Thanks very much for writing this! I’m glad to see more advice of this kind for the EA community.
I recently came across some advice from John Ratey which I haven’t been able to verify despite some effort. Quoting from his book Spark:
This extends what we know from the neurogenesis research: that aerobic exercise and complex activity have different beneficial effects on the brain...The evidence isn’t perfect, but really, your regimen has to include skill acquisition and aerobic exercise…choose a sport that simultaneously taxes the cardiovascular system and the brain — tennis is a good example — or do a ten-minute aerobic warm-up before something nonaerobic and skill-based, such as rock climbing or balance drills. While aerobic exercise elevates neurotransmitters, creates new blood vessels that pipe in growth factors, and spawns new cells, complex activities put all that material to use by strengthening and expanding networks.
Is it correct that skill acquisition is an important component of an exercise regimen? I thought this was a weird thing for him to assert given that he later says that there is little “research into the effect of rhythm, balance, and skill-based activites on the brain.” It also seems like there is an inherent tradeoff between complex movement and exercise intensity: you can’t play tennis as intensely as you can do intervals when swimming/running/cycling.
Thanks very much for writing this! I’m glad to see more advice of this kind for the EA community.
I recently came across some advice from John Ratey which I haven’t been able to verify despite some effort. Quoting from his book Spark:
Is it correct that skill acquisition is an important component of an exercise regimen? I thought this was a weird thing for him to assert given that he later says that there is little “research into the effect of rhythm, balance, and skill-based activites on the brain.” It also seems like there is an inherent tradeoff between complex movement and exercise intensity: you can’t play tennis as intensely as you can do intervals when swimming/running/cycling.