
8 minute read
GET YOUR BRAIN IN SHAPE
For a long time we’ve exercised for our physique. But studies are showing more and more the mindblowing benefits exercise has on our brains.
BY ZANITA FLETCHER
ver since I can remember, people have been motivated to exercise out of a desire to look good. We know being fit is associated with overall good health, but for a long time, the main thing that has gotten us off the couch and moving has been the vision of our dream body: the six-pack, the thigh gap, the lean legs . . . whatever your goal is. But a shift is happening in how people are thinking about exercise. Rather than it being solely about our physical appearance, people are becoming aware of its incredible benefits on our brains.
Back in the day, we didn’t hear Jane Fonda in her striped and belted leotard yelling at us to move our bodies for clarity of mind. Instead, we heard things like, “that’s right, get sexy”, and were told, “a big mirror to exercise in front of is essential”. None of us fell for the Ab Swing on the television commercials because we were thinking about improving our anxiety. Neither were we putting pictures of models running on the beach on our vision boards because we thought they would inspire us to do something to lower our chances of developing Alzheimer’s.
Let’s get one thing straight: the desire to want to look good is not a bad thing. But we run into problems when we participate in exercise only for our appearance. The reality is that many people never come face-to-face with their dream body. Despite your efforts, have you? With the media constantly presenting beautiful people in front of us, it’s nearly impossible not to pick ourselves apart and wish some part of us looked better. We are set up for disappointment and conditioned to be dissatisfied with our appearance, which works great for an industry that thrives off weight-loss products, supplements, health foods, gym memberships and diet programs.
For some, constant exercise becomes a slap in the face because it doesn’t produce their desired results. Others exercise out of guilt or shame after eating something contrary to their diet plan. Many get discouraged that their hard work isn’t paying off and stop caring for themselves altogether, saying, “it just doesn’t work for me”.
But there are many benefits we get from exercising that have been undermined by our fixation on our appearance. Studies show that exercise is one of the most transformative things we can do to improve cognitive abilities. It improves focus, increases creativity, enhances memory, improves learning, improves reasoning, reduces depression and anxiety, and boosts mood.1
According to the Nutraceutical Business Review, stress and sleep have been the fastest-growing global food supplement categories for the second year in a row, increasing by approximately 60 per cent in the past two years. Adaptogen herbs, medicinal mushrooms, CBD mints, and sleep gummies containing magnesium and melatonin have been selling like hotcakes.2 This highlights that our health problems as a culture are centred around stress, anxiety and sleeping disorders. The fact we have supplements and medications that can help is amazing, but they will fail us if we rely on them alone.
In his book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, John J Ratey says, “At every level, from the microcellular to the psychological, exercise not only wards off the ill effects of chronic stress; it can also reverse them. Studies show that if researchers exercise rats that have been chronically stressed, that activity makes the hippocampus grow back to its pre-shrivelled state. The mechanisms by which exercise changes how we think and feel are so much more effective than donuts, medicines, and wine. When you say you feel less stressed out after you go for a swim,
or even a fast walk, you are.”
Essentially, he’s saying exercise is one of the best ways to manage and reduce stress. It’s no coincidence we feel better after a good workout. Moving our bodies raises chemicals in the brain, such as endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline and oxytocin. These all produce feelings of pleasure and benefit us in a whole host of ways.3 As Ratey puts it, “Exercise is medicine.” Physical movement also boosts the brain’s natural antidepressants. It triggers the release of chemicals in the brain that promote a more balanced and relaxed mood.4 For those who are experiencing depression or anxiety, regular physical exercise can result in improvement as effective as medication but without the side effects and costs. A review published in 2022 found that two-and-a-half hours a week of brisk walking was related to a 25 per cent lower risk of depression.5 Even if you have no symptoms of anxiety or depression, regular exercise is extremely beneficial to the body and mind of young, old, healthy and ailing people. It translates into significant mental advantages, sometimes even bringing out better results than counselling and therapy.6

Thinking about our cognition, Ratey says, “exercise is the single most powerful tool you have to optimise your brain function”. Regular exercise boosts the size of the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex, the parts of your brain involved in memory and learning and the areas susceptible to diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s. “During exercise, [the hormones needed for learning and brain growth] push through the blood-brain barrier, a web of capillaries with tightly packed cells that screen out bulky intruders such as bacteria,” he says. Meaning, we need to get our blood pumping and our heart rate up so our brains get the hormones they need for alertness, motivation, logging new information and developing new cells. Just one workout can improve your ability to focus, giving you immediate benefits that last for at least two hours after 30 minutes of exercise.7
When we have such high standards about our appearance, exercise can become an unsustainable means to an end. Fixating on how you look can easily result in burning yourself out with exercise and not nourishing your body with enough food.
But when we understand the benefits it has on our happiness and wellbeing, we can create healthy habits and realistic benchmarks. We remove the chance of failure and shame because with exercise, you really can’t lose. You get benefits if you do it once, and you get even more benefits as you do it consistently.
