At first, Liang Xiao felt nothing. She drinks tea and smokes more when she is sleepy. But after a long time, I found it difficult for him to sleep, the quality of sleep was not good, and people were particularly nervous. Knowing that he was under too much pressure, the leader asked him to go to the station to see a psychological counselor. He resisted a little, but he went anyway. Who knows, the "prescription" given to him by the psychological counselor is actually running for half an hour every day for three consecutive months.
Liang Xiao doubted it, but she did it anyway. As a result, under his insistence, his overweight body began to become strong, the quality of sleep gradually improved, and the mental state of the whole person was improved.
Liang Xiao's psychological counselor explained to him that walking or running is the simplest and most effective way to relieve stress, and many people may not believe it.
How is it possible that just because a person has opened his legs, his pressure will be reduced?
However, brain science research has found that every step you take is good for your brain. If you want to see the effect, you should exercise for at least 30 minutes at a time, preferably more than three times a week.
This is because our bodies are used to support the brain, and exercise makes the brain more energetic.
What does this have to do with stress?
We must first understand how stress is generated in our brains.
Our brains have an alarm device called the amygdala. Once the amygdala detects something it thinks is a threat to itself (such as someone yelling at us), it will make the hypothalamus send a signal to the pituitary gland in the brain. When the pituitary gland receives the signal, it will send a hormone into our blood and send it to our adrenal gland, and then the adrenal gland will release cortisol, making our heart beat faster and stronger. This time it's not over. With the increase of cortisol, the amygdala will be further stimulated, forming a vicious circle, just like a car stepped on the accelerator and could not stop at all.
then what
Fortunately, there is something called hippocampus, which can act as a brake. Under normal circumstances, the amygdala steps on the accelerator and the hippocampus steps on the brake, basically reaching balance. The problem is that if the external stimulus lasts for a long time and the emergency hormone cortisol is released continuously, the hippocampus can't bear the power of so many stress hormones, and it will be defeated. At this time, we will feel great pressure and even pain. What's more, brain cells are killed by cortisol, the size of hippocampus is reduced, and the ability to resist pressure drops sharply.
In other words, if we want to cope with stress better, we must find ways to reduce the influence of cortisol on our brain. And if we go for a walk or run, we will consume physical strength, and our heart rate and blood pressure will rise, and our cortisol level will also rise. After exercise, cortisol will fall back to its previous level. If we run regularly, our cortisol will increase less and less, and decrease more and more. In the long run, we will encounter stress again, and the cortisol level will not change greatly.
In other words, exercise enhances our body's tolerance to stress and teaches our body not to overreact.
In addition to the hippocampus, our brain also has something called the frontal lobe, which can also act as a brake. For example, when you hear someone yelling at you, the amygdala will make you have an instinctive reaction and run at once. The frontal lobe will analyze that the person just speaks loudly and can't really threaten me. So, you can calm down soon.
Similarly, high levels of cortisol can also damage the frontal lobe, and exercise can enhance the function of hippocampus and frontal lobe.
Studies have found that even a simple walk can help our hippocampus and frontal lobe grow as long as we persist. The study also found that exercise can also make our brain produce a kind of GABA cells called nanny neurons, which can calm our brain like a fire extinguisher.
At the same time, the advantage of exercise is that cortisol will hinder the body from burning fat, and a high level of cortisol will cause fat to accumulate in the abdomen, which will increase people's appetite and make people particularly want to eat high-calorie food. Long-term exercise will make us really slim down.
Under the condition that we can't eliminate all the stress in our life, it is completely feasible to increase the tolerance to stress and improve the brain's ability to deal with stress through continuous exercise.
So, what should be done specifically?
1, take the leg first. As long as you move, it's better than not moving, even if you just walk for 5 minutes every day.
If you want to see the effect, keep exercising for at least 30 minutes every day.
Exercise for 45 minutes at least three times a week.
Running is better than walking. Running can speed up the heart rate and help train a strong heart.
5, you can jog first, then run fast, step by step, moderate exercise.
6. stick to it.
Remember, Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, said, "If you are in a bad mood, go for a walk. If you are still in a bad mood, then take another walk. "
If you want to know more about how exercise can help brain development and improve brain efficiency, please read this book.