Ooooo! Nice frontal lobes!

Food for thought

Iron!  Now it’s good for your brain.

Not the iron in your diet.
I’m talking about iron you push around the gym.
It’s not just for skeletal muscle anymore.

I’m grinning like crazy over research published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine:  “Resistance Training and Executive Functions”.

Cut to the chase: Lift weights when you’re older and your brain will work better.

You won’t just “feel” better, or look better.
Your brain will work better.

How cool is that?!

155 women, aged 65 – 75 years, were involved in a 12-month research project looking at weight resistance  training and its effect on executive cognitive functions….. some did balance and toning exercises while others pushed iron around using dumbbells and weight machines.   All completed series of tests throughout the 12 months and here’s the wrap up:

“Conclusion: Twelve months of once-weekly or twice-weekly resistance training benefited the executive cognitive function of selective attention and conflict resolution among senior women.”

Better Conflict Resolution through consistent weight lifting!
Improved ability to pay attention and solve problems.
What’s not to love?

I love lifting weights.  Always have.  All my life.
I do it for fitness, for strength in my sports, and for the fun of it.
I move a bunch of iron against gravity and then put it back.

Nothing could be simpler.   And I feel great.
Now it’s good for my brain.

See you at the gym!

~~~
Claudette

Here’s the Abstract.

Resistance Training and Executive Functions

A 12-Month Randomized Controlled Trial

Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PhD, PT; Lindsay S. Nagamatsu, MA; Peter Graf, PhD; B. Lynn Beattie, MD; Maureen C. Ashe, PhD, PT; Todd C. Handy, PhD

Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(2):170-178.