Physical activity later in life may help preserve thinking

Despite physical signs of brain damage that would otherwise suggest someone had had dementia, people who were more active reported fewer cognitive problems during their lifetime.

Exercise can help reduce the risk of and even improve symptoms of a host of chronic problems. Those conditions include type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and depression and help protect against dementia, too. Activity seems to be a way of helping inoculate yourself against the bad effects of age-related brain changes happening on a cellular level.

How to start working out?

Very easy!

1. Think about exercising like driving a car. If you’ve never driven a car, you’d never get behind the wheel without a proper lesson. Same goes with exercise. If you aren’t sure what to do, get guidance from a personal trainer.
2. Get a friend, especially if you’re a beginner. Not only does a friend make working out more fun, but having somebody to hold you accountable to exercise is key. Whether that’s a friend or neighbour, find a person who has the same goals you do. Then hold each other accountable and encourage each other.
3. With each workout, write down how tough it felt using a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being easy and 10 being hard. As you see that the same workout is getting easier (meaning that you’re rating it lower on the toughness scale) that means it’s time to progress, either increasing the intensity or going longer.