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posted by martyb on Friday October 03 2014, @07:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the study-exercise-and-then-sleep-on-it dept.

Weight-lifting has now been shown to not only improve your health, it can also improve your memory.

Here’s another reason why it’s a good idea to hit the gym: it can improve memory. A new Georgia Institute of Technology study shows that an intense workout of as little as 20 minutes can enhance episodic memory, also known as long-term memory for previous events, by about 10 percent in healthy young adults.

While many existing studies have demonstrated that months of aerobic exercises such as running can improve memory, the current study had participants lift weights just once two days before testing them. The Georgia Tech researchers also had participants study events just before the exercise rather than after workout. They did this because of extensive animal research suggesting that the period after learning (or consolidation) is when the arousal or stress caused by exercise is most likely to benefit memory.

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  • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday October 03 2014, @08:31PM

    by kaszz (4211) on Friday October 03 2014, @08:31PM (#101512) Journal

    Seems like the ultimate solution might be to bring the calculus book(s) into the gym or to use free weights at home interleaved with reading. Optimization can be had by running to and from the gym ..

    (now if every correct test question were rewarded sexually perhaps results would improve even further ..)

    Perhaps there's a link to this? Skeletal Muscle PGC-1a1 Modulates Kynurenine Metabolism and Mediates Resilience to Stress-Induced Depression [cell.com]

    • (Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Friday October 03 2014, @08:50PM

      by Ethanol-fueled (2792) on Friday October 03 2014, @08:50PM (#101515) Homepage

      The best way to do that would be to record yourself (or a female with a breathy, sexy voice) reading your calculus book so you can actually move arms without having to hold the book. Otherwise, you're just another mom on a treadmill or bike trying to steady your bouncing eyes on the fine-print while depriving much of your body of the workout fun.

      By the way, does listening to informative recordings in your sleep actually help you learn it better?

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by kaszz on Friday October 03 2014, @09:19PM

        by kaszz (4211) on Friday October 03 2014, @09:19PM (#101520) Journal

        I have some memories of a study that listening to language vocabulary recordings during sleep supposedly make circa 30% of the information to stick or such. For definite answer on that question you better find the study in question. Or just try it out..

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @09:55PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @09:55PM (#101523)

        "The best way to do that would be to record yourself (or a female with a breathy, sexy voice) reading your calculus book..."

        Fortunately or unfortunately, mathematics is fundamentally a written language, and trying to access it through oral means alone will be both wildly inefficient and introduce all sorts of ambiguities.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by TrumpetPower! on Friday October 03 2014, @10:22PM

    by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Friday October 03 2014, @10:22PM (#101531) Homepage

    You've already got all the weights you need, and you carry them around with you wherever you go. As the man's book puts it, you are your own gym:

    https://www.marklauren.com/ [marklauren.com]

    Bodyweight exercises -- pushups, pullups, squats, bends, lunges, and all manner of variations thereon -- are superior in every conceivable way to free weights and especially machines. The movements are natural and the same as what you might encounter in your daily activities, thereby reducing risk of injury. They work more areas of your body at once rather than isolating single muscles, thereby being more efficient of your time. They improve balance and posture. And you can do them anytime, anywhere, without any need for expensive equipment or going out of your way to some special location.

    Bench pressing so many pounds can be impressive...but, if you really want to impress me, crank out a bunch of one-armed pushups with your feet on a chair...and maybe even with your hand on a basketball.

    Hell, few people can even manage the strength to do close-grip pushups with their feet on the ground and hands on a chair, let alone one-arm pushups with their hands on a countertop....

    Cheers,

    b&

    --
    All but God can prove this sentence true.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @11:10PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @11:10PM (#101546)

      I call bullshit. Training up to doing 100 squats with body weight requires different condition of muscles as compared to doing 1 squat at 3x body weight. It's like saying that the Olympian power lifters aren't impressive because they don't compare to the Olympian marathoners. Many composite free weight exercises (squat, dead lift, press, clean, jerk) works a large number of muscles and recruit the same number of muscles as similar body weight exercises (squat, bends, push ups, burpees) and need just as much balance, form and technique. Sure, you don't NEED a gym and weights to get in shape but to claim that body weight exercises are SUPERIOR to weighted exercises is just misleading and typical zealot preaching.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by TrumpetPower! on Friday October 03 2014, @11:27PM

        by TrumpetPower! (590) <ben@trumpetpower.com> on Friday October 03 2014, @11:27PM (#101551) Homepage

        You're obviously completely unfamiliar with the full repertoire of bodyweight exercises.

        Sure, weighted squats work your legs more than unweighted ones.

        But do the squats on one leg.

        Now, don't just do an one-legged squat; do a full one-legged pistol squat, bringing your thigh all the way below parallel until your bottom is almost, but not quite, touching your heel.

