This workout plan can help boost your brain health, reduce dementia risk and more.
An estimated 40% of people ages 65 and older experience some degree of age-related cognitive decline.
In the U.S. alone, that equates to approximately 21 million people.
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For those looking for ways to prevent or reverse age-related cognitive decline, these findings are especially exciting.
These reductions lead to subtle declines in cognitive function over time.
Exercise combats this process by boosting the production of neurotrophins to help fortify brain cell structure and signaling capacity.
They found that both aerobic exercise and resistance training are important.
All this to say, getting a good mix of different activity is the way to go.
Glover suggests that individualization is key to accommodate individuals at different stages along their wellness journey.
How Much Exercise Do you oughta Improve Brain Health?
The same is true for exercise.
Glover recommends that we think of exercise in portions.
The ACSM also recommends that older adults do some form of resistance exercise at least twice a week.
When considering resistance training, many people think only of weights or dumbbells.
It is also important to remember that intensity is individualized to each person.
What is considered vigorous intensity for one person may be moderate or mild intensity for another and vice versa.
For example, an activity like sitting on the sofa and watching TV might get an RPE of 1.
Sprinting as fast as you possibly can might get an RPE of 10.
Most exercise activities will fall somewhere in between these two extremes.
Being mindful of where your RPE is during exercise will help you adjust your intensity to the appropriate level.
Glover shares that the key is to be consistent with any program you implement.
“At least 6 to 12 months of exercise is necessary to detect changes in cognitive functioning.
It takes consistency over time.”
So make a plan to have that discussion, then start building up your activity levels over time.
