have something you like. Now you have an even bigger incentive to do something about it.

http://artabundance.com
http://mattfurey.com
http://eddiebaran.com
http://functionalhandstrength.com
http://coreforceenergy.com
http://nomoreholdingback.com
http://johnspencerellis.com

A brain is a terrible thing to waste away.

Go Out & Play to Win,

Dean Delker - The Dean of Easy Street
P.S. Full and complete breathing is one of the basic common denominators of mind/body/spirit integration, health, fitness and power. The air is free, and so is my ebook detailing The Miracle of the Complete Breath today at: http://deandelker.com/complete_breath.html

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About the Author

Dean Delker, is a spiritually-based life coach and author. He is also well versed in sports psychology and aspects of body, mind, heart, and spirit integration. Having been an amateur shooting coach he’s paid particular attention to Psycho-Cybernetics, visualization, and other mind power techniques for enhancing athletic performance.

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