The amount of times I’ve heard someone tell me to get up and do some exercise is beyond countable. But I guess there’s a reason why - just 30 minutes of moderate physical activity daily has so many positive benefits for your body! Not to mention that your brain is an integral part of your body. It has been shown that consistent exercise can help with consistent study. Here’s how. 

1. Exercising improves your overall mood 

Moving your body improves both your physical and mental health. Nutritionists say that it releases endorphins, serotonin and dopamine, all which contribute to feeling happy and less stressed. Researchers also suggest working out for those struggling with depression. 

Taking care of yourself does feel rewarding after all, it’s a sense of achievement. When you engage in strenuous physical activity, your mind and body is mimicking the responses that can come with stress, allowing you to learn how to cope with such responses and not be overwhelmed by them in other situations. This applies to study sessions too! Take time to study consistently and move your body in some way during your short breaks. Furthermore, the happier you are, the better you will be at concentrating on your work and remaining motivated!

2. Exercising helps develop other healthy habits

Count the number of times you’ve said you want to do something but just don’t do it. Setting time aside to take care of your physical health cascades to many other healthy habits. Those who exercise regularly also like to adopt a healthy diet to support their strenuous physical activity. If you eat healthy, this directly affects your cognitive abilities. Healthy foods help nervous tissues grow and develop which improves our learning, mood, attention, and overall mental wellbeing.

Moderate consistent exercise has a linear relationship with improved sleep schedule and quality. You may have noticed that even if you move a little more than usual some day, you will be quicker to sleep that night. A better sleep promotes muscle recovery (your brain is also a muscle!) and allow you to perform daily tasks better. Sleep is a form of mind renewal which is super important for achieving goals. And sleep also improves memory! Good news for those who are relying on muscle memory to cram an entire textbook before an exam (although I don’t encourage that!).

It is all about being disciplined and completing important tasks even when you don’t feel like doing it at the start. Once one thing becomes a habit, so will other things that matter to you. Being consistent with something requires putting in effort so to reach these other good habits, start by moving your body daily. 

3. Exercise can lead to better memory and thinking

Working out isn’t just to make yourself look physically attractive. I mean, intelligence is attractive too, isn’t it? According to research from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, exercise improves memory and problem solving, even as people age. This is because when we exercise, proteins are released and the part of the brain that is involved with retaining information responds well to these proteins. If you do regular exercise, it can bring fruit when you’re revising or listening to a lecture for e.g. It can also help prevent a sedentary lifestyle which causes chronic diseases and brain disorders such as Alzeheimer’s disease, which literally destroys basic memory functions and ability to carry out simple tasks. What else do I need to include to convince you (and myself) to start working out. 

Exercise also makes us able to ignore distractions as well as multi-task. This is a great skill to possess as students since it means we can grasp onto every opportunity, anywhere and everywhere, to get some study done. Furthermore, the blood flow after a workout sesh can promote cell growth which can improve your concentration. 

4. Exercise boosts energy levels

Regular exercise improves your body’s energy levels which allow your mind to remain active and engaged. Those who have a short attention span whilst studying will appreciate this all the more. Even a 15-20 minute walk will do the job that even coffee can’t! Exercise improves alertness and energy which also improve cognition immediately post-workout and in the long-term. This is something that is beneficial for all students, especially for grinding down work for long hours. 

“Many studies have found that physically active elderly people perform better than sedentary elderly people on cognitive tasks such as reasoning, vocabulary, memory and reaction time. In research with rodents (rats and mice), there's evidence that exercise increases the blood supply to their brains and promotes the growth of new neurons (adult neurogenesis) in the hippocampus, a brain area that is essential for learning and memory. In one study, one group of rats got free access to a running wheel and another ran on a treadmill for an hour a day. After 30 days, both groups had a better blood supply to their brains. A group of sedentary rats showed no increase. An increased blood supply means increased oxygen and energy supply, and that equals better performance. Although these types of studies are only now beginning in humans, the theory is that because sports combine learning and exercise, they may both increase blood supply and enhance brain connections.”

There is a connection between physical health and academic performance. It doesn’t have to be fancy, long, high-intensity moves. Even a simple jog or walk could give your mind and body that much needed boost perfect for studying and enhancing creativity plus mental energy to set you apart as a student. 

Dr. John J. Ratey, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, wrote in his book that exercise improves learning on three levels: "First, it optimises your mind-set to improve alertness, attention, and motivation; second, it prepares and encourages nerve cells to bind to one another, which is the cellular basis for logging in new information; and third, it spurs the development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus." Exercise helps the brain get ready to learn and once you start studying, it makes retaining information easier.

So what do you have to do next? Start exercising if you don’t already and make it a habit. And keep doing it if you already are! Remember, things work more effectively when you have others holding you accountable so take a friend along on a nice evening walk. Enjoy the process so you look forward to it until it becomes second nature to you.