4 ms·

From a similar view, the book, "Spark: How Exercise will improve your performance by Dr. John Ratey" has other benefits of exercising: 1. Exercise is better th

by chegra 4y ago

From a similar view, the book, "Spark: How Exercise will improve your performance by Dr. John Ratey" has other benefits of exercising: 1. Exercise is better than Zoloft in treating depression 2. Students with higher fitness scores also have higher test scores 3. People learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster following exercise than they did before exercise 4. A massive Dutch study of 19,288 twins and their families published in 2006 showed that exercisers are less anxious, less depressed, less neurotic, and also more socially outgoing. 5. A study in London in 2004 showed that even ten minutes of exercise could blunt an alcoholic’s craving. I wrote a summary/highlight of the key ideas in the book here : https://www.chestergrant.com/highlights-from-spark-how-exercise-will-improve-the-performance-of-your-brain-by-dr-john-ratey https://www.chestergrant.com/highlights-from-spark-how-exerc...

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
jraby3 4y ago
Excellent book. I read it a long time ago. I’m sure if their was an update their would be even more studies showing the massive benefits of exercise on all aspects of life.
mudrockbestgirl 4y ago
I have no doubt that exercise is good for you, but I'm extremely skeptical about these kind of books. I haven't read this one specifically but from your description it fits this archetype of pop-science books that cite studies as proof. But studies, especially these kinds of studies, are no proof. It sounds like a huge collection of selection-bias based experiments, which already suffer from selection bias due to the academic system, spun into a narrative to sell a book to the general clueless population. Again, I'm sure exercise is great for you (how could it be bad?), but given how difficult it is to get replication in these types of studies I wouldn't trust any of the specific results... I'd bet lots of money that, for example, "People learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster" is complete BS and not replicable.
- chegra 4y ago
  I wouldn't doubt that the specifics are incorrect, but the general picture is good. As a chess player, I can tell you I feel the difference between days I work out and days I don't.
- sammalloy 4y ago
  The effect is explained by the increase in cerebral blood flow as opposed to sitting. I myself have experienced it. If you have a goal involving something creative, try walking for 20-30 minutes at a good pace before you attempt it. You’ll notice the difference in energy, germination of ideas, and attention and focus. It works.
- omniscient_oce 4y ago
  I'm completely over self-help books now. Why pay $20 to be taught that water is wet in 200+ pages. Exercise is good, drinking water is good, sleep is good, et cetera. The exact percentage doesn't really matter.
  - chegra 4y ago
    You can think of self-help books as stocks and you are a venture capitalist. So books may contain zero value and add no benefits to your life, while others might provide information and advice that presents you with new information that adds thousand or even millions of dollars to your life. The winners pay for the losers. Valuable insights I have gotten from reading self help books: 1. The frequency of a habit matters more for the development of a habit than the intensity. My chess coaching motto came from this book: "Consistency over Intensity"[1] 2. Most people are deficient in magnesium. Magnesium is considered the anti-stress mineral. A central symptom of the deficiency is insomnia. Personally, I started taking 250mg of magnesium supplement daily. [2] 3. Similarly, to the fight-or-flight response, there is pause-and-plan response. Your willpower can be increase by slowing down your breathing thus triggering the pause and plan response. This is something I do when I get intense cravings during my fast.[3] 4. Putting some tape over your mouth before bed can stop sleep apnea. Admittedly, I have stopped this(I will restart), but when I did, I had some of the most refreshing sleep.[4] 5. Another of my mottos, progress equals happiness came from reading self-help books. [5] [1] - https://www.chestergrant.com/26-highlights-from-mini-habits-by-stephen-guise https://www.chestergrant.com/26-highlights-from-mini-habits-... [2] - https://www.chestergrant.com/highlights-from-sleep-smarter-by-shawn-stevenson https://www.chestergrant.com/highlights-from-sleep-smarter-b... [3] - https://www.chestergrant.com/notes-the-willpower-instinct-by-kelly-mcgonigal https://www.chestergrant.com/notes-the-willpower-instinct-by... [4] - https://www.chestergrant.com/summary-breath-by-james-nestor https://www.chestergrant.com/summary-breath-by-james-nestor [5] - https://www.chestergrant.com/the-progress-principle-by-teresa-amabile-and-steven-kramer-highlights https://www.chestergrant.com/the-progress-principle-by-teres...

