It has been proven in various studies that physical activity can significantly improve brain health. However, many of those studies involve uniquely aerobic forms of exercise, and exclude resistance training forms of exercise. A few examples of aerobic forms of exercise would be walking, running, hiking, biking, swimming, etc. Resistance training includes free weights, medicine balls and weight training machines. There is a distinct difference between aerobic and resistance training exercises. Aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular health by conditioning the heart by increasing oxygen consumption without making significant changes to a persons strength. Resistance training involves strength training and increases a persons strength.

Resistance training is also said to improve neuromuscular adaptations. You may be wondering what that means. Well, the best way to describe it is that through resistance training our muscles become stronger and are conditioned to react faster to create an action or motion. By training our bodies and muscles using resistance or weight we set ourselves up to learn to react more quickly and efficiently in every day activities without resistance. Older people are often encouraged to do resistant training three times a week. This sets them up for success when doing day to day activities. If someone leaves home and almost slips on black ice but is able to activate their muscles in their legs and core quickly, they have a better chance of avoiding a fall. This is a practical example of the way resistance training can benefit our every day lives.

In this article research was done using mice to evaluate whether or not short term resistance exercise training is capable of improving brain function. The mice neuropathological and neuroinflammatory changes were observed in two regions of their their brain; the frontal cortex and hippocampus. The frontal cortex is a part of the brain with multiple functions, such as motor function, language, impulse control and most importantly for this experiment, memory. The hippocampus is found deep in the temporal lobe and plays a large part of learning and memory of the mouse.

Alzheimer’s disease is a brain disorder that progresses, until the individual suffering can no longer carry out simple day-to-day tasks. It is most commonly known for destroying memory and thinking skills.

In order to conduct this research, mice with cognitive impairment were chosen as subjects. The mice were required to partake in rigorous training by climbing slopes of one meter in length. As the activity continued weight was added to their backs. This was an example of resistance training with the mice. Brain functionality was proven to be more effective after completing the exercise than it was before completing the resistance training exercises. This research concluded that resistance training can help improve cognitive function of the brain. In other words, resistance training can be an alternative treatment for slowing progression of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Early signs of AD like synaptic dysfunction in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. These two areas of the brain are particularly vulnerable to developing neuropathological diseases. Through this research this was shown to slow down after the mice completed resistance exercise training. There was an increase in the presence of proteins involved in required synaptic daily functions. The number of amyloid plaques (a form of protein involved in AD) were also significant reduced following the experiment.

Whether we are dealing with mice or elderly people, it is interesting to think about the way that something as simple of exercise can significantly improve our overall health. Our brain is so powerful and can be trained to do so many things in so many different ways. The next time you are heading to the gym be sure to incorporate some resistance training exercises into your workout. Your future self with thank you!

Reference:
Liu, Yan, et al. “Short-Term Resistance Exercise Inhibits Neuroinflammation and Attenuates Neuropathological Changes in 3xTg Alzheimer’s Disease Mice.” Journal of Neuroinflammation, vol. 17, no. 1, 2020, doi:10.1186/s12974-019-1653-7.