As if we didn’t already know how good exercise is for us, today I’m giving you yet another reason to make aerobic exercise a regular part of daily life.
Doesn’t it feel so good when you finish exercising? While I don’t always enjoy the process, I love feeling the flush in my cheeks and my heart racing afterwards. I feel alert and ready to take on the world. Exercise plays a powerful role in waking our brain up and turbo charging it for action.
In order to live, our bodies need food, water and oxygen. While we can survive for several weeks without food and a few days without water, we can’t go even 5 minutes without fresh oxygen before our brain begins to suffer serious damage. While the brain comprises only about 2% of our body mass, it uses up 20% of the oxygen supply. Our brain is an energy junkie. A vigorous blood supply delivers everything our brain needs to function at top capacity!
Regular exercise helps makes our heart stronger and increases normal blood flow to the brain. This puts us at an advantage when it comes to mental processing. And when we need a turbo boost, exercise is the ticket!
So get moving. Getting that heart pumping sends a surge of energy to the brain! If you find that the lights are on, but no one is at home during learning time, take a break for a run around the block or a quick game of tag. It just might give your children the brain boost they need to tackle the subject at hand!
As homeschool parents, it is equally important to not only direct our children this way when we see that they need it, but also train them to identify when their own thinking is getting fuzzy or they’ve hit a wall with a problem they are trying to tackle. Once they’ve identified it and know the benefits of exercise, they can take it upon themselves to get some aerobic activity to help them overcome academic roadblocks! Sometimes taking a quick jog will be just what they need for a breakthrough.
How do you all incorporate physical exercise into your days for yourself and/or for your children? In highschool and college, jogging was my go to means to wake my brain up. Now, the boys and I most prefer a game of tag. We find ourselves laughing, breathing hard and then ready to come in and face the next challenge of the day!
Day 1: Boosting Brain Power Starts with Food and Water
Day 2: How Sleep Makes Us Smarter
Day 3: Exercise Boosts Brain Power
Exercise is so important. I work in an office now – all done home schooling. I try to take a brisk walk or two every day. Sometimes just a five minute walk will really help me to concentrate!
Oh, these are fabulous posts, Heather! The water intake idea hit home for me–I’m guilty of drinking only coffee all morning. And although we’ve focused a lot on healthy food we hadn’t considered water intake for the kids. We do guard sleep and exercise daily but perhaps I should have exercise in an earlier slot and take advantage of the brain boost for schoolwork.
Love it!