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- What you do with your
body affects your brain.
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And what you think with your
brain also has an effect
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on the physiology of your body.
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It works both ways.
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- [Narrator] The bubble
bath your brain needs.
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- Every single time you move your body,
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including when you're running,
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you are giving your brain
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what I like to call a
wonderful bubble bath
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of neurochemicals.
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Those neurochemicals
include dopamine, serotonin,
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noradrenaline, and endorphins.
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And that cocktail of neurochemicals is
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what is giving the runners
their runners high.
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We know that endorphins
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do play a really big part of that,
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but here's the good news.
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You don't have to be a
marathon runner to get this.
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In fact, we know that even 10 minutes
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of walking can significantly
improve your mood state,
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decreasing depression and anxiety levels
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and improving positive
mood states as well.
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So that's where the
runner's high gets us to,
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and it's one of the most powerful things
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that you can do for your brain today.
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Let me dive into that
neurochemical bubble bath
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because it's really the
key to understanding
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exactly how exercise is
affecting our brains.
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So I mentioned several things,
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several ingredients in that bubble bath
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that includes dopamine and serotonin
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and noradrenaline and endorphins.
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And that's really key
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to the mood boosting effects of exercise.
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But it also includes what's
called growth factors.
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Several different growth factors
get released with movement,
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and that is going towards the
long-term effects of exercise
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that can actually help grow
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and strengthen two key brain areas.
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One is the hippocampus
critical for long-term memory,
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and the second is the
prefrontal cortex critical
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for your ability to shift
and focus attention.
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So how do we understand this?
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Every single time you move your body,
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you are releasing at least
a part of that bubble bath.
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And that helps us understand
how only 10 minutes
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of walking can improve our mood,
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decrease depression, decrease anxiety.
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And as you go up the activity scale
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to aerobic running all
and everything in between,
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you are getting those mood effects.
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Why?
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Because you have higher levels
of dopamine and serotonin,
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but that's just the short-term effects.
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What about long-term effects?
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What if you give your brain a bubble bath
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on a regular basis for a week
or a month or several years?
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That's when those growth factors kick in.
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And what do the growth factors do?
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We know that the growth factors
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go directly to your hippocampus.
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The hippocampus is an
extraordinary structure
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because it is one of the
only human brain areas
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that can grow brand new
brain cells in adulthood.
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And those growth factors
help the hippocampus
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grow shiny new hippocampal cells.
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And what does that mean?
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Your memory is better.
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So that is what you get
with long-term memory.
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Oh, and I almost forgot to mention
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that the other brain area that benefits
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in terms of growth and strength
is the prefrontal cortex.
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Now it's not growing new cells.
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Some evidence suggests that the outputs
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of cells in the prefrontal
cortex called the axons
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of those cells perform better,
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work better with more exercise.
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They say that, for example,
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Serena Williams has really,
really well insulated axons
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in her prefrontal cortex
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because of all of that amazing tennis
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that she's played for a long time.
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But those are some of the both immediate
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and long-term changes
that you get with exercise
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that start with that
neurochemical bubble bath.
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People often ask me, what is
the brain body connection?
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And it is the simple physiological idea.
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And so we've talked
about moving your body,
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creating this neurochemical bubble bath
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that improves your mood
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and can grow hippocampal brain cells.
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That's the body to brain connection.
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What about the other way?
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One of my favorite forms
of exercise that I take
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and I teach is a form of
exercise called intenSati
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that pairs physical movements
from dance and kickbox
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and martial arts with
positive spoken affirmations.
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It was developed by an
amazing fitness instructor
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named Patricia Moreno.
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And there you are giving
your brain this bubble bath.
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But at the same time,
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each movement is paired
with a positive thought.
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For example, when you
punch back and forth,
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we say, I am strong now.
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And imagine a class where the
whole class is different moves
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with different positive affirmations.
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I can tell you that the
first time I took this class,
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I walked out of that class feeling strong.
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I felt like Wonder Woman, Super Girl,
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all rolled up in one.
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Because what you think
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and what you state verbally
is what you start to believe.
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And that is why this particular
workout is so powerful.
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It is taking full advantage
of that mind body connection
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that we've all heard about.
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That's a way to take full advantage of it.
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Be more broad in your definition
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of bringing more movement into your life.
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So people always tell me,
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you are so good at motivating
people to exercise,
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but then after I listen to your talk,
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I just go back home
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and sit on the couch and watch Netflix.
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What should I do?
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Motivation is a key.
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And what I found in my own life
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as I transitioned from that unbalanced,
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unhappy pre-tenure faculty member
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that I was to a much more
active faculty member.
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I started small and I started with things
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that I already enjoyed,
which for me was dance.
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I remember when I joined the gym,
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I decided I wanted to be more active.
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And like many people, I joined the gym
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and I went to a hip hop dance class.
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Okay, I love dance.
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I'm a terrible hip hop dancer.
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And I remember coming outta
that class saying, ah, God,
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that was embarrassing, but still fun.
