Exercise makes us feel good – that’s well documented. But do you know why? Does it burn off stress? Reduce muscle tension? Or release endorphins perhaps?
One reason why we feel so good after pushing ourselves physically is that it makes the brain function at its best.
Building muscle and conditioning the heart and lungs are essential effects of exercise but can we get our students to build and condition their brains using the power of physical activity? The short answer is yes.
Research shows that exercise makes the brain function at its best, so we have set up a new BCB running club to help students do just that.
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This is why. The brain responds like muscles do, growing with use, shriveling with inactivity. The neurons in the brain connect to one another on tree-like branches, and exercise causes those branches to grow, thus enhancing brain function at a fundamental level. In turn, this has a profound impact on cognitive abilities and mental health. It is simply one of the best treatments we have for most psychological challenges.
Here’s the proof. Naperville Central High School started a physical education programme to investigate whether exercise improved students’ performance and learning abilities. In this experiment, students began each day by running one mile around the school track. Heart-rate monitors were used to ensure students ran within their capabilities. The results were astounding. This one mile run not only improved these students’ physique, but also improved their learning. These students noticed increased awareness, improvement in reading and comprehension, and in the same year, Naperville students finished first in the world on the Trends in the International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test. The students who exercised saw a 17 percent improvement rate, while a control group of classmates, who only attended extra classes, saw an improvement of only 10 per cent in academic performance. So, it is safe to say that exercise has a lot of benefits - boosting the capabilities of our brains is one of them.
Subsequent research concerning exercise and learning has shown that exercise improves learning on three levels:
1. It optimises your mind-set to improve alertness, attention, and motivation.
2. It prepares and encourages cells to bind to one another, which is the cellular basis for logging in new information.
3. It helps the development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory centre.
So how are we implementing this amazing research here at BCB?
Simple, the dawn of the BCB running club. BCB Running club started on Friday 25th February for years 11-13 and is also open to all staff members.
With the exam season looming ever closer, the club gives students a chance to keep their brains in tip-top condition. It is also a great opportunity for the senior students to bond with staff members and create a healthy and physically active community within the school.
For our students, there is a daily inevitability of social media, video streaming, notifications, and gaming that diverts their focus away from tasks such as studying. It grows ever-more important that we use the tools at hand to maximise the potential of our students’ brains. And it seems like something as simple as running a few miles a week is the way to do that.
So put your shoes on and take the first step towards exam success.