        Now, do that with a four-second pause at the bottom.

        Now, while at the bottom of the movement, switch legs before rising again.

        Now, do an hop at the top of the movement.

        Even your power lifters are going to have a difficult time cranking out very many leg-switch pistol squats with hop and four-second pause.

        Same thing as I already hinted at for pushups. Sure, your power lifters can crank out classic pushups all day long. But how many one-armed pushups? With feet elevated? One-armed feet-elevated bouncing pushups? How about handstand pushups? One-hand handstand pushups? Even if your power lifters have the strength to do them, it's almost guaranteed they don't have the balance.

        Pullups are the same deal. Almost anybody can do pullups with their feet resting on something to take some of the weight. Few can do unassisted pullups. Fewer still can do pullups with pauses. And then there're triangle pullups, even one-armed pullups, again with pauses.

        Cheers,

        b&

        --
        All but God can prove this sentence true.
        • (Score: 2) by hellcat on Saturday October 04 2014, @01:35AM

          by hellcat (2832) on Saturday October 04 2014, @01:35AM (#101590) Homepage

          Yoga!

        • (Score: 2) by el_oscuro on Monday October 13 2014, @03:19AM

          by el_oscuro (1711) on Monday October 13 2014, @03:19AM (#105413)

          That shit sounds hard! I have never even heard of these before. 20 years ago, I used the Super Squats program which involved a high rep program for weighted breathing squats and it was very effective. In fact, out of all of the various exercise programs I have used in my life, this was the only one which was effective. After several years doing it, a broken toe and the responsibilities of fatherhood sidelined it. Now, I am nearing a blackbelt in Tae-Kwon-Do, and I use unweighted two legged squats as stretching exercise.

          I am not really able to do weighted squats anymore as everytime I do, I get scary protests from my ageing knees. These exercises might provide a way to get a good workout without worrying about injury.

          --
          SoylentNews is Bacon! [nueskes.com]
    • (Score: 1) by weirsbaski on Saturday October 04 2014, @01:03AM

      by weirsbaski (4539) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 04 2014, @01:03AM (#101582)

      The movements are natural and the same as what you might encounter in your daily activities
      ...
      if you really want to impress me, crank out a bunch of one-armed pushups with your feet on a chair...and maybe even with your hand on a basketball.

      Damn, what kind of daily activities do you do?

    • (Score: 2) by iwoloschin on Saturday October 04 2014, @12:10PM

      by iwoloschin (3863) on Saturday October 04 2014, @12:10PM (#101664)

      That's bad advice.

      Both bodyweight work and weighted work have their places. Bodyweight work is very important for being comfortable in your own body, which intuitively makes sense. Never stop doing the bodyweight work, even when you're old!

      But what about if you have to help a friend move a couch? Or maybe you're doing construction and need to move boulders? Or maybe you're out hiking, miles from the car, and your medium/large dog sliced his paw open and can't walk anymore (this actually happened to a friend). This is where proper weight training is useful. Your excellent bodyweight work is great, but it's not going to help, seriously help, with any of these activities, which are all important, if not nearly as common as many bodyweight activities.

      If cost is an issue, sure, do what you can with what you have. And never neglect the bodyweight work. But don't disparage weighted movement, because it's just as important to being a healthy individual.

      Also, I hope you're getting adequate cardio in, running, cycling, rowing, etc. That's pretty important for health too!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04 2014, @06:03PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04 2014, @06:03PM (#101722)

      You write as though you're British. Which suggests your physical idols are soccer players, who are traditionally rather dainty and carry very little muscle mass. So, there's the first problem.

      Secondly, bodyweight exercises are not especially challenging. I lift weights and have been doing so seriously for 20 years now (I am 36). On multiple occasions I have been challenged to try the nonsense you talk about, and it's never particularly difficult. I remember the one time I tried a pilates class, and the teacher warned me my chest would be sore afterwards. There were lots of variations of push-ups involved. I immediately went from the class to lift weights and it was as if I hadn't done anything beforehand. I have no trouble doing handstand push-ups or pistols. I have been known to do weighted pull ups. And, honestly, I don't think I'm any kind of super athlete.

      Third, if what you say is true, you would expect actual athletes (professionals) to rely on your nonsense instead of weights. But, they don't. Football (not soccer) players require strength and agility and universally turn to weight lifting to get it. The same is true of top-tier basketball players (who are typically very heavy steroid users these days, by the way, the NBA doesn't discourage this) and fighters (both boxing and MMA). Even golfers, such as Tiger Woods, have been known to turn to free weights to increase strength.

      Don't mix up proper weightlifting with that cross-fit stuff. Cross-fit is inefficient and dangerous, often relying on uncontrolled movements, throwing weights with poor form.

