The Power of Brain Training in Senior Fitness

Caceres, Spain — Retirees, take note. It’s time to dust off your sneakers and sharpen your pencils. Instead of prune juice and power walking, scientists have devised a recipe that combines the best of both worlds to stay sharp and healthy. Groundbreaking new research suggests that combining brain training with physical exercise may be the key to staying healthy and mentally sharp as you age.

Researchers from the University of Extremadura in Spain and the University of Birmingham in the UK have found that a new training approach called brain endurance training (BET) can significantly improve both cognitive and physical performance in older adults. Published in a magazine Psychology of sport and exerciseThis study shows that BET not only improves performance when participants are fresh, but also helps them maintain high performance levels even when they are fatigued.

For the study, the study authors looked at 24 healthy, sedentary women between the ages of 65 and 78. These women were randomly divided into three groups. One group received BET, another group received only physical exercise training, and a control group received nothing. No training at all.

The BET group and the exercise-only group followed the same physical training plan of three 45-minute sessions per week for eight weeks. Each session included 20 minutes of strength training (such as squats or bicep curls) and 25 minutes of walking. The main difference was that the BET group also performed a 20-minute cognitive task before each exercise session.

To test the effectiveness of the training, researchers assessed participants’ cognitive and physical performance at four time points: before training began, during the 8-week program, immediately after the program ended, and 4 weeks after the program ended. did.

Cognitive tests included a psychomotor arousal task, which measures reaction time and attention, and a Stroop test, which assesses the ability to override automatic responses, an important aspect of cognitive control. The physical examination includes a 6-minute walk test, a 30-second chair-stand test (stand and sit repeatedly), and a 30-second arm curl test.

Importantly, these tests were performed twice during each evaluation. once when participants were “fresh” and once after completing a mentally exhausting 30-minute cognitive task. This allowed the researchers to assess how well different training approaches helped participants maintain performance even when they were mentally fatigued.

The results revealed that both the BET and exercise-only groups experienced improvements in cognitive and physical performance compared to the control group. However, the BET group consistently performed better than the exercise-only group, especially when participants were fatigued.

For example, from the beginning to the end of the study, the BET group improved their chair-stand test performance by 59.4% when fatigued, compared to 47.5% for the exercise-only group. On cognitive tasks, the BET group improved Stroop test accuracy by 12.1% during fatigue, compared to 6.9% for the exercise-only group.

“We showed that BET may be an effective intervention to improve cognitive and physical performance in older adults, even when they are fatigued.” said corresponding author Chris Ring of the university in a statement. “This could have a major impact on improving the health span of this population, including reducing the risk of falls and accidents.”

Additionally, participants in the BET group reported that physical activity became easier over time, suggesting that combining brain and body training may help recalibrate the relationship between exercise and perceived effort. It shows that there is a gender. This may increase the likelihood that older adults will continue their exercise habits, further improving their health and well-being.

“These promising early findings show that we need to do more to encourage older adults to participate in BET to improve brain and body activity,” Ring added. Ta.

Of course, this study included only a small group of women, so further research on BET is needed with a larger sample size that includes both men and women, Ring said.

We can’t turn back time, but this study suggests we might be able to make it a little more difficult. So don’t be surprised if your next visit to a retirement community feels like a trip to a futuristic training facility. Tomorrow’s seniors may be the superheroes we’ve been waiting for.