Healthy Brain Zone Exercise Routine

YOUR HEALTHY BRAIN ZONE EXERCISE ROUTINE 

START SLOW

Start where you are and with what you have. I recommend starting with light exercise: twenty minutes, three times per week, or medium-light exercise: twenty to thirty minutes, three to five times per week.

Walking is a good option for starting—you don’t need a gym membership, you can work it around your schedule, and you can do it with your spouse or friends. It may not be aerobic or muscle strengthening, but walking is good exercise and certainly counts as being active. 

Using a treadmill works just as well. Walking for the times specified previously will get you approximately three thousand steps (about 1.3–1.5 miles) in a day, and though this is not intensive exercise, it is still enough to benefit and protect your brain. 

You may want to track your progress with a pedometer, Apple Watch or Fitbit. If you have a dog, this is a great excuse to go for a walk, and it makes exercise an easy habit to maintain. 

You may want to consider getting a dog, not only for the fun and companionship but for the exercise benefits you will receive. 

INCREASE SLOWLY

Maintain your walking, but begin to add both aerobic and strengthening exercises as well. Both are known to be good for a healthy, fit brain. 

This gets my heart rate up to around 145–155. 

Then I back it off to half the resistance for one minute. My heart rate slows to around 125–135. 

Then I do one minute of max pedaling at max resistance. My heart rate goes back up. 

Back and forth, I do this for about twelve to fourteen minutes, finishing it off with a few minutes at less resistance to cool down. 

IT’S A FACT 

To calculate your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220. 

Moderate exercise will be about 70 percent of that, and higher-intensity exercise will be 90–100 percent. HIIT works the body. I prefer the recumbent bike because it is less pressure on my knees, but if you like running, riding a bike or stationary bike, using weights, jumping, or boxing, there are many ways to use HIIT to benefit your body and brain. 

Aim for four to eight high-intensity periods and the same number of slow periods, with a warm-up to start and cooldown to end. You do need to know your maximum heart rate. Take 220 and subtract your age. Use that number as your max heart rate. 

With HIIT, you want to hit 90–100 percent of your maximum heart rate four to seven times. For HIIT you need to be healthy and not have heart disease. It’s fast, and you get the benefits in fifteen minutes. Consider stress testing in men forty-five and older and women fifty-five and older with one or more coronary risk factors. Please consult your doctor before doing HIIT if you are fifty or older.

THESE ARE MOST IMPORTANT 

Initial blood tests for memory loss: hs-CRP hemoglobin A1c homocysteine levels ApoE gene testing lipid panel oxidized LDL cholesterol vitamin B12 level vitamin D3 level DHEA-S level pregnenolone level estradiol level total testosterone level free T3 level TSH MTHFR gene test

YOUR PRESCRIPTION TO BUILD YOUR BRAIN MUSCLE 

DO as many of these as possible and tick them off as you accomplish them.  

 

Enjoy the moment.	Meditate on scripture.
Pray for the needs of those around you.	Learn a new language.
Take a course on something you want to learn.	Listen to quality podcasts
Start a part-time job.	Write a book (family history, fiction, or how-to).
Practice single-tasking	Listen to audiobooks while driving or walking.
Join local groups that interest you.	Activate your imagination.
Self-talk. (Replace limiting beliefs with new truths.)	Visit local museums.
Join a writing group.	Take a class on how to remember names.
Learn to speed-read.	Attend a book reading
Learn a song. (Sing it or play it.)	Take cooking classes.
Learn to juggle	Be part of a charitable cause.
Master the Rubik’s Cube.	Listen to music.
Start a new hobby.	Journal (diary, gratitude list, prayers, ideas, and more).
Learn to play a musical instrument.	Use the TV for quality content only.
Memorize scripture, poetry, quotes, and affirmations.	Do jigsaw puzzles.
Get a pet	Do crossword puzzles.
Take dancing lessons.	Play number puzzle games.
Teach a class (online or in person).	Take a self-defense class.
Paint or learn to paint.	Plant a garden.
Bake or learn to bake.	Take walks with friends.
Plant/tend an orchard.	Take a woodworking class.
Learn tongue twisters to impress your grandchildren.	Knit, sew, crochet, or quilt
Play board games or card games.	Check out books from your local library.
Be in/stay in healthy relationships.	Read more books.
Purposefully do something with the other side of your brain (left: logic, math, lists, speech, language, reading, writing; right: artistic, musical, emotions, imagination, humor). It often takes three to six months before improvement is noticed, so keep at it.	Know your learning style (visual, auditory, kinesthetic), and learn something new without using that style.

 

Build the habit, and good results will come!