From circuits to skipping, gardening to yoga, regular activity has powerful effects on the brain – even if you’re a weekend warrior
Dementia is the UK’s leading cause of death, with up to one million people in the UK thought to be living with the disease. But while there are genetic factors at play, environment and lifestyle choices also play a major role in your risk.
In 2024, the Lancet Commission on dementia identified 14 modifiable risk factors, many of which link directly to exercise. Physical inactivity in itself is a risk factor, as are high levels of “bad” cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes – all of which can be influenced by activity levels.
“Increasingly, we’re finding that dementia is really a heart and vascular disease and anything that’s good for the heart is likely to be good for the brain,” says Terry Quinn, professor in cardiovascular ageing and chair of geriatric medicine at the University of Glasgow.
New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.
“As we know without a shadow of a doubt that exercise is good for your cardiovascular health,” he adds, “I’m convinced exercise is good for brain health, too.”
This is reflected in research. According to the Alzheimer’s Society, people who regularly exercise may be up to 20 per cent less likely to develop dementia. One study found that those who exercised regularly prior to 50-years-old have less cognitive decline and a larger hippocampus – the part of the brain mainly responsible for memory and often first affected by Alzheimer’s. Researchers think this larger hippocampus could protect against memory loss.
Professor Quinn explains that how exercise has this protective effect isn’t completely clear.
“We can say very confidently that those who partake in exercise are likely to have better brain health: they’re less likely to develop dementia, and if they do develop dementia, it tends to be later on in their life,” he says. Historically, it’s been hard to parse whether this is just a correlation: people who engage in exercise frequently also tend to have a better diet; they tend not to smoke; and they tend not to drink too much.
“However,” he adds, “that’s a landscape starting to change. We’re seeing trials where some people are given prescriptions of exercise and others aren’t, and then they are assessed in detailed ways. What these studies suggest is that actually exercise is causative in helping protect brain health.”
Ahead is an expert guide to the best exercises to reduce your dementia risk.
Walk, run, swim or cycle – even if it’s just on the weekends
If there is one standout exercise for brain health, Professor Quinn says, it’s aerobic exercise.
“The World Health Organization recommends that you do a mix of cardiac exercise, and some strength and balance training, and that’s what I would recommend,” he says. “However, if you’re only going to do one, I suspect it’s the aerobic exercise that’s most important.”
When we engage in cardio (whether that’s the more gentle forms of walking, slow swimming or gardening, or more intense running or cycling), we are strengthening our hearts by making them pump harder, lowering our resting heart rate and improving our blood pressure. Exercise also triggers the increase of nitric oxide which has a positive impact on the blood vessels in our brains. “Short term, the blood vessels dilate, improving blood flow, and possibly helping with waste clearance in the brain. Medium to longer term nitric oxide helps with growth of new blood vessels in the brain.”
The NHS recommends at least 150 minutes of exercise that’s moderate-intensity (where you are making an effort but can still talk without issue) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity (where you’re breathing hard and cannot really speak) per week. This could take the form of brisk walking, cycling, water aerobics, hiking, dancing, running, or skipping – and it could even be reserved for the weekend.
A study this year found this benefit remains true even if you only exercise once or twice a week – as a so-called “weekend warrior“. The most important thing is to start and stay consistent.
Feed your brain with circuits and short bursts of vigorous exercise
Some research argues there are reasons to make your workouts occasionally intense.
Recently, scientists have discovered that lactate, which is produced when the body can no longer get enough oxygen to keep up with the muscle’s demands, can positively benefit the brain.
Lactate triggers the result of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which TV doctor Michael Mosely once called “a fertiliser for your brain”. It protects existing brain cells and promotes the growth of new ones, improving learning and memory.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a good way to get there – where you engage in short bursts of vigorous exercise while performing a circuit.
Lifting weights slows the decline of the brain
The research into the connection between strength training and brain health is in the earlier stages, but is still promising.
Higher muscle quality lowers the risk of metabolic disorders and systemic inflammation – all of which are established as connected to dementia risk.
One study suggests that for diabetes and surrounding conditions, strength training is more effective than aerobic exercise as the more muscle you have, the better your insulin sensitivity. An Australian study found that lifting weights over a six month period seemed to slow or even halt the rate of brain degeneration in specific regions of the hippocampus. Another from 2023 found that resistance training in adults aged between 60 and 80 seemed to preserve brain health.
While strength exercise is not as explicitly beneficial for the heart (and therefore the brain) as cardio, engaging your muscles will reap some of the same benefits you find with aerobic exercise, explains Stuart Gray, professor of muscle and metabolic health at the University of Glasgow.
“Muscle releases several different factors which when they reach the brain can help with neuron maintenance and making new ones, and neuron connection,” he explains. “Much of this stimulation happens when we exercise, which can also reduce inflammation and oxidative stress and improve brain health that way.”
Professor Quinn recommends introducing any form of resistance training that works for you, which means anything that requires carrying a load: bodyweight exercises like pilates, weight lifting, chair-based strength circuits, carrying heavy shopping bags, or even heavy gardening. The NHS recommends engaging in strengthening activities at least twice a week, though not at the expense of cardio work. “The evidence at the moment would point to preferentially trying to do some aerobic exercise – if you had a bit more time, also some strength and balance,” he says.
Yoga or tai chi protects the brain as you age
Exercise that promotes balance and proprioception (the sense of one’s position and movement in space) are also beneficial in reducing dementia risk.
A 2021 review of studies found consistent evidence to support the hypothesis of improved balance, independence, and quality of life in older adults who completed daily core strength exercise, and tai chi has been found in one study to improve cognition in older adults with memory problems. This is further emphasised by the mood benefits of such slow, meditative movements: yoga and tai chi have been linked to lowering stress and anxiety and lifting mood. Maintaining independence and quality of life contributes to preventing three of the 14 risk factors for dementia identified by The Lancet Commission: social isolation, depression, and physical inactivity.
Professor Quinn says the balance offered by exercise like tai chi and yoga has additional benefits. “By challenging your balance system, you’re helping to keep healthy the very complex network of brain and peripheral nerves that keeps us upright and stops us from shaking – all of these things that are incredibly important.”
Yoga and tai chi also straddle being aerobic and strength-based exercise, depending on the practice, frequency, and intensity. One review found that just one session a week can boost the brain areas affected by dementia, making this form of exercise a good addition to an established routine.
Your next read