by chegra 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

jraby3 4y ago

Excellent book. I read it a long time ago. I’m sure if their was an update their would be even more studies showing the massive benefits of exercise on all aspects of life.

mudrockbestgirl 4y ago

I have no doubt that exercise is good for you, but I'm extremely skeptical about these kind of books. I haven't read this one specifically but from your description it fits this archetype of pop-science books that cite studies as proof. But studies, especially these kinds of studies, are no proof. It sounds like a huge collection of selection-bias based experiments, which already suffer from selection bias due to the academic system, spun into a narrative to sell a book to the general clueless population. Again, I'm sure exercise is great for you (how could it be bad?), but given how difficult it is to get replication in these types of studies I wouldn't trust any of the specific results... I'd bet lots of money that, for example, "People learn vocabulary words 20 percent faster" is complete BS and not replicable.

chegra 4y ago
I wouldn't doubt that the specifics are incorrect, but the general picture is good. As a chess player, I can tell you I feel the difference between days I work out and days I don't.
sammalloy 4y ago
The effect is explained by the increase in cerebral blood flow as opposed to sitting. I myself have experienced it. If you have a goal involving something creative, try walking for 20-30 minutes at a good pace before you attempt it. You’ll notice the difference in energy, germination of ideas, and attention and focus. It works.
omniscient_oce 4y ago
I'm completely over self-help books now. Why pay $20 to be taught that water is wet in 200+ pages. Exercise is good, drinking water is good, sleep is good, et cetera. The exact percentage doesn't really matter.
- chegra 4y ago
  You can think of self-help books as stocks and you are a venture capitalist. So books may contain zero value and add no benefits to your life, while others might provide information and advice that presents you with new information that adds thousand or even millions of dollars to your life. The winners pay for the losers. Valuable insights I have gotten from reading self help books: 1. The frequency of a habit matters more for the development of a habit than the intensity. My chess coaching motto came from this book: "Consistency over Intensity"[1] 2. Most people are deficient in magnesium. Magnesium is considered the anti-stress mineral. A central symptom of the deficiency is insomnia. Personally, I started taking 250mg of magnesium supplement daily. [2] 3. Similarly, to the fight-or-flight response, there is pause-and-plan response. Your willpower can be increase by slowing down your breathing thus triggering the pause and plan response. This is something I do when I get intense cravings during my fast.[3] 4. Putting some tape over your mouth before bed can stop sleep apnea. Admittedly, I have stopped this(I will restart), but when I did, I had some of the most refreshing sleep.[4] 5. Another of my mottos, progress equals happiness came from reading self-help books. [5] [1] - https://www.chestergrant.com/26-highlights-from-mini-habits-by-stephen-guise https://www.chestergrant.com/26-highlights-from-mini-habits-... [2] - https://www.chestergrant.com/highlights-from-sleep-smarter-by-shawn-stevenson https://www.chestergrant.com/highlights-from-sleep-smarter-b... [3] - https://www.chestergrant.com/notes-the-willpower-instinct-by-kelly-mcgonigal https://www.chestergrant.com/notes-the-willpower-instinct-by... [4] - https://www.chestergrant.com/summary-breath-by-james-nestor https://www.chestergrant.com/summary-breath-by-james-nestor [5] - https://www.chestergrant.com/the-progress-principle-by-teresa-amabile-and-steven-kramer-highlights https://www.chestergrant.com/the-progress-principle-by-teres...