It's easy to fall into the all-or-nothing mindset regarding exercise: "If I can't make it to the gym this week, I'll just take a break until next week." "I don't have time for my usual hour-long walk, so what's the point?" But more and more research supports the idea that any movement is better than no movement. For instance, a new study published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine found that simple, everyday activities could help middle-aged people achieve the cognitive health of someone four years younger.
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"You don’t have to go to the gym to experience all the potential benefits of physical activity," said Jonathan Hakun, assistant professor of neurology and psychology at Penn State and the Penn State College of Medicine, in a press release. "All movement is important. Everyday movement counts as a source of accumulated physical activity that could be credited toward a healthy lifestyle and may have some direct impact on cognitive health."
To arrive at their findings, researchers analyzed data from 204 participants between the ages of 40 and 65 with no history of cognitive impairment. Over nine days, the participants checked in six times daily at intervals of roughly three-and-a-half hours.
Each time, they reported whether or not they had done any light (i.e., walking the dog, cleaning), moderate, or vigorous (i.e., running, cycling) activity since the last check-in. According to the press release, "Participants were then prompted to play two 'brain games,' one designed to assess cognitive processing speed and the other designed to assess working memory, which Hakun said can be a proxy for executive function."
Regardless of activity level being light or moderate, participants who did any movement exhibited cognitive processing speed of someone four years younger. While no working memory improvements were observed, "response time during the working memory task reliably mirrored the association observed for processing speed," the study notes. Additionally, those who reported being active more often had even greater short-term cognitive benefits.
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"We get slower as we age, both physically and cognitively. The idea here is that we can momentarily counteract that through movement. It’s compelling," Hakun said. "There’s the potential for a brief walk or a little extra movement to give you a boost."
However, Hakun acknowledges that more research is needed to better understand the long-term implications of regular movement and cognitive health. He also pointed to the fact that this study is based on "observed physical activity," and future studies may more accurately utilize activity monitoring tools.
