Should I Try to do a Challenge I Hear About or See on the Internet?
/Does your ability to complete (or not) a challenge have anything to do with your actual fitness level? Well, as you can probably guess, it depends. A lot of challenges are done by individuals who dedicate themselves to being in the top 1% when it comes to strength or mobility. For most of us (or at least those of us who don’t live in the gym), the ability to do a pistol squat, balance on your head, or perform a front flip with weights in your hand is not something we’d consider super important…or even something that indicates a person is healthy. Sure, these stunts often say a lot about a person’s physical abilities. The ability to do a handstand is not much different from the ability to do 25 chest-to-floor pushups; perhaps the only difference is the added skill component that comes with the handstand, but both activities require a good amount of practice!
All that said, I would never discourage someone from trying to do a certain challenge or activity if it calls to them. Sometimes, the journey to tackling that challenge is the most important part; there is a ton of value in setting a goal for yourself, identifying benchmarks, and making progress that will help you get there. Challenges often require a strong effort in body and mind. As you may or may not know, exercising your mind on a daily basis can decrease your chances of dementia and Alzheimer's. Intentional mental activity can also improve your memory and learning. There are a number of studies that show games and puzzles like crosswords, sudoku, and chess help keep your brain stay sharp as you age. To that end, nearly every exercise requires mental activity from your brain, but exercises that challenge both the body and the mind, provide double the benefit.
Stepping aside from social media fitness challenges, exercises like yoga, pilates, or Tai Chi are additional examples of exercises that require engagement of your mind, especially when you are performing movements you are not very familiar with. A 2016 study on yoga found that, “12 minutes of at-home meditation had significant improvements in verbal memory (the ability to remember word lists) and visual-spatial memory (the ability to find and remember locations).” Another study on Tai Chi found that, “older adults who practiced Tai Chi for 12 weeks had a greater ability to multitask than those who didn’t practice it”, according to a 2018 study published in the journal Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. They also had more activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain where higher-level thinking occurs. Adults with mild cognitive impairment due to dementia saw a boost in cognitive ability too.
Now, the suggestion here is not to pick a wild challenge online or try a workout that falls into the “weird movements” category; strength or aerobic related exercise can provide the same benefits. One 2017 study published in The Journals of Gerontology Series found an association between low physical activity and dementia risk. Another study found that pumping iron produced the best results for memory and other cognition measurements. This particular study compared the effects of two different types of exercise: balance and tone training and resistance training (pumping iron). So the next time you see a challenge or you are thinking about trying something new, give it a try. That challenge, sport, game, or puzzle might improve your quality of life for a long time.
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