Bodybuilding actually makes you smarter! You will do better at your studies, perform better at work and have greater cognitive power if you are a bodybuilder. Taking part in the sport will increase your overall IQ over time. Here is a list of reasons why.
The Better the Body, the Better the Brain
Our bodies are interconnected. Our physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual states are in-tune and dependent on one another. A mental state cannot work without a physical state. Therefore, the healthier our physical bodies are, the better we can perform mentally. Lifters work to improve their physical states and this leads to natural, healthy performance. Since our bodies are healthier and stronger than normal, our brains are housed in bodies that are more physically able to provide more for our mental needs. Having a body that is less challenging to physically sustain translates to having minds can run more freely without needing to adapt to physical demands like physical weakness and other bodily problems.
Bodybuilding Increases Blood Flow and Oxygen to the Brain
Physical exercise - especially high intensity exercise - increases our bodys ability to transport blood around the entire body, which benefits our brains without us even knowing it. The amount of oxygen we take in with each breath and the percentage of that that we can actually use increases as well, which means that there is more blood-rich oxygen for the brain to use. Ever heard of the concept that the deeper we breath in, the healthier and smarter we are? No need to walk around taking ridiculously large breaths all the time, simple exercise increases our blood flow and blood oxygen levels.
Bodybuilding Provides Escapism and Mental Breaks That Aid Brain Development
Over training is just as dangerous for the brain as it is for our bodies. Reading is a great means physical rest, just as exercising is a great way to rest your head whilst still advancing in life. These mental breaks give your brain a chance to rest, recover and recap on its current challenges before being used again to a higher intensity. The brain is a muscle which has a mental output instead of a physical or forceful output like the other muscles. Exercise is a great way to speed up mental recovery and adaption (growth) from daily stimuli and stresses placed on it.
Better Choices
The choices that bodybuilders make benefit their brains as well, although they make these choices to primarily better their bodies. Bodybuilders are more likely to drink less alcohol, avoid smoking and eat less junk food, which damages the brain. The choices we make which better our bodies are very likely to benefit our brains at the same time.
Bodybuilding Gives You a Goal
Bodybuilders have a great sense of purpose because they have goals that they achieve and then set new goals to work towards. This sense of purpose and sense of achievement after reaching predetermined goals are highly beneficial to our mental states. Our brain positively responds to these cycles and indirectly increases our mental confidence, performance, and refreshment.
Cures Mental Problems Before They Happen
Exercise is one of the best ways to fight depression - a mental condition - and people who take part in bodybuilding for a prolonged period of time are less likely to develop negative mental conditions later in life like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, panic attacks, addiction, insomnia, paranoia, and personality disorders. Bodybuilding might be preventing you from getting an underlying mental condition that you would have experienced later on down the line if you didnt hit the gym.
Bodybuilding Keeps You Younger
We age as the cells in our bodies slowly lose their ability to regenerate and start to die off. Exercise slows down this process because through the challenges that exercise brings, we unknowingly reprogram our bodies to keep adapting to a stimulus and as a result our individual cells learn to regenerate at a faster pace. In the event of aging, it takes a longer time for our cells to lose their ability to regenerate and they start dying much later than usual if they if been put under an increased demand to regrow for longer periods of time (years). This is why medical aid schemes can determine your health status through an age test. The younger your body appears in this test, the healthier you are. Our brains are very susceptible to aging just like our bodies and physical appearance. Two people might be the same age, but their physical health will be different which means that their bodies are operating as if they are older or younger than usual. Bodybuilders undergo exercising and dieting regimes which reverse the aging process (unfortunately not faster than what will occur naturally) which brings benefits for minds as well as our bodies and appearance. Being able to operate as if you were younger means that you could have the bright mind of and 21 year old, even though you are 60 years old.
Bodybuilding Relieves Stress
Just like how the steam room could relieve stress placed on the body, exercise relieves mental stresses placed on us throughout the day. If these mental stresses and not relieved (like through exercise, relaxation, or social interaction), they can accumulate and lead to diminished cognitive function and even negative mental conditions mentioned above.
Bodybuilding Makes You Happier
Exercise releases endorphins, the brains happy hormone. Exercise also helps to eliminate stress hormones the brain releases when under stress (much like how our muscles release lactic acid when under stress). The endorphin release is what gives you that great on top of the world feeling when you leave the gym and is why some of us feel a little depressed when we dont work out for a few days. By regulating mental hormones like endorphin release and stress hormone elimination, regular exercise keeps your brain healthy and happy, allowing it to grow and develop to its best potential all the time, as well as preventing any negative build-up that might accumulate through time.
Higher Immunity = More Brain Growth Time
Bodybuilders generally have a higher immunity than other people and get sick less often, which is great for our heads. When we get sick, our brain development is slowed down as our bodies prioritize survival and fighting sickness instead of increasing our mental ability to respond to cognitive challenges. This is why it is harder to take in information, work, or pay attention when you are sick. The less time we are sick, the more time we have to stimulate our brains through social interaction, studies or work and the better our brains recover and grow as a response to that.
Nutrients!
The same nutrients that are great for our bodies are often favourable for our brains as well. Fish, protein, complex carbs, vitamins, glutamine, and veggies which are a large part of bodybuilding diets are fantastic nutrient sources for the brain as well. Exercise increases the absorption and utility of these nutrients in the blood stream, which makes them more available for our brain just as much as these nutrients are readily available for the rest if our bodies to use.
So there you have it. Bodybuilding makes you smarter!
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