25 day push up challenge - can exercise change your brain and enhance your health?
Day 4 - 25 push ups a day for 25 days to raise awareness for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
I’ve been nominated by our very own Dr Melissa (Chiropractor). Thanks, I think? Day 4 of twenty-five and I am realising how I’ve neglected my upper body these last 7 years of cycling. Ignoring all other athletic pursuits has helped me cultivate the physique of a T-rex. This is great for riding my bike. I have no unnecessary upper body weight or bulk to slow me down. However, it does explain why after 100 push ups over the last 4 days it hurts to eat, brush my teeth, or generally do anything that requires me to lift my arms.
the physique of a cyclist…
Day 15 - 25 push ups a day for 25 days to raise awareness for PTSD.
Well, I tried to figure out where this Facebook PTSD push up challenge started but I had no luck. It’s really no surprise that I could not figure it out. I had to ask Christine how to post the Day 1 video on Facebook because I had no idea. Anyway, as far as I can tell the push up challenge has been going around like a chain letter (ask someone old if you don’t what a chain letter is) for a few years now.
I really wanted to know, why 25 days, why 25 push ups and what has it got to do with PTSD besides putting it in your Facebook news feed every day for over three weeks? Awareness is great, but change is even better. I’m going to assume that 25 days is long enough to establish an exercise routine that might stick. And 25 push ups? I scoffed at first, how hard can that be? Surely that wouldn’t count as real exercise!
Well I was wrong, for a cyclist with a T-rex physique I am counting it as exercise. And we all know exercise is good for us.
But is exercise good for someone with PTSD and if so why?
It turns out that lots of smart scientists and researchers have been busy trying to answer this question and it seems the answer is…
Yes, but it’s complicated and we don’t exactly know why?
It’s the why part of the question that’s the most interesting to me. A quick search of scientific journals turned up a 2019 literature review in the journal “frontiers in Psychiatry” discussing the known benefits of exercise that may also be helping people suffering PTSD, anxiety, and depression. The authors discuss enhanced cognitive function, exercised induced neuroplasticity, normalisation of hypothalamic-pituitary axis function and reduced inflammatory markers as possible ways that moderate aerobic exercise can make a positive difference to PTSD sufferers.
That’s right, aerobic exercise can make you smarter, can increase brain mass and connectivity and help normalise your stress response and immune system.
When I read scientific research articles like this it reminds me how privileged we are at Your Body Works, to help you keep your body working and moving well.
So that’s why I’m nominating everyone for the 25 push ups a day for 25 days challenge. Don’t just raise awareness, make a positive change in your own life. Start a good new habit today, get fitter, stronger, smarter and help your immune system.
Stay healthy and keep moving,
Alistair.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6437073/pdf/fpsyt-10-00133.pdf