      If you want to improve your strength and conditioning, weights are the most efficient way to go. You clearly have a personal bias, but no actual experience to back up your opinion. Please stop preaching your inaccurate garbage, lest someone believe it and go down the wrong road.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04 2014, @02:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04 2014, @02:11AM (#101599)

    This might be more fun than doing weights: http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/01/how-sex-affects-intelligence-and-vice-versa/282889/ [theatlantic.com]
    (unless this happens to you: http://www.livescience.com/16488-sex-mind-blowing-amnesia.html [livescience.com] )

    Of course you may not want to associate some study topics with your orgasms, but I think it shouldn't be surprising if you remember certain things better unless you've been drinking too much alcohol (or the wrong stuff).

  • (Score: 2) by Common Joe on Saturday October 04 2014, @05:42AM

    by Common Joe (33) <common.joe.0101NO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday October 04 2014, @05:42AM (#101631) Journal

    Hmm... A new fairly generic science study seems to be catching up with common sense, eastern philosophy, and (I'm fairly sure) old science studies. In this study, I'm not sure what was really learned.

    To claim "weight lifting increases memory by 10% in healthy, young adults" seems a bit too loosy-goosy for my tastes and quite frankly, this study seemed too unoriginal to make any sort of real conclusion. What were the definitions for being healthy? Were these people in shape before hand? (How? Were they weight lifters or runners or swimmers?) Or did they merely eat right? Or did they just put them on a scale and use BMI (which is a horrible way to measure)? Were they stressed one day but not the other? (And how many people were in the study? Five or five hundred?)

    Healthy to me means consistently working out the body, the mind, and the spirit, but I think they used a different definition than the one I use. An unhealthy person will see a much higher percentage increase than a healthy person after one workout. A 10% jump sounds like the people weren't actually healthy or it sounds like external factors (like being demoralized at work one day but not the other) were causing some pretty dynamic shifts.

    Personally, I notice an immediate mental difference in myself when I exercise and the effect can have a very noticeable effect for 2 - 4 days afterward. A more subtle effect can linger for about 1 - 2 weeks -- especially if I'm in shape and have to suddenly stop exercising for external reasons. I also know that exercising one time is not as good as regular exercise. There is a cumulative effect. (Not sure if science has figured that out yet.) Since they brought up aerobic and anaerobic exercises: I also notice different effects between these two exercises. My conclusion? Both are needed by the body.

    I'm going to continue with my own personal observations: Mental exercise also affects physical workouts. An overly taxed mind is bad for physically working out the body.

    Here's one that I've never seen studied by science: "One must nurture the mind, body, and spirit to maintain peak health." I believe in nurturing all three items simultaneously. This is taught in any decent martial arts class but I've never seen it studied in science. How can one think or exercise if one's spirit is broken? There have been days when I felt defeated by corporate stupidity. It shouldn't surprise anyone here that it negatively impacted my ability to do my work (which used my mental abilities) and my ability to properly work out my body. And this affected me a lot more than a mere 10%. (For those who didn't RTFA, 10% is a number mentioned in there.) Mental attitude (or spirit) has a tremendous impact on me.

    • (Score: -1) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04 2014, @06:53PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04 2014, @06:53PM (#101731)
      Full disclosure, I am this AC - http://soylentnews.org/comments.pl?sid=4205&cid=101722 [soylentnews.org]

      ...common sense, eastern philosophy...
      ...the body, the mind, and the spirit...

      So, you believe in hippy nonsense. You really should have just clearly stated this up front.

      I'm going to continue with my own personal observations: Mental exercise also affects physical workouts. An overly taxed mind is bad for physically working out the body.

      My personal observations completely contradict this. And lots of anecdotal (and possibly scientific) evidence agrees with me, which is why people often recommend working out is good for dealing with stress is other parts of life.

      Here's one that I've never seen studied by science: "One must nurture the mind, body, and spirit to maintain peak health." I believe in nurturing all three items simultaneously. This is taught in any decent martial arts class but I've never seen it studied in science. How can one think or exercise if one's spirit is broken?

      By "any decent martial arts class", you mean a scam artist operating out of a strip mall somewhere that has people stand in a line while screaming and punching the air. I have been training with Matt Serra (and thus Chris Weidman is one of my training partners) for many years now. Not once have we done anything like that. We work on conditioning, getting from point A to B, alternative strategies and options for given scenarios, and lots and lots of live practice. And, considering the two names I mentioned have both won UFC titles, I would say they are at the pinnacle of the martial arts world.

      Besides, the "spirit" is an ill-defined construct that pretty much couldn't be studied, by definition. Get some falsifiable claims together, and they can be studied. Chances are they already have been studied, and found untrue, which is why the concept is kept as nebulous as possible.

      Keep your hippy-dippy spiritual crap out of discussions about science.