When I was 14 years old, my dad bought me my own set of weights. The message that accompanied this gift — “you’re too skinny” — was neither unclear nor subtle. I had always been thin — my mom affectionately referred to me as “Bones” throughout my youth — but now I was in high school, my friends were growing beards and gaining muscle, and I was playing on the basketball team. All good reasons to start filling out my lanky 6-foot-1 frame, or so my father thought. I didn’t need much convincing.
Weightlifting soon became my favorite pastime and began to influence my other interests and hobbies. My set of weights evolved into gym memberships, protein supplements, diets and late-night runs. If it weren’t for these habits, I undoubtedly would have missed out on one of the highlights of my college experience: walking onto the varsity rowing team. Time spent in the weight room is almost always the happiest part of my day.
Weightlifting has fueled my passion for nutrition and fitness, which in turn has helped shape my interest in pursuing a career in medicine. My first set of weights taught me that when I exercise regularly, I enjoy increased focus, attention and productivity. This lesson changed the trajectory of my academic life and is at least in part responsible for my eventual acceptance to the U’s School of Medicine.
With this in mind, I was shocked and deeply disappointed to read a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which found that almost half of American high school students have no physical education classes at all during an average week. Driven by math and science test scores, high school administrators across the country have opted to cut back on or cut out PE to make time for more “traditional” subjects. This is a profound mistake.
This decision not only disregards the escalating national obesity epidemic, it also ignores scores of scientific studies over the past decade confirming that exercise leads to improved cognitive function. It is my hope that a brief overview of the pertinent research will help you avoid a similar mistake and convince you that, despite the scarcity of time that is a hallmark of college, exercise should be a priority in every person’s life.
The most comprehensive study examining the relationship between exercise and school performance was a literature review performed by 13 doctors published in The Journal of Pediatrics in 2005. An expert panel reviewed over 850 articles on the subject and found that adding physical education to a school’s curriculum results in improved academic performance by its students. More generally, “physical activity has a positive influence on concentration and memory and on classroom behavior.” The data was striking — students who practiced healthy exercise behaviors showed marked improvement in both GPA and standardized test scores compared to their more sedentary peers.
The implications of this study cannot be overstated. They suggest that by simply engaging in regular physical activity, students will be better prepared to make strides in academic achievement. Other research has shown these benefits are independent of socioeconomic status or gender.
Exercise’s effects on the brain are mostly attributed to its ability to promote synthesis and release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein that stimulates neurogenesis, or the growth and differentiation of new neurons. This process is particularly amplified in areas such as the hippocampus, which plays key roles in learning and memory. Put simply, exercise primes the brain for learning by giving it the tools it needs to process new information and convert it to long-term memory.
The mental health benefits of exercise don’t stop there. A number of other studies have found that “exercise compares favorably to antidepressant medications as a first-line treatment for mild to moderate depression.” Given that about a third of college students reported struggling to function at some point over the last year due to depression, the potential repercussions of this finding are enormous. Initial experiments using exercise to treat anxiety have shown promise too.
Finally, while most studies have focused on aerobic exercise and the effects that it has on the brain, an experiment that was recently completed at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver suggests that weightlifting likely provides similar benefits. My dad was truly ahead of his time.
In his book Spark, John Ratey, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard, claimed that “if exercise came in pill form, it would be … hailed as the blockbuster drug of the century”. I think this is especially true for college students. Extensive scientific evidence suggests that a few workouts of moderate intensity each week will be well worth the sacrifice of your time.
In addition to a litany of physical health benefits, your mental health and cognition will flourish. Specific benefits will likely include one or more of the following: enhanced memory, concentration and intellectual function and decreased depression and anxiety, a list that is an ideal recipe for collegiate success. So if you have a big exam coming up, take my advice and hit the gym before you hit the books.