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Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

well.blogs.nytimes.com

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Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#41

Post by mym1990 »

conistonwater wrote: post #15
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #2

Rodent studies aren't really great for measuring this because it's nearly impossible to control for the rodents' enjoyment of each exercise. We know that rodents enjoy running wheels because they use them voluntarily. It's not surprising that the exercise they enjoy is the one that seems to produce the most benefits. For humans: Doing any exercise is better than doing no exercise. Doing frequent exercise is better th…

> even if it's just getting outside and seeing other people in passing as you run past There is nothing social about that at all, that's just not what the word means.

This feels a little harsh. It is known that when humans see other humans doing similar things a bond(empathy) can be created without ever even talking to that person.

When I drive my Jeep and do that little Jeep wave to other Jeeps, that gives me a sense of community with those people(no matter how dumb or weird people driving other cars think it is).

When you run and someone runs past you and you do the little head nod, that is absolutely social, you absolutely relate to that person and create a small social bond.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#42

Post by vsareto »

conistonwater wrote: post #17
Swizec wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find HIIT doesn’t do it for me. Can’t push myself hard enough in such short bursts because I have ridiculous cardio conditioning* from running. Boxing is great because it’s hiit but with technique and tactics and strategy. * ridiculous conditioning in that I can keep average heart rate at 155bpm for 2 hours no problem. Most hiit isn’t long enough to get me above 110

HIIT means all-out sprints with short rests in between, but that's (unfortunately) not how it's presented in social media sometimes. No matter your shape, running all-out sprints in that particular way will get you to the max heart rate. It's just there are too many people misusing the word now.

I thought they present it as ratios as well, so 1:1 is 1 minute on, 1 minute off, or 2m on, 2m off. They give different ratios depending on your level of conditioning, so like 2:1 for fit folks or 1:2 if you're not as fit. I've heard max effort most of the time, but some others have just recommended doing what feels comfortable for newer folks.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#43

Post by admax88q »

> For this regimen, the animals were placed on little treadmills and required to sprint at a very rapid and strenuous pace for three minutes, followed by two minutes of slow skittering, with the entire sequence repeated twice more, for a total of 15 minutes of running.

I wonder how exactly they were "required" to maintain this pace. Sounds like it could easily have been traumatic, which would have its own effects on neurogenesis.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#44

Post by mcorning »

My father has run every day for almost 10 years, a combo pack of speed and distance, but at least a 5k every day. One thing we talked about regarding thinking and running really stuck with me.

He sometimes listens to music and audiobooks so that he wouldn't get bored during his runs. Then one day, when his headphones were dead, he went without any music. He found himself having a conversation in his head, addressing questions that he hadn't asked himself in years. Now, it's some truly coveted alone and reflection time. He very often comes back from his runs energized with new ideas or an organized plan of what he needs to tackle next in his job (he's in academia).

I have also found the quiet of running to be invaluable at on some days and will often choose the conversation of myself as opposed to tuning in and out of an audiobook.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#45

Post by hi41 »

mikestew wrote: post #31
hi41 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone said that doing highly repetitive exercises like running can cause increase in the stress hormone cortisol and hence we must do that in limit. Is that true?

No offense, but we're supposed to counter argue against an anonymous "someone" for which you don't even provide a source? Post a link, we can go from there. That said, I've been a competitive distance runner for over 40 years. What adverse effects should I be seeing? 'cuz I can't think of any.

It was my close family who told that. I told him that I got an Peloton bike for exercise. At that point he told me what I wrote above. It was part of a conversation and not a webpage that can be linked. Sorry about that.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#46

Post by Jtsummers »

mym1990 wrote: post #41
conistonwater wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> even if it's just getting outside and seeing other people in passing as you run past There is nothing social about that at all, that's just not what the word means.

This feels a little harsh. It is known that when humans see other humans doing similar things a bond(empathy) can be created without ever even talking to that person. When I drive my Jeep and do that little Jeep wave to other Jeeps, that gives me a sense of community with those people(no matter how dumb or weird people driving other cars think it is). When you run and someone runs past you and you do the little head…

It's also fun running into those other runners later. I used to run on a 5k trail near my office (for about 5 years), and would see a lot of colleagues later and recognize them from an afternoon or lunchtime run. It created another point of relation for us besides just sharing an office and a mutual boss four levels above us.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#47

Post by hluska »

mikestew wrote: post #31
hi41 wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Someone said that doing highly repetitive exercises like running can cause increase in the stress hormone cortisol and hence we must do that in limit. Is that true?