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I enjoyed doing it.
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So my tip, my motivational tip
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for everybody is start small
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and start with things you
already know you like.
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If you hate running, don't run.
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You don't have to run
or start practically.
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One of the things I did
over the pandemic is
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I turned my weekly cleaning session
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into an exercise session.
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Have you ever seen that
movie Mrs. Doubtfire?
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Have you ever tried to
do that choreography
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that Robin Williams did
with the vacuum cleaner?
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It's hard. It is a great aerobic workout.
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And if you bring that play and that joy
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to even scrubbing the
bathtub, it makes it more fun.
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It makes it more enjoyable
and more aerobic.
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The other question everybody asks me
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at the end of my talks
is, that sounds great.
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I want a neurochemical bubble bath,
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but I really want you to tell me
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what is the least amount of movement
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that I have to do to get
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that neurochemical bubble bath?
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And here is the answer based
on actual scientific studies,
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and that is we know that
as little as 10 minutes
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of walking can improve your mood,
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that is getting that bubble bath
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with the dopamine,
serotonin, endorphins going,
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anybody can do that.
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You don't even have to
change into your spandex.
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Go for a walk.
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You don't have to change your shoes.
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Everybody can do that
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wherever you live in this
world, in this country.
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And so that is the
minimum, but I love this.
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Start small so everybody can
walk and then just add on.
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Can you walk a little bit more?
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Can you park a little bit farther away?
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Can you do another round of shopping
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with a big cart in Costco?
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That's a great way to
get exercise as well.
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For example, make it fun, practical.
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Oh, include your friends as well.
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I went to hip hop.
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I didn't go to hip hop dance class.
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I went to dance class
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and found friends that I
went to dance class with.
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That made it even more enjoyable,
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even more motivating.
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I certainly check goals
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and at the beginning of the year,
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everybody wants to have their,
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you know, beginning of the year goals.
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I think they tend to be bound for failure.
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And I instead of at the
beginning of the year,
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put all this pressure,
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I like to set smaller goals
for myself, doable goals,
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goals that make me excited to try them,
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that that is the key.
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And sometimes it takes a little
bit of thought, you know,
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maybe it's not that, you
know, those scary classes
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where you have to lift that tire up
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and push it across the room,
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but maybe it is a walk on
the shore, a walk to the gym,
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a walk around the museum with friends.
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Be creative about the ways
that you can, gardening.
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That's another thing.
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People think those things don't count.
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They all count.
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Moving your body, especially outside.
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All of that counts.
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Everybody wonders about what
is the best time to work out.
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And my first answer to that question,
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it's always anytime you
could fit it in, fit it in.
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Don't let the, oh, I'm
doing it at this time
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and you know, it's not the best time,
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so I'm not gonna do it, let go of that.
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Anytime you can fit it in
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from morning till night, fit it in.
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But if you wanna get a little
bit more technical about it,
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here's what I've learned from my studies
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of the effects of exercise on the brain.
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And that is that, as I said,
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every time you move your body,
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you are giving your
brain this bubble bath.
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What exactly do you get?
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You get better mood,
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you get better performance on tasks
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that require your prefrontal cortex,
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which basically means you can shift
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and focus your attention better.
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And something I haven't mentioned yet,
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your reaction time, your
response time is better.
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And so I think about that.
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I'm reading all the papers,
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done the research on my own that confirmed
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all of those immediate things.
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And so here's what I came up with.
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And also people ask,
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well, when do you work out, Wendy?
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I work out first thing in the
morning for several reasons.
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One is that it's harder
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to have other things come
get in the way of that.
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So, it's interrupted less.
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And two, I love the idea that
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after I workout first
thing in the morning,
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I have this brain that is happier,
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that can focus attention better
and that responds quicker.
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That's the brain that I wanna bring
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into my workplace first
thing in the morning.
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And I did notice, so full disclosure,
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when I did this experiment,
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I was totally enjoying my
after work workout sessions.
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So I would reward myself
as many people do go
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to the gym after work and I loved it.
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But as I got into the research
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and I switched my research from memory
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to the effects of exercise of the brain,
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I thought, hmm, let me give this a try.
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And I'm not gonna lie,
it was painful to switch
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to first thing in the morning exercise.
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I was sleepy.
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I couldn't follow the classes
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'cause I was half asleep in class
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and it was two weeks of pain
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before I used to the new schedule.
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And then once I got used to it,
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I found that I could focus attention
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even longer in my day.
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For my whole life, I've always worked best
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first thing in the morning.
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I'm a morning person.
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And so that morning,
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good work time got longer when I started
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and got used to that
early morning workout.
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And you might say, well,
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I'm not a morning person, Wendy.
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I totally get it.
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Try it.
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I love to advocate for
personal experimentation.
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You know, the science now
00:12:30
that you're giving your
brain a blah blah, blah,
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it's gonna make your focus work better.
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It's gonna improve your mood.
