It is one of those things that makes you go, “Huh?”. The human body is an amazing bit of kit – I know you’ve heard that before from me 😉 – and is capable of so many amazing things, including being able to generate its own energy. Wait… what?

Yes. You read that right. It is an oddity for sure, but it is scientifically proven. If you are feeling tired, go do some exercise and you will feel more alive and alert and with it.

One of my favourite scientific papers that showed walking up and down a flight of stairs six times was, for your brain and the effect it had, the equivalent to drinking an espresso. How cool is that?

There are so many other scientific studies that show the same thing. It was one of the fascinating aspects of fitness training and movement that sent me down the path of becoming a personal trainer over a decade ago.

I read the seminal book, SPARK!, by John Ratey, the Harvard Medical School associate clinical professor of psychiatry, in 2014. The book explores the transformative effects of exercise on the brain, arguing that physical activity can improve mood, memory, and cognitive function, even acting as a defense against conditions like depression, ADD, and Alzheimer’s. Ratey emphasizes, via many research papers and case studies, the powerful connection between the mind and body, arguing that exercise can physically remodel the brain for peak performance.

And just yesterday I saw, on social media, world renowned neuroscientist, Andrew Huberman extolling the virtues of exercise on the brain. In a variety of recent studies exercise has been shown to increase our levels of energy and alertness by release of adrenaline in our body and norepinephrine in the brain. This mechanism involves the vagus nerve. Exercise that involves the large musculature of the legs and core is most effective for increasing levels of alertness. This is important to keep in mind if you’re feeling less than motivated to exercise. In the 2 to 6 hours after exercise, you are far more capable of learning new information of any kind. This is in part due to increases in alertness that assist our attempts to focus. It’s also due to the release of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

I have had so many clients tell me that they feel so much better leaving the Power of One Fitness studio gym than they did when walking through the door to start their session. And while this is ‘only’ anecdotal evidence, it certainly backs up all that scientific stuff.

Listening to the Diary of a CEO podcast a couple of weeks ago, I heard Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, Dr. Daniel Lieberman say the words “To get energy, you have to give energy”.

YES! YES! YES! A thousand times YES!

If you’d like to know more about boosting your energy through a structured exercise programme, or would like to kick on with what you are already doing, please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you, and work with you to give you increased energy as well as all the other benefits that exercise will provide.

P.S. Keep your eyes peeled for a new nutrition and fitness programme that I will be releasing with accredited nutritionist, Gemma Westfold, in the coming weeks. It will providenutrition advice and workouts to help you get through the summer holidays.