Does Training with Weights Make You Smarter?

Weightlifters are depicted in cartoons as being all brawn and no brains, but this may be far from the truth. People who train with weights or do other forms of resistance training may actually be boosting their brain capacity while building muscles. Does training with weights make you smarter?

Training with Weights: Does It Make You Smarter?

When you're working out in the weight room, you may be stimulating your brain at the same time. Researchers once believed that only aerobic exercise benefited the brain by increasing blood flow that could stimulate new brain cell development. But training with weights and doing resistance exercises may be effective too, at least in rats.

Researchers challenged rats to "strength train" by securing a weight to their tail while they climbed a ladder daily five times a week. They found changes in their brains after two months that were similar to rats that ran on a treadmill during the same time period. More specifically, they had higher levels of brain growth factors used to build new brain cells.

But does weight training make humans smarter? Little research has looked at this issue - but one small study showed that women who trained with weights did better on tests that measured cognitive functioning. Another study involving 155 older women published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women who weight trained improved their mental focus, while the women who did only balance exercises had a slight decline in mental clarity.

Better cognitive function and increased mental focus? Training with weights certainly could have advantages. Is it better for the brain than aerobic exercise and endurance training? No one knows for sure, but resistance training does more than build bigger muscles. It also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.

Does Training with Weights Make You Smarter: The Bottom Line?

These studies are one more reason to get to the weight room - and start getting the many health benefits that resistance training has to offer. There are lots of ways to do it - by using free weights, weight machines, resistance bands or even your own body weight. Make time to do it - for your body and for your brain.

References:

Fitness Prescription. April 2011. Page 30.

The New York Times. January 13, 2011.