Fitness and exercise
(Effect of physical fitness on cognitive functioning)

Before starting, we first need to understand what is fitness and exercise and the difference between them. Everyone knows that being fit and active is sufficient and beneficial for your physical and psychological wellbeingwellbeing. Fitness is always achieved through hard work and exercise. For your general welfare, cardiovascular fitness is enhanced by training. It is highly necessary. The main important reason exercise affects your fitness is by strengthening your heart and improving blood circulation. This helps in increasing the blood flow and also raises the oxygen level in your body. Another important factor is lowering the risk of heart diseases, including coronary artery disease, high cholesterol, and majorly heart attack. But if you exercise regularly, you can reduce your triglycerides and blood pressures.
Effect of physical fitness on cognitive functioning
A lot of research has been carried out to understand how physical fitness plays a role in maintaining good cognitive health and functioning. Much evidence has shown that physical exercise acts as a strong modulator, including functional changes and the brain’s structural changes. Physical fitness acts as a protective factor for neurodegeneration as it has several benefits for wellbeing and functioning.
Physical fitness affects the plasticity of the brain, which in turn affects the plasticity and wellbeing of the brain.
Skipping a workout is not a better option for young adults. Even if a person is not underweight or overweight, he/she should always go for working out on his physical fitness because that’s what matters the most at this age. It has been known that physical fitness is associated with better brain functioning in young adults. Exercise can boost a person’s better cognitive functioning and attention, and memory because it affects the brain structure. If we talk about older adults, it is seen that physical fitness, training or exercise is known to increase the hippocampus’s size, and it affects memory, learning and attention because this is the part responsible for all three of these functions.
How exercise improves cognitive function and overall brain health
Exercise can improve brain health in various ways, such as stimulating growth hormones, which help create new brain cells. When you are exercising, you must have noticed that your heart starts racing. So it means that blood is being pumped by your heart around your entire body. Exercise, in return, increases the oxygen in your brain, which is responsible for all your body functions. A healthy body is a healthy mind as the brain controls all body parts’ functions by sending signals. When oxygen is being pumped into the brain, it affects the brain’s health positively and results in better cognitive functioning.
Stimulation of Cognitive function
While discussing the number of ways about being physically active here, we will discuss how someone can enhance and stimulate their cognitive function to make their memory sharp and improve mental clarity. Five simple steps are mentioned below:
1. A growth mindset is something that you can improve your abilities with, and by this, you can create success through a continuous process of learning and practice. When a person has an openness to experience, he/she has a better chance of improving his cognitive functioning.
2. A variety of studies have shown that aerobic exercises increase the blood flow to the hippocampus. A healthy hippocampus is a house for a lot of functions of the brain. So it also aids in better functioning of the brain and staying physically active,
3. Our emotional wellbeing also plays an important role in this case, including the health of our brain. Some neuroscientists have discovered that stress hormones can damage the brain and affect its function and structure. Several research pieces have carried out results that by staying psychically active, there are fewer chances of being stressful, and it results in good brain health.
4. Foods rich in omega-three fatty acids and antioxidants are also good when you work out, helping brain functioning.
5. Last but not the least, restorative sleep helps a lot stay physically active and for cognitive functioning.