Ep. 15: How Fitness Fights Stress
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That’s our guest for episode 15, Dr. Jennifer Heisz, expert on the relationship between exercise and the brain, mid-cycle during the Lake Placid Ironman 70.3.
Exercise is the most important thing you can do to help yourself cope. But the pandemic makes it difficult for us to get physical activity. Host Shaun Francis spoke with brain health expert Dr. Jennifer Heisz, the professor who leads McMaster University’s NeuroFit Lab, to learn a set of easy-to-follow tips and tricks that use physical activity to decrease stress even in these uncertain times.
Mentioned in this ep:
Find Dr. Heisz and the NeuroFit Lab’s survey on the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic, exercise and mental health here.
Here’s a New York Times article that describes the research of Dr. Heisz.
Key points summarized and edited from Shaun’s conversation with Dr. Jennifer Heisz:
Shaun: In your research you have a great phrase that sums up how exercise can help brain function. Can you tell us that phrase, and then tell us whether it applies during the pandemic?
Dr. Heisz: Absolutely. The phrase is, sweat so you don't forget. We’ve studied it within the context of academics. Students try to stay intensely focused during an hour-long class. Over the course of a lecture, the ones who engaged in exercise breaks every 20 minutes were better able to stay focused on the instructor, to learn better overall, which in turn resulted in better test performance. The length of the class was about the same as a standard Zoom meeting in the pandemic, and the exercise breaks involved the sort of things anyone can do in small spaces, such as jumping jacks, high knees and kicks. So from a work perspective, you can imagine that employees who are working at home, who exercise, would be better able to focus on the instructions of their managers. Overall efficiency and productivity would be higher if individuals were taking these short breaks to help them maintain their focus.
Shaun: You’ve talked about the way exercise can actually train us to deal better with stress, to the point that fit people can react better to stressful events. That seems pertinent now more than ever.
Dr. Heisz: The COVID-19 pandemic has created a pressure cooker. The uncertainty [around the pandemic] creates this sense of chronic stress that is in the background of everything we do. There's more cortisol and adrenaline running through our bloodstream. And this is making people more tense, maybe more angry, a little bit more hostile. That’s affecting our ability to deal with everyday stressors like a work deadline or an argument with a family member. Maybe you've noticed that you're more angry, or your fuse is shorter when your child is trying to interrupt you during a Zoom call. The fascinating thing about the stress response is that we can train it to our advantage. Exercise is one of the best ways to tone the stress system. Just like we tone a muscle by purposely lifting it up and down, we can tone the stress response with exercise. So we become less reactive.
Shaun: What has your research shown about the relationship between exercise, dementia and Alzheimer’s?
Dr. Heisz: One of the key regions that benefit from exercise stress is a brain region called the hippocampus. This region is critical for learning and memory. It's also the one that's most devastated by Alzheimer's disease. So stress from exercise is a really strong stimulus for improving memory across the lifespan. And that has to do with the increase in brain-derived neurotrophic factor, because the higher the intensity of the exercise, the more of these growth factors are released to help to support the brain functioning of the hippocampus. So exercise is one of the greatest things that you can do to protect your brain health as you get older. It's been identified as the single greatest modifiable risk factor against dementia and Alzheimer's.
Shaun: How much exercise to get this effect?
Dr. Heisz: For most people, for promoting mental health, reducing stress and enhancing the brain, a brisk moderate-intensity walk is enough, for 30 minutes repeated three times a week.
Find more great conversation in the actual episode. Please subscribe and rate us on your favourite podcast platform. Eat Move Think host Shaun Francis is Medcan’s CEO and chair. Follow him on Twitter @shauncfrancis. Connect with him on LinkedIn. And follow him on Instagram @shauncfrancis. Eat Move Think is produced by Ghost Bureau.
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