No offense, but we're supposed to counter argue against an anonymous "someone" for which you don't even provide a source? Post a link, we can go from there. That said, I've been a competitive distance runner for over 40 years. What adverse effects should I be seeing? 'cuz I can't think of any.

This idea comes from Mark Sisson and frankly, if you’ve been a competitive runner for that long, you should likely know that and be prepared to argue it. I’ve been a competitive runner for a fraction of that time and have had this conversation so many times it’s muscle memory.

The article this idea comes from is based on the idea that long distance runners spending their whole runs at 80 - 85% of their max heart rate. That’s only about 20 seconds off my 5k race pace if I want to compete at that distance. There’s no way that I’d keep that pace at distance - my coach would fire me, I’d be an idiot and I’d overtrain myself into oblivion.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#48

Post by hluska »

hi41 wrote: post #45
mikestew wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No offense, but we're supposed to counter argue against an anonymous "someone" for which you don't even provide a source? Post a link, we can go from there. That said, I've been a competitive distance runner for over 40 years. What adverse effects should I be seeing? 'cuz I can't think of any.

It was my close family who told that. I told him that I got an Peloton bike for exercise. At that point he told me what I wrote above. It was part of a conversation and not a webpage that can be linked. Sorry about that.

Hey friend, you have no reason to apologize. That idea comes from a former endurance athlete turned fitness blogger named Mark Sisson. It’s quite a famous article amongst competitive long distance athletes, mostly because it ignores how we actually train.

Mark Sisson’s entire idea is based off of the idea that long distance athletes train at what’s called tempo pace. Tempo pace is about 80-85% of maximum heart rate.

He went on to argue that consistently training at long distances increases cortisol levels and said this is bad.

There are two problems with this. First, distance runners don’t do all of their training at tempo pace because that’s stupid. Second, cortisol isn’t all bad - the body needs to be over stressed at points in order to create the adaptations that we are exercising for.

Point being, you’ve got to be careful just like you are with any form of exercise. If you destroy your body day after day for long enough, bad things will eventually happen to you.

The important thing to always remember is that more runners die from drinking too much water than die from not drinking enough. Everything can and will kill if taken to the very extreme.

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#49

Post by conistonwater »

vsareto wrote: post #42
conistonwater wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HIIT means all-out sprints with short rests in between, but that's (unfortunately) not how it's presented in social media sometimes. No matter your shape, running all-out sprints in that particular way will get you to the max heart rate. It's just there are too many people misusing the word now.

I thought they present it as ratios as well, so 1:1 is 1 minute on, 1 minute off, or 2m on, 2m off. They give different ratios depending on your level of conditioning, so like 2:1 for fit folks or 1:2 if you're not as fit. I've heard max effort most of the time, but some others have just recommended doing what feels comfortable for newer folks.

I got it from searching on google scholar, there were lots of papers on it because it's both a buzzword and a seemingly effective training technique for even high-level athletes. The basic issue with the whole concept is that it's supposed to produce similar improvements to long steady sessions of cardio, but only very hard efforts with short intervals produce such improvements. So beginners can't really do hard efforts very well, and if they also use long rest periods, and especially if they don't go all-out, then the benefits aren't there for them at all and it just becomes false advertising. I think it's a little sad how a valuable bit of sports science got mangled. If you do all this stuff to save time and you don't even get the benefits, then doing low-intensity cardio is just so much better. I run a lot these days but I can't imagine an all-out anaerobic sprint that's 2m long, it seems both difficult and biologically impossible, I think that's just regular interval training (not high-intensity).

Re: Which type of exercise is best for the brain? (2016)

#50

Post by throwawayboise »

conistonwater wrote: post #15
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #2

Rodent studies aren't really great for measuring this because it's nearly impossible to control for the rodents' enjoyment of each exercise. We know that rodents enjoy running wheels because they use them voluntarily. It's not surprising that the exercise they enjoy is the one that seems to produce the most benefits. For humans: Doing any exercise is better than doing no exercise. Doing frequent exercise is better th…

> even if it's just getting outside and seeing other people in passing as you run past There is nothing social about that at all, that's just not what the word means.

Maybe "social" isn't the right word, but it's a break from isolation. I find that going to the gym just to get out of the house and be in the presence of other people seems to make me feel better. I don't really talk to anyone there, unless it happens to be someone I already know.
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