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What are you gonna apply it in your life
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for how your life works.
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That's how I applied it to mine.
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And I like to work out in the morning,
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you apply it to yours and
let me know how it works out.
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So many of us use caffeine.
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I'm not a coffee drinker,
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but I'm a regular tea drinker.
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And I think to switch
your exercise regimen is,
00:13:01
goes beyond just the use of coffee
00:13:04
or trying to use it, you
know, to get yourself up.
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It's really shifting your circadian clock,
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getting your body used
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to movement first thing in the morning.
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That's what was so painful
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for those first two weeks that I tried it.
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So it really is being disciplined.
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If you wanna wake up earlier,
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you need to go to sleep earlier.
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And that is the hard part.
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You know, there's always one
more Netflix episode to watch
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and you think, ah, oh,
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it won't do any harm, but it will.
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And so it's shifting that circadian clock
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and really sticking to it.
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I think, yeah, you can
use caffeine as a crutch,
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but I think the sleep change
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and the kind of the
timing change in your life
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and kind of getting a handle on that
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and again, what works well
00:13:53
for you is the most important formula.
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There's a lot of data on the
idea that late night workouts,
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I mean, they could benefit your body
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and you're still getting that
neurochemical bubble bath,
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but endorphins are not the best thing
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to help you fall asleep.
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And so you need time to cool
down before you go to sleep.
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I experienced this myself.
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I never am able to go to sleep
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after I give an evening lecture.
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The later, the worst it is for me.
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I need several hours to come back down.
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And even though I usually go to bed
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at around 9, 9:30, if I'm
giving a talk at six or seven,
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it takes me several
hours to to to calm down
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and get into that restful state.
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And that is just, you know, energy levels.
00:14:43
That is your fight or flight
response coming online,
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increasing that adrenaline
00:14:51
in your body and even that cortisol.
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And you can't go to
sleep with that level of,
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that kind of neurochemical and
and hormone in your system.
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It simply takes more time to go to sleep.
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This is another situation
00:15:05
where that personal experiment
00:15:07
on yourself is notable.
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Journal about what works for you,
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you know, every single time
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and give a talk at six or
seven, I need several hours.
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I'm not gonna get a good sleep.
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So, do not schedule an early morning,
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you know, big important thing to do
00:15:22
because I am gonna need
to sleep in the next day.
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Find that for you.
00:15:27
Journaling is great to notice
those trends in yourself.
00:15:31
But self experimentation,
knowing some of the science
00:15:34
behind it can be a very powerful tool
00:15:37
to shift your life in the
way that you want it to go.
00:15:41
Here are my two
motivations and I'm a nerd,
00:15:45
so I have neuroscience motivations.
00:15:47
Motivation number one,
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I love this idea of giving
my brain a bubble bath
00:15:53
of great neurochemicals
first thing in the morning.
00:15:57
I know it's benefiting my brain
00:15:59
and I love the idea that part
00:16:01
of those neurochemicals are growth factors
00:16:04
because my favorite brain structure
00:16:07
of the hippocampus I know
is getting bigger and fatter
00:16:11
and fluffier every single
time that I workout.
00:16:15
Why is that important?
00:16:16
It's because the hippocampus is one
00:16:18
of the most sensitive brain areas to aging
00:16:21
and it starts to lose its connections.
00:16:24
And I am motivated by making
my own hippocampus as big
00:16:29
and fat and fluffy as I can,
00:16:31
so that even if I get dementia,
00:16:34
which I have in my family heredity,
00:16:37
in my family history, that
it's gonna take longer
00:16:40
for that dementia to have
an effect of my memory.
00:16:43
Why?
00:16:44
Because I made it big and fat
00:16:45
and fluffy with my morning workouts.
00:16:48
There are so many different
brain benefits for exercise,
00:16:53
almost too many to talk about.
00:16:56
We've talked about the benefit
00:16:58
long-term for the hippocampus.
00:17:00
It grows new hippocampal brain cells,
00:17:02
making it big and fat and fluffy.
00:17:04
We've talked about the beneficial effects
00:17:06
of exercise on the prefrontal cortex,
00:17:09
another brain area, very
susceptible to aging.
00:17:12
Also increasing probably not brain cells,
00:17:15
but the support cells,
00:17:17
the GL cells seem to be
benefited by exercise
00:17:21
and certainly the functions
00:17:23
of the prefrontal cortex
benefit from exercise.
00:17:26
Mood is beneficial.
00:17:29
Motivation is, I can't point
00:17:32
to the specific brain area
00:17:34
that is important for motivation,
00:17:36
but that positive habit that you create
00:17:39
as you do regular exercise
is a huge benefit for aging.
00:17:45
Just getting that positive
habit into your life.
00:17:49
Those are my top, how many in a name?
00:17:52
Four.
00:17:53
Hippocampal function, memory,
00:17:55
prefrontal cortex, focus,
00:17:58
mood, and motivation, all things
00:18:02
that are benefiting from
your regular exercise.
