{"id":297946,"date":"2025-10-12T18:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T18:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/297946\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T18:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T18:39:12","slug":"surprising-study-finds-this-30-minute-workout-boosts-your-memory-and-its-not-strength-or-running","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/297946\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprising study finds this 30-minute workout boosts your memory \u2013 and it\u2019s not strength or running"},"content":{"rendered":"

Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the health benefits of running<\/a> \u2013 even just 5-10 minutes a day at slow<\/a> speeds has been associated with a markedly reduced risk of death from all causes and cardiovascular disease<\/a>. Why? As a form of aerobic exercise \u2013 physical activity that increases your heart rate and uses oxygen to produce energy \u2013 it strengthens your heart and lungs, improving your blood circulation.<\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019re not a fan of regularly pounding the pavement \u2013 or want to switch it up now and again \u2013 other forms of aerobic exercise do exist. Swimming<\/a> and brisk walking<\/a> are stellar examples, but there are others \u2013 including badminton and basketball, which scientists have discovered in a new study<\/a>, may provide you with a significant memory boost. <\/p>\n

Physiological and cognitive benefits for the price of one? We\u2019re all ears. <\/p>\n

What to Read NextWhat did the study find?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Researchers studied almost 600 young adults who were assigned to three groups: low-intensity aerobic exercise, moderate-intensity exercise and a control group, which didn\u2019t follow any structured exercise programme. <\/p>\n

The exercise intervention lasted for eight weeks and saw participants perform three 30-minute sessions of their allocated activity per week. The low-intensity group did 30-minute sessions of badminton rallies, designed to keep their heart rate at around 57-63% of their VO2 max<\/a> (classed as a light aerobic effort), and the moderate-intensity group did 30-minute sessions of basketball dribbling drills, maintaining about 64-76% of their VO2 max (classed as a moderate aerobic effort). <\/p>\n

Related Story<\/p>\n

After performing pre- and post-intervention tests and analyses, the researchers found significant improvements in the participants\u2019 declarative knowledge (their ability to consciously recall and describe facts, information and concepts).
<\/p>\n

What does this mean for us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the moderate-intensity basketball group participants\u2019 declarative knowledge improved significantly, the improvement was less in the lower-intensity badminton group \u2013 but still notable.<\/p>\n

When many women are put off exercising altogether because they feel that only high-intensity modes of movement \u2018count\u2019 towards any health benefits, these findings reinforce the fact that this is simply not true. <\/p>\n

Although the moderate-intensity group experienced slightly more of a memory boost, the lower-intensity group still benefited. Plus, both badminton and basketball are relatively low-cost activities (most leisure centres have facilities), making them more accessible. <\/p>\n

In fact, you can make do with a DIY setup in the garden or a park.<\/p>\n

Related StoryWhy does badminton and basketball boost memory?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drawing on previous studies, the researchers highlight several reasons why these activities may boost memory<\/a>. Firstly, aerobic exercise increases cerebral blood flow (the rate at which blood circulates through the brain), meaning more oxygen and nutrients are reaching the brain regions in charge of learning and memory. <\/p>\n

The researchers also refer to previous evidence suggesting that aerobic activity can enhance hippocampal function, which is the area of the brain most closely linked to declarative memory.<\/p>\n

Related Story<\/p>\n

And the mood-boosting and stress-reducing elements of exercise may also be at play, potentially creating a more optimal mental environment for memory formation. <\/p>\n

While the researchers were primarily interested in how the exercise intensity affected memory and not the specific activities themselves (badminton and basketball were used to create those different intensity conditions), they highlight how the cognitive aspect of these activities (eg, coordination and problem-solving) may further bolster cognitive processes associated with learning and memory. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible the social and interactive element of these activities could play a part, too. <\/p>\n

The bottom line<\/strong><\/p>\n

While additional research focusing on the effects of different activity types is needed, the findings demonstrate the powerful potential of incorporating short but regular workouts into your week. <\/p>\n

The primary message here is just how beneficial regular aerobic exercise is \u2013 even if performed at a low intensity. <\/p>\n

Both badminton and basketball are great (and fun) options, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s about finding which kinds of movements and activities you enjoy \u2013 preferably enough to do them for 30 minutes, three times per week.<\/p>\n

Related Stories\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Hannah Bradfield is a Senior Nutrition Writer across Women\u2019s Health UK\u00a0and Men\u2019s Health UK. An NCTJ-accredited journalist, Hannah graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in English and Sport Science and an MA in Media and Cultural Analysis.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She has been covering sports, health and fitness for the last five years and has created content for outlets including BBC Sport, BBC Sounds, Runner\u2019s World\u00a0and Stylist. She especially enjoys interviewing those working within the community to improve access to sport, exercise and wellness. Hannah is a 2024 John Schofield Trust Fellow and was also named a 2022 Rising Star in Journalism by The Printing Charity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A keen runner, Hannah was firmly a sprinter growing up (also dabbling in long jump) but has since transitioned to longer-distance running. While 10K is her favoured race distance, she loves running or volunteering at parkrun every Saturday, followed, of course, by pastries. She\u2019s always looking for fun new runs and races to do and brunch spots to try.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Numerous scientific studies have demonstrated the health benefits of running \u2013 even just 5-10 minutes a day at…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":297947,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[151891,144146,1339,1198,210,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-297946","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-aerobic-fitness","9":"tag-badminton","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115362658582468700","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297946\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}