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View Full Version : for your brain's sake, don't take the winter off...


thwart
01-10-2013, 11:06 AM
Took 3 wks for exercise induced positive changes to go away:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/09/to-keep-the-brain-benefits-of-exercise-keep-exercising/

Rats given access to a running wheel, toys and other types of environmental enrichment were able to use serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in anxiety and other moods, more efficiently. After several months of exercise, the exercised animals became noticeably less anxious and more resilient to stress during behavioral testing. But that savoir-faire dissipated rapidly if they were removed from the cages with running wheels and toys.

In their latest experiment, also presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting, the researchers reported that after 10 weeks of running, followed by three weeks of inactivity, the running rats’ brains were almost indistinguishable from those of animals that had never exercised. They had almost comparable levels of an enzyme in the brain that affects the synthesis and uptake of serotonin. It was as if they had never run.

MattTuck
01-10-2013, 11:28 AM
This is interesting, given that other studies I've read suggest you can lay off exercise for 2 weeks with minimal loss of fitness.

Of course, 3 weeks to mice is probably like 6 months to us.

fiamme red
01-10-2013, 11:33 AM
This is interesting, given that other studies I've read suggest you can lay off exercise for 2 weeks with minimal loss of fitness.

Of course, 3 weeks to mice is probably like 6 months to us.As Lyle McDonald would say, "You're not a rat." :)

cp43
01-10-2013, 11:46 AM
This is interesting, given that other studies I've read suggest you can lay off exercise for 2 weeks with minimal loss of fitness.

Of course, 3 weeks to mice is probably like 6 months to us.

I don't think they're measuring fitness here, just the actions of a chemical in the brain. So, it may be that they're still just as physically fit after the 3 weeks off, but the brain chemistry has changed. I don't know if the two measurements are related at all. Just a thought.

Chris

2LeftCleats
01-10-2013, 11:54 AM
Thank God! I've been looking for some excuse to get my rats on a treadmill.

avalonracing
01-10-2013, 12:00 PM
Me not ride dat mutch dis past winner ands mys brian am workin jist fhine.

thwart
01-10-2013, 12:44 PM
PLEASE, PLEASE somebody go over to Avalon's place and physically force him to get on a trainer, before things are too far gone...

... and he winds up riding a Shimano bike. ;)

avalonracing
01-10-2013, 12:57 PM
PLEASE, PLEASE somebody go over to Avalon's place and physically force him to get on a trainer, before things are too far gone...

... and he winds up riding a Shimano bike. ;)

what am a trainer? :rolleyes:
shimano am friend
me has 3 dura-ase rode bike and 2 XT montain bike

thwart
01-10-2013, 01:08 PM
me has 3 dura-ase rode bike and 2 XT montain bike

Just as I feared. He's already too far gone.

A shame, really...

giverdada
01-10-2013, 04:18 PM
laughing out loud here.

get that guy on a trainer. stat.

but really - i've always felt the same way. i commute by bicycle because it's the fastest and most efficient way for me to get to and from work, but MAINLY i just love the way it helps me transition to and from work. i wake up in the morning ride and decompress on the afternoon ride. perfect. if i don't exercise at all, no ride, no run, for any more than 3 days, i start to get really agitated and irritable like someone quitting cigarettes, and then it's all depressive downhill from there. could be worse. could be addicted to heroin. might be more cost effective though..