4 ms·

30 Minutes of Aerobic Exercise Supercharges Semantic Memory

91 points by laurex 7y ago

freetime2 7y ago
Often when work (or life in general) gets stressful, I’ll skip my daily workout routine. This is a good reminder of just how counterproductive that is. At the very least I should be able to get out for a 30 minute walk every day.
- stringfood 7y ago
  There is an old Buddhist quote "Set aside 30 minutes a day to meditate, unless you are extremly stressed or busy in which case set aside an hour"
  - steve_adams_86 7y ago
    I like this a lot. I think it's on point and worth remembering. The more you let the busyness and stress take hold, the deeper that hole you're digging gets...
mettamage 7y ago
I've learned this fact in my neuropsychology class from Prof. Dr. Erik Scherder. He is nowadays semi-famous in The Netherlands even and spreads this message as loud and as far as he can. The thing that annoys me about research like this is: it may be true, but I don't feel it. So to what extent is it really helpful? That is until I had an accidental yet natural experiment that lasted for two weeks. For two weeks I cycled every odd day to my work and I went to my work by metro every even day. It happened to rain every even day (and sometimes I decided to go cycling anyway on odd days, despite it raining). At some point, after about a week, I started noticing upon reflection that I felt much better at work whenever I cycled. This reflection wasn't planned, I simply wondered why I felt not as horrible as I usually do in similar circumstances -- I was severely sleep deprived when I was reflecting on this. Since I wasn't purposefully conducting an experiment and this wasn't on my mind, I figured this showed the true strength of the effect. The second week I started zooming in on this difference and really noticed it well. I estimate that I was about 20% cognitively more performant and 20% more emotionally stable. It didn't matter whether I had sever sleep deprivation or not. It always felt like I was about 20% better. So, if you want to experience it yourself. Cycle on odd days (for about 20-30 minutes) and go to the metro on even days. Within 2 weeks you should have noticed a difference.
- Mirioron 7y ago
  >The thing that annoys me about research like this is: it may be true, but I don't feel it. So to what extent is it really helpful? I think another important question with research like this is: "does it affect everyone?" Something can be statistically significant over the population, but that doesn't mean every individual in the population has that specific effect, but I do expect an effect like this to be near universal.
- cvolzer3 7y ago
  I observed a similar impact in performance during undergrad and developed a routine around the impact. I work a mentally intense 5hr stretch in the morning then take a 2hr break to have lunch, exercise, and shower. By the time I return to work, I'm completely refreshed and able to put in another 5hr stretch at peak performance levels.
clumsysmurf 7y ago
Where I live in the US desert southwest, the air is often foul from Ozone (summer, afternoons) or particulates (monsoons, winter, business as usual). I always wonder, if its worth exercising or not, or whats the optimal amount of exercise given a certain amount of pollution.
- 0xcde4c3db 7y ago
  Hard to gauge. Air pollution has definitely been shown to blunt some benefits of exercise, but I don't think we're at a point where anyone is even close to having the numbers to sum up the overall effect.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
blunte 7y ago
Mix this with the studies that show individual and couple benefits from regular sex, and I think we have a lot of motivation to "exercise" for 30+ minutes a few times per week.
blunte 7y ago
During periods where I regularly exercise, I find that I eat healthier (and on a more normal schedule). The diet improvement probably provides mental benefits as well.
tenkabuto 7y ago
> For this study, Smith and his UMB colleagues used fMRI neuroimaging to monitor the brain activity of study participants (ages, 55-85) and their ability to perform a memory task that involved identifying famous names on two separate days Should we expect these results to accord with the experience of people younger than 55-85?
keyle 7y ago
This is interesting but how was this not wildly known already? I feel I've read plenty of articles summing up the same idea. Pumping more oxygen leads to better performance throughout the entire body?
- EForEndeavour 7y ago
  The goal of studies like these is to convert common knowledge into scientific knowledge. It does make sense directionally, but it's still worth rigorously studying it.
MobileVet 7y ago
I started working out over lunch 2 years ago. I still hate actually working out but I use Netflix while on the elliptical so I get through it. This has completely removed the 2:00 lull that used to come after eating a meal at lunch. I still eat after the workout but it doesn’t knock me out when it is being digested. I absolutely see improvements in cognitive abilities that afternoon versus not working out.
- dorchadas 7y ago
  > I still hate actually working out but I use Netflix while on the elliptical so I get through it. Before I started running outdoors with a training program I actually like (not C25k) I would always take my Kindle to the gym and read while I walked at an angle on the treadmill or biked. Found I could easily go for hours this way. It's quite a bit of a motivator.
  - gattilorenz 7y ago
    Out of curiosity, what's the training program you like?
    - dorchadas 7y ago
      Start out doing 30 seconds of running and 2 minutes of rest. Then it slowly changes those so you're running more. If you Google None to Run, you can find a pdf adapted to it, that has an extra day a week.
    - dorchadas 7y ago
      Sorry! Just realized I totally misread your question. The name is "None to Run".

