Anders Hansen - The Real Happy Pill Power Up Your Brain by Moving Your Body

Copyright 2016 by Anders Hansen

English Translation 2017 by Skyhorse Publishing

First published by Fitnessfrlaget, Stockholm, Sweden

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Lisa Zachrisson

Cover photo credit: Lisa Zachrisson

Illustrations by Lisa Zachrisson

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-2298-9

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-2299-6

Printed in China

For all its material advantages,
the sedentary life has left us edgy,
unfulfilled. CARL SAGAN

Dedicated to:
Hans-ke Hansen ( 1940 2011 )
Vanja Hansen & Bjrn Hansen

CONTENTS

FOREWORDEXERCISE YOUR BRAIN

Make two fists and join them together side by side. This is the size of your brain. It weighs about the same as a carton of milk. Imagine something this small containing everything you have ever felt and experienced. All your personality traits. Everything you have ever learned. All your memoriesfrom your first, faint mental images of a summer vacation when you were three; through your childhood and teenage years; to your current, grownup life where you are now reading these very words.

Everything is stored in that lump, which is the universes most complex structure that we know of and which consumes no more energy than a light bulb. Whoever isnt fascinated by the brain cant be intrigued by much more.

While weve known for some time now how the bodys other organs work, the brain has remained a mysteryup until now. Thanks to recently developed research tools, our knowledge has made great leaps these past decades. We have begun to understand, in detail, how the brain functions; today, few call into question that we dont merely have a brain, but that in fact we are our brain.

However, just because brain research has given us a biological glimpse at human characteristics doesnt mean that your fate is sealed and unchangeable. Studies have brought to light just how fantastically malleable the brain can be, not only in children but also in adults. New brain cells develop constantly. Connections are created, and connections disappear. Everything you do, down to every thought you have, modifies the brain a little bit. Your brain is more akin to modeling clay than china.

So how do you shape this modeling clay? Well, there are few things as important for your brain as moving your body. Not only do you feel better when youre physically active; your concentration, memory, creativity, and resistance to stress are also affected. Youre able to process information more quicklyso you think fasterand become more adept at mobilizing intellectual resources as needed. You have access to an extra mental gear to help you focus when things get hectic around you and to stay calm when your thoughts start racing. In fact, physical activity even seems to increase your level of intelligence.

Doesnt that sound strange? After all, if we want stronger arms, we train our arms, not our legs. The same should to apply to the brain: if we want a brain that functions better, surely we ought to train with crosswords, memory exercises, and other brain gymnastics? As it turns out, thats not true. Research clearly indicates that memory exercises, Sudoku, and crosswords dont come close to boosting the brain in the same positive way as does engaging in regular physical activity. Surprisingly, the brain seems to be the organ that benefits the most from our being in motion.

In this book, Im going to show you the huge impact exercise and training have on your brainand explain the reasons why. Some of the results are noticeable immediatelyas in, right after youve been for a walk or a runwhile others require regular training for at least one year to take effect. I will also describe what you need to do specifically to achieve the outcomes and mental advantages that research has shown physical activity providesbenefits that amount to no less than a mental upgrade. Enjoy!

Anders Hansen

1. YOUR CHANGEABLE BRAIN

The chief function of the body is to carry the brain around

THOMAS A. EDISON

I magine that youre sitting in a time machine and youve cranked the year back to 10,000 BC. The machine starts clanging, and suddenly youre hurtled thousands of years back in time. You nervously step out of the capsule and look around you. A group of people dressed in animal hides are standing there, and they seem surprised to see you.

What is your first impression of them? That theyre primitive cave dwellers who, