We all know that exercise is good for the body. There’s really no argument about that. Lately a lot of research has been coming out explaining how good exercise is for the mind. Again, there is sort of a “duh factor” to that idea, but it needs to be explained and scientifically proven so that we can believe what we already instinctively know to be true.
To that end, there is a new book out that details the proof. The book has two authors. One is Dr. John J. Ratey, M.D. He is an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and has a private practice in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The other is Eric Hagerman, who is listed in his linkedin.com bio as: Writer for Wired, Popular Science, Best Life, Outside, Men’s Journal, Skiing, Bicycling, and PLAY (the New York Times sports quarterly), among others. I have not yet read this book, but it was featured on one of the fitness newsletters I regularly receive. Here’s what they had to say about one critical part of the book.
On Aging…
Dr. Ratey has much essential information to share on the subject of exercise and preserved cognitive health throughout the aging process. Below is just one short excerpt:
“Population studies support the evidence that exercise holds off dementia. In one, about fifteen hundred people from Finland originally surveyed in the early 1970s were contacted again twenty-one years later, when they were between sixty-five and seventy-nine years old. Those who had exercised at least twice a week were 50 percent less likely to have dementia.”
One of the Fitgevity Principles is; A long life is great, a long, fit life, is better. We have no way of knowing what the future holds, but since exercise and body movement have noting but upsides, why wouldn’t we take every opportunity to practice and enjoy them.
Thanks for reading,
Rudy
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