What a fascinating new hypothesis on the brain-body connection means for your next workout.

In all the times you’ve been told that exercise is good for your body and mind, have you ever wondered why that is? What exactly is the relationship between your power walk and your brainpower? Researchers have some fascinating new ideas about that, and they have to do with early humanity—very early.

Around 2 million years ago, humans adopted a hunting-and-gathering lifestyle, which led to increased aerobic physical activity, explains David Raichlen, Ph.D., a human and evolutionary biology professor at the University of Southern California. Hunting animals and foraging for plant foods required a combination of spatial navigation, memory, motor control, and executive function. As a result, our bodies and brains might have evolved to require exercise. We know that cardiovascular and skeletal systems tend to atrophy without the healthy stress of use—and the same thing may be happening to the modern brain, suggest Raichlen and his colleague Gene Alexander, Ph.D., of the University of Arizona. Exercise may increase neuron growth, particularly if the brain is involved in the physical activity, says Raichlen.

There’s a name for the kind of exercise that benefits the brain: dual-task training or neuromotor exercise, explains Ryan Glatt, a brain-based certified personal trainer at the Pacific Brain Health Center in Santa Monica, CA. Glatt, who holds a master’s degree in applied neuroscience, runs group and private sessions for older adults with cognitive concerns, using virtual reality and active video games (exergames).

The idea is that by actively engaging the brain while you exercise, you could improve certain aspects of brain activity more than you would with a less cognitively demanding workout.

Exactly how specific exercises might influence particular outcomes or brain regions is still being studied by Raichlen and other researchers including Cay Anderson-Hanley, Ph.D., codirector of the neuroscience program in the psychology department at Union College in Schenectady, NY. For example, study participants might utilize specific cognitive skills while navigating and pedaling a bike to test cognitive-motor connections. Exercise isn’t some magic bullet for the brain—sleep and diet play important roles, of course. And merely thinking while exercising isn’t quite the ticket either; a game-based distraction might lead to slower movement and a less productive fitness session, for instance. So the key may be to sync up activities and mental stimulation, much as our ancestors did. You could add spatial navigation by altering your routes, or try activities that incorporate multitasking (following along in aerobics class), focus (playing tennis), decision-making or strategy (soccer), or navigating terrain (following a map).

“Our motto is, ‘If you love your brain, then move it and use it,’” Anderson-Hanley says. Here are a few more ideas that might suit you:

Humans evolved to run long distances for long periods while processing complex information. Runners who ran for at least 16 minutes and focused on stepping on poker chips improved their working memory by 20%, says University of North Florida psychology professor Tracy Packiam Alloway, Ph.D., author of the recent book Think Like a Girl. Working memory matters a lot, she says, as your brain constantly uses it to extract and adapt information.

Surprisingly, a runner’s pace didn’t impact the outcome. To apply this to your jog or sprint, Alloway suggests purposefully aiming for where your feet land, such as jumping over or onto cracks (your mom’s back will be fine!).

Alter your routes, or simply take new, gentle dirt trails versus paved ground to engage in your brain’s multitasking, decision-making, navigating, and searching, Raichlen says. One of Raichlen’s previous studies found that college-age cross-country runners training on outdoor trails had more connected brain regions controlling executive function compared to young adults who were more sedentary.

If you’re ready for more, consider orienteering, a sport involving reading a map to navigate through terrain or geocaching, where you use a GPS device to locate coordinate-specific containers.

If you find yourself at an arcade, tear yourself away from more sedentary games and jump aboard a light-up stage for Dance Dance Revolution, keeping up with coordinated moves on the screen, Glatt suggests. At the gym and at home, cognitively demanding options include aerobic exercise machines with attention-grabbing digital displays as well as consumer-grade virtual reality (VR) and exergaming products. It’s less stressful than watching CNN, and you’ll spill more sweat than you would with sedentary brain games.

You might still be able to exergame with an old-school Nintendo Wii, but more virtual reality options are coming on the market. Holodia, Supernatural, and FitXR all offer workouts for use with VR headsets. For example, Holodia offers a subscription- based game for use with a VR headset as well as stationary bicycles, ellipticals, and rowing machines.

While swaying at home is fine, learning choreographed steps or interacting with a partner adds new cognitive challenges. Multiple studies have shown that these types of dance benefit brain function, even in those already experiencing cognitive impairment, and they may reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

“Dance is one of the best interactive forms of exercise out there,” says Anderson-Hanley. “Going out and being an active participant in the world is good for staving off dementia.”

Alloway found in a study that working memory improved among those engaged in attention-focused dynamic, complex muscle and joint movements much like those you might do on a playground. As long as you feel capable of it, she suggests walking the balance beam, swaying on the monkey bars, or slipping down a slide—movements that kids like but adults tend to find challenging.

“As adults, we often forget skills around awareness of a body position constantly moving through a space,” she says. That’s something all of us could enjoy a bit more often—so go ahead and give your gray matter a push.

Lora combines a background in library science and journalism to write for general-audience magazines, newspapers and online media, along with custom publications, nonprofits and business clients. 

5 Myths About Safe Driving, Debunked

Dr. Weil’s Best Advice for Your Heart

Why It Can Take Years to Get the Right Diagnosis

Your Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Over a Cold

How to Argue Over the Big Stuff

5 Myths About Aging to Unlearn Right Now

Is Your Brain Older or Younger Than Your Age?

We Debunked 5 Myths About Anxiety

Medical Mystery: Why Was I Still So Sick?

Medical Mystery: Why Are My Legs Numb?

Boost Serotonin, the Happiness Hormone, Naturally

Medical Mystery: Why Do I Always Feel Dizzy?

A Part of Hearst Digital Media

We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.

©Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.