91 points by laurex 7y ago

Often when work (or life in general) gets stressful, I’ll skip my daily workout routine. This is a good reminder of just how counterproductive that is. At the very least I should be able to get out for a 30 minute walk every day.

stringfood 7y ago
There is an old Buddhist quote "Set aside 30 minutes a day to meditate, unless you are extremly stressed or busy in which case set aside an hour"
- steve_adams_86 7y ago
  I like this a lot. I think it's on point and worth remembering. The more you let the busyness and stress take hold, the deeper that hole you're digging gets...

mettamage 7y ago

I've learned this fact in my neuropsychology class from Prof. Dr. Erik Scherder. He is nowadays semi-famous in The Netherlands even and spreads this message as loud and as far as he can. The thing that annoys me about research like this is: it may be true, but I don't feel it. So to what extent is it really helpful? That is until I had an accidental yet natural experiment that lasted for two weeks. For two weeks I cycled every odd day to my work and I went to my work by metro every even day. It happened to rain every even day (and sometimes I decided to go cycling anyway on odd days, despite it raining). At some point, after about a week, I started noticing upon reflection that I felt much better at work whenever I cycled. This reflection wasn't planned, I simply wondered why I felt not as horrible as I usually do in similar circumstances -- I was severely sleep deprived when I was reflecting on this. Since I wasn't purposefully conducting an experiment and this wasn't on my mind, I figured this showed the true strength of the effect. The second week I started zooming in on this difference and really noticed it well. I estimate that I was about 20% cognitively more performant and 20% more emotionally stable. It didn't matter whether I had sever sleep deprivation or not. It always felt like I was about 20% better. So, if you want to experience it yourself. Cycle on odd days (for about 20-30 minutes) and go to the metro on even days. Within 2 weeks you should have noticed a difference.

Mirioron 7y ago
>The thing that annoys me about research like this is: it may be true, but I don't feel it. So to what extent is it really helpful? I think another important question with research like this is: "does it affect everyone?" Something can be statistically significant over the population, but that doesn't mean every individual in the population has that specific effect, but I do expect an effect like this to be near universal.
cvolzer3 7y ago
I observed a similar impact in performance during undergrad and developed a routine around the impact. I work a mentally intense 5hr stretch in the morning then take a 2hr break to have lunch, exercise, and shower. By the time I return to work, I'm completely refreshed and able to put in another 5hr stretch at peak performance levels.

clumsysmurf 7y ago

Where I live in the US desert southwest, the air is often foul from Ozone (summer, afternoons) or particulates (monsoons, winter, business as usual). I always wonder, if its worth exercising or not, or whats the optimal amount of exercise given a certain amount of pollution.

0xcde4c3db 7y ago
Hard to gauge. Air pollution has definitely been shown to blunt some benefits of exercise, but I don't think we're at a point where anyone is even close to having the numbers to sum up the overall effect.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

blunte 7y ago

Mix this with the studies that show individual and couple benefits from regular sex, and I think we have a lot of motivation to "exercise" for 30+ minutes a few times per week.

blunte 7y ago

During periods where I regularly exercise, I find that I eat healthier (and on a more normal schedule). The diet improvement probably provides mental benefits as well.

tenkabuto 7y ago

> For this study, Smith and his UMB colleagues used fMRI neuroimaging to monitor the brain activity of study participants (ages, 55-85) and their ability to perform a memory task that involved identifying famous names on two separate days Should we expect these results to accord with the experience of people younger than 55-85?

keyle 7y ago

This is interesting but how was this not wildly known already? I feel I've read plenty of articles summing up the same idea. Pumping more oxygen leads to better performance throughout the entire body?

EForEndeavour 7y ago
The goal of studies like these is to convert common knowledge into scientific knowledge. It does make sense directionally, but it's still worth rigorously studying it.

MobileVet 7y ago

I started working out over lunch 2 years ago. I still hate actually working out but I use Netflix while on the elliptical so I get through it. This has completely removed the 2:00 lull that used to come after eating a meal at lunch. I still eat after the workout but it doesn’t knock me out when it is being digested. I absolutely see improvements in cognitive abilities that afternoon versus not working out.

dorchadas 7y ago
> I still hate actually working out but I use Netflix while on the elliptical so I get through it. Before I started running outdoors with a training program I actually like (not C25k) I would always take my Kindle to the gym and read while I walked at an angle on the treadmill or biked. Found I could easily go for hours this way. It's quite a bit of a motivator.
- gattilorenz 7y ago
  Out of curiosity, what's the training program you like?
  - dorchadas 7y ago
    Start out doing 30 seconds of running and 2 minutes of rest. Then it slowly changes those so you're running more. If you Google None to Run, you can find a pdf adapted to it, that has an extra day a week.
  - dorchadas 7y ago
    Sorry! Just realized I totally misread your question. The name is "None to Run".