Exercise won’t completely cure you and antidepressants and therapy aren’t a scam. Your worries won’t disappear after you go for a walk, and you won’t become a genius after a session at the gym. But studies show the effects of exercise on the brain are far more astounding than we thought. So, make exercise a daily habit and keep it at the top of your priorities . . . for the sake of your brain! One day you might wake up and see that Baywatch body looking back at you in the mirror. But even if you don’t, you’ll be in a healthier headspace and you might be able to keep putting on that red swimsuit in your old age— maybe not looking exactly how you imagined, but happy with who you are and glad to be alive anyway. We must remember that God gave us these bodies for our joy and movement to contribute to our health and happiness. When we’re in a healthier body, our mindset will be more positive too. The long-term benefits and the good physique are icing on the cake.
Zanita Fltcher is a life coach, writer and assistant editor for Signs of the Times magazine. She writes from the Gold Coast, Queensland.
1. Nedley, N. (2013). The Lost Art of Thinking: How to Improve Emotional Intelligence and Achieve Peak Mental Performance. Oklahoma, Nedley Publishing.
2. <https://nutraceuticalbusinessreview.com/news/ article_page/Stress_and_sleep_supplements_more_ than_a_fleeting_post-pandemic_trend/205384>.
3. John J Ratey (2013). Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. New York, Little, Brown and Company.
4. Science Daily. (1999). "CU Studies Suggest Exercise Protects Body Against Negative Effects of Stress From Brain to Cell." Available from: <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/10/991027072350.htm>.
5. Pearce M, Garcia L, Abbas A. (2022). "Association Between Physical Activity and Risk of Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis." JAMA Psychiatry. Available from: <https://jamanetwork. com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2790780>.
6. Tkachuk GA, Martin GL. (1999). "Exercise Therapy for Patients With Psychiatric Disorders: Research and Clinical Implications." Professional Psychology: Research and Practice
7. Mandolesi L, Polverino A, Montuori S, Foti F, Ferraioli G, Sorrentino P and Sorrentino G. (2018). "Effects of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Functioning and Wellbeing: Biological and Psychological Benefits." Front. Psychol. Available from: < https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00509/full>.
As a pastor, there are questions I’ve encountered more than once. They’re sometimes about the Bible but usually they’re about everyday life. If you’ve never had the opportunity to ask a pastor tough questions this is the place to ask them. I’ll do my best to respond honestly, authentically and biblically.

Did Jesus really exist? If so, what historical evidence do we really have that He was more than a first-century Jewish rabbi?—Ingrid, South Australia
When dealing with ancient history, it's important to recognise that our modern lenses often colour the way we see events from long ago. It's also important to reckon with the fact that a modern reader is usually concerned with different questions than an ancient person was.
Take, for example, historical accuracy. If I was telling you about a car crash I'd witnessed, I'd do my best to describe the details according to my best recollection. However, if someone else described the event from their perspective, no doubt some of the details would change. Does that make one of us right, and the other wrong? Not at all! The reality is, it's impossible for any one person to "objectively" describe facts devoid of perspective, bias or agenda. It's just how we are as humans. The same can be said of history. Our best records of Jesus' life and death are through the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Additionally, the apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament and though he never met Jesus during His ministry in Israel, Paul did encounter the risen Messiah and went on to document much of the early church's work in its first few decades of life. It is easy to accuse these early proponents of bias—after all, surely His disciples had a vested interest in spreading the message of Jesus, even if it was a lie, right? The only problem with this accusation is that there was never any debate in the ancient world as to Jesus' historical legitimacy. Jewish historian Josephus references Jesus twice in his writings, as well as the Jesus movement many more times. Syrian satirist Lucian of Samosata and Greek philosopher Celcus both dismissed Jesus as "a scoundrel". Jewish rabbis post-AD thought of Jesus as an illegitimate child of Mary and a sorcerer. Tacitus records for us that Jesus was executed under the watch of Pontius Pilate. For his part, Tacitus believed the Jesus movement to be a destructive superstition whereas his contemporary Pliny the Elder thought of it as a "pig-headed obstinacy". Notably though, any doubts as to the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth didn't exist in the first or second century. The only people who have issues with this concept are those who are willing to ignore the historical record in order to confirm their bias.
The more important question in my mind is the second part. Was Jesus more than just a good teacher? This requires a little more faith; I'm not afraid to admit that. A man dying then being raised from the dead? That hasn't ever happened to me, or to anyone I know! In Acts 5, some of the disciples have been put in prison. The religious leaders want blood but one well-respected Pharisee makes a case for their cause. He reminds them of previous "Messiahs": men who gathered people to them, tried to lead a revolution and ultimately failed. He says: "if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourself fighting against God" (Acts 5:38, 39). The reality is, the movement that started around a poor first-century Jewish Carpenter should not have succeeded, nor should it have gained the worldwide following it has today. What can we attribute this to? In my mind, the only answer I have is that there's something different about Jesus than any other messiah that came before, or came after.
I'm conviced that Jesus was more than a first-century Jewish rabbi. If you meet Him, I think you'll come to that conclusion too.