Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Exercise Your Brain


Dr. David Jockers     Exodus Health Center          www.exodushc.com

20th Century Exercise:   Isolate individual muscle groups in a stable environment. 

This era saw the boom of classic exercises such as bicep curls, leg extensions, tricep extensions, etc. isolated a single muscle group.  Stationary equipment that eased the joint load become popular sporting brands such as bowflex, nautilus, etc.  Circuit training techniques utilizing isolation exercises on all of the major muscle groups became a splash.  Many of these remain popular, although far outdated, particularly at trendy women’s fitness centers, and large franchise owned centers. 

As time passes and new discoveries are made, older ideas and concepts wash by the wayside as new and more progressive understandings of how the body’s systems are applied.  This is certainly true for the health, fitness, & weight loss industry. 

21st Century Exercise:  Large muscle groups working synergistically in a rapidly changing, unstable environment produces far greater benefits in a fraction of the time than any other form of exercise.

It is now commonly understood that doing exercise that incorporates a large muscle mass working in a synergistic fashion is more common to everyday life, uses more metabolic requirements, increases oxygen consumption and stimulates larger amounts of anti-aging, fat-burning, & healing hormones such as growth hormone and testosterone. 

Brain Based Exercise:  21st Century Exercise must be Brain Based Exercise.

In biological science, the 1990’s was considered the decade of the brain.  So much research has been done to better understand the brain and nervous system.  One key understanding is that the brain acts much like a muscle, in that it depends on fuel and activation in order to grow, adapt, & become more proficient in the required demands. 

If areas of the brain are driven through activity, they adapt to become stronger and better able to accomplish the task at hand.  Of course, the opposite is true as well.  Where there is less activity, there is regression and atrophy.  This is the principle of neuroplasticity.  The brain is a constantly adapting structure that depends on movement for energy and instruction.  You either use it or you lose it.”   

21st Century Factoid:  Movement deficiency is a leading cause of degenerative disease and early death.  Sedentary living, poor posture, and bad spinal health are actually worse for the brain than sugar, trans-fat, and excitotoxins such as MSG. 

Cerebellum: “Little brain,” constitutes just 10% of the total volume of the brain but amazingly, it contains over 50% of the neurons in the entire human brain.  The cerebellum’s job is to modify and adapt movement patterns to improve coordination and balance.  Incredibly, before any movement (even something as simple as bending over to pick up a pen) is even initiated, the cerebellum, through a feed-forward mechanism has already perceived the intended motion up to 6x and fires down to contract the core musculature to prepare for the anticipated movement. 

Hippocampus:  The Memory Center:  Movement is essential for a healthy hippocampus and enhanced levels of memory consolidation.  Dynamic exercise that uses novel techniques has been shown to rapidly improve memory centers as opposed to standard single-joint exercises.  This form of exercise has been shown to increase Growth Factor (IGF) and BDNF (bone-derived neurotrophic factor) which are essential for healthy neurons, formation of new neurons, synapses between neurons, and increased neuronal learning. 

Frontal Lobe:  The critical center for learning and emotional control.  The frontal lobe functions can be remembered with the 3 “T’s” for tension, tact, and tenacity.  Tension: The unique ability of a human to rise above emotional reactions, & selfish/primitative behaviors.  Tact:  The ability to understand and apply socially acceptable behaviors.  Tenacity:  The ability to focus on one thing for a period of time.

21st Century Factoid:  Children with ADHD are known to have retarded frontal cortices, thus they have an inability to apply the 3 T’s effectively.  Brain based exercise, along with nutritional, detoxification, and spinal corrective recommendations have been shown to be an extremely powerful tool for individuals with ADHD.
           
Exercise of the 21st Century:
The Cerebellum is driven through full body movements that are unique and challenging.  Novel exercises that utilize an unstable atmospheres such as balancing on 1 leg, using a stability ball, BOSU ball, alternating 1 leg stand’s, etc. incorporate an incredible level of cerebellar, hippocampal, and frontal lobe activity in order to maintain balance and coordination in such a dynamic environment.   A consistent diet of new, unstable, high demand exercises is an incredible super-star supplement for the cerebellum, frontal lobes, & hippocampus. 

Benefits of Brain Based Exercise:
            Improved coordination, balance, & skill
            Improved memory recall and speed of transmission
            Improved learning skills
            Improved emotional balance and control
            Improved focus & determination
Improved blood flow to the train, increasing neuronal metabolism, & neurotransmitter formation…thus anti-depressant effects (increased serotonin).
            Increased feelings of joy & euphoria

If you are looking to rapidly lose body fat, increase muscle mass, improve strength, stamina, speed, and power-up your brain, memory, and learning ability over the next 3 months than I invite you to engage in our MaxFit exercise challenge.  If you are looking to feel better, improve the way you look, and have better emotional control…than join in the MaxFit revolution.  Whether you are a beginner at exercise or an elite athlete, this program will help you reach the next level like nothing else.  The 90 day program is a test group for further research, therefore it is absolutely free.      

MAXFIT:  The 12 Minute Fitness Revolution

The Most Cutting Edge New Fitness Program in the World

Final Enrollment Day is Monday, October 26th     7pm

HEALTHY RECIPE NIGHT
Exodus Health Center
2750 Jiles Rd  Kennesaw 30144
770-420-0492

PS:  Login/Passcode to the Video Series will be Emailed out on Monday
 If you want to use DVD’s, call 770-919-7171 to arrange to pick them up.