Susan Britton MCCICF Award-Winning Coach Educator, Neuroscience-Informed ICF/SHRM Coach Training, INSEAD Executive Masters in Change, Advocate for Evolutionary Shift from “Red Zone” to “Blue Zone” for Leaders, Coaches & Fellow Humans

Encourage Your Brain: How Strength Training Can Boost Brain Health

Name: Encourage Your Brain: How Strength Training Can Boost Brain Health
Uploaded: 2023-04-21T06:00:11+00:00
Duration: 1 min 45 s
Channel: Susan Britton MCC
Description: In this YouTube monologue, Susan Britton MCC shares a personal anecdote about her friend James Beeman, who has progressed to leg‑pressing over 600 lb, to…

21 Apr 2023 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:45

In this YouTube monologue, Susan Britton MCC shares a personal anecdote about her friend James Beeman, who has progressed to leg‑pressing over 600 lb, to illustrate dedication to strength training. She then cites research by Kelly McGonigal showing that six months of regular strength training can raise brain‑derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) by about 2.6 % and improve executive function by roughly 13 %. Susan explains that BDNF reflects neuronal growth and survival, linking higher BDNF levels to healthier brain function. She emphasizes that these physiological benefits go beyond supplements, urging listeners to lift weights—preferably heavier than the small one she’s holding—to actively support brain health.

Chapters

I am here with my weight today to share some information about brain health and strength training. So I have a good friend, James Beeman, who is diligently going to the gym. He's been doing so for more than a year now, and that guy has built up to being able to do more than 600 pounds in leg presses. 600 pounds! That just amazes me, and by the time this airs, he may have already surpassed that as well. So James and I were talking about some research that he had come across recently from Kelly McGonigal, and McGonigal's research talks about how strength training improves cognitive function. And there's a thing called brain-derived neurotropic factor, BDNF, that is representative of if our neurons are growing and we're creating new ones and if they're surviving. And the more BDNF, the healthier the brains and their neuronal function is going to be. In the study that she did, she found that those who had done strength training for 6 months had a 2.6% increase in their actual BDNF. And the more interesting piece around that is that with that increase, there was also a 13-plus percent increase in the improvement in executive functioning. So executive functioning has to do with the smart part of the brain and allows us to make good decisions and be focused on goal-directed behavior. So BDNF, strength training, all of those things working together really are an important piece well beyond taking good brain supplements and that sort of thing. So get those weights out, probably heavier than this little one, and grow your brain in the process.