Why Exercise Is Just As Important As Brain-Healthy Eating
How much and what kind of exercise fends off Alzheimer’s
Hello, brain health ambassadors. It’s peak wildflower season where I live, which means I have been hiking and biking in the mountains every chance I get. Every summer I run into the same conundrum: how to maximize my time outdoors while keeping to a strength training routine. Lately, I’ve been taking my hand weights and resistance bands outside to work out in a shady part of the backyard. My workout flies by as I listen to podcasts and watch the dogs play, and my mood almost always gets a boost.
We’ve been having a good discussion this month about the importance of hitting protein requirements in a brain-healthy diet. I’ve really enjoyed hearing how you’ve been seeking out good-quality sources of protein! Getting enough protein is key for successful aging, but when it comes to preserving muscle mass, it’s only part of the equation. It’s also essential to include resistance exercises in your brain-healthy work-out routine.
Regular exercise can reduce Alzheimer’s risk to the same degree as a brain-protective diet—about 50%. The good news is: When diet and exercise are combined, the risk goes down even more.
Today, I’m diving deep into the reasons why exercise is so important, what a brain-healthy exercise routine looks like, and the concept of anabolic resistance. Next week I’ll share how to get started and create a strength program that sticks, plus wisdom from three of my fave fitness experts.
Anabolic Resistance
Building and maintaining muscle mass is important for adults of all ages. Between 20 and 40, the body’s metabolism is more receptive to muscle protein synthesis, thanks to plenty of circulating hormones. After 40, you may find it is more difficult to maintain muscle mass than when you were younger. Take just a week off from working out, for example, and your muscles may feel smaller. Or, perhaps it takes more effort to get the same strength gains you used to.
It’s not your imagination! The culprit is anabolic resistance, a well-documented phenomenon of aging. This means the older you get, the less robustly your muscles respond to the stimulus of exercise and dietary protein. In fact, that’s one reason why protein requirements go up with age. It takes more dietary protein to maintain the same muscle mass.
While this sounds dreadful, it’s entirely possible to fight back against anabolic resistance and its resulting sarcopenia (low muscle mass). Last time I mentioned that all the protein in the world won’t build and maintain muscle if you are not doing regular resistance or strengthening exercise. Resistance training involves pushing or pulling against the resistance of an object (including your own body), such as doing planks, push-ups, and squats. Strength training involves targeting muscle groups to hypertrophy by lifting weights. A combination of resistance, strength, and aerobic exercise has been studied to both prevent dementia and slow down decline in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an early stage of Alzheimer’s.