Brain Boosting Exercise to Improve Mental Health, Motivation and Work Life Balance

The following is an edited excerpt from the best-selling book 'The Habit Mechanic - Fine-Tune Your Brain and Supercharge How You Live, Work, and Lead' by Dr. Jon Finn. Get your copy here and learn how to quickly build better sleep, diet and exercise habits.

Our Diet, Exercise, and Sleep (DES) habits are crucial for wellbeing and success. Diet, exercise, and sleep help maintain the hippocampus (or hippocampi—as there is one in each brain hemisphere), which is the main part of the human brain that produces new brain cells. These new cells are very important for helping us manage stress, perform well, and learn new things. Poor diet, exercise, and sleep can lead to the hippocampus becoming damaged. That makes managing stress and consistent high performance more difficult.

Good exercise and diet also help the brain release a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This helps brain cells grow and flourish, so we can manage stress and learn more with less effort. Diet, exercise, and sleep are the foundation for:

better stress management;
spending less time thinking unhelpful thoughts;
being focused to drive productivity, creativity, and problem-solving;
building and maintaining robust levels of confidence;
performing well under pressure; and
better leadership for improved individual and team performance.

Good DES habits are the foundation for work-life balance.

Now that we have a general understanding about the importance of DES for good brain function—the foundation of health, happiness, and performance—we can explore each area in greater depth. This week, we are going to focus on: Exercise.

Exercise: Why is it important?

Exercise boosts brain function. Sometimes we misunderstand the term “exercise” and fail to appreciate that simply walking somewhere is exercise. We should all recognize that any form of physical activity (especially walking) is beneficial. We would also all probably recognize that it is easy to become inactive and sedentary in our modern lives.

According to molecular neuroscientist Professor John Medina, humans are designed to move around (walk up to 12 miles per day) and solve problems, not to be inactive! But sedentary behavior is on the increase in our society, and this is problematic.

Exercise improves your brain power and boosts BDNF levels. It also makes it easier to HAC (Helpful Attention Control) your brain and

regulate unhelpful thoughts;
feel better and more motivated;
be more productive;
learn, be creative, and solve problems; and
improve individual and leadership performance.

It is also important to recognize that different types of exercise impact your brain differently. Here are some examples:

Lifting weights and strength training are connected to complex thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving.
Aerobic exercise is thought to boost memory.
High-intensity interval training helps regulate cravings, addictions, and appetite.
Yoga is connected to strengthening brain circuits connected to emotional regulation.
Outdoor daytime exercise (e.g., walking) can improve your mood because natural light helps activate brain chemistry that makes you feel good. Conversely, “seasonal affective disorder” (SAD) is activated by low levels of natural light.

Dr. Jon Finn founded the award-winning Tougher Minds consultancy and has three psychology-related degrees, including a PhD. He has worked in performance psychology, resilience, and leadership science for over 20 years.

Tougher Minds uses cutting-edge insights from psychology, behavioral science, neuroscience, and world champions to help organizations develop ‘Habit Mechanics’ and ‘Chief Habit Mechanics’ – Resilient people, outstanding Leaders, and World-Class teams.

Having trained and coached over 10,000 people, Dr. Finn and his colleagues work with global businesses, high-growth start-ups, individuals, elite athletes, coaches and teams, leading educational institutes, families, the UK government, and think tanks. For podcast episodes and free resources, visit: tougherminds.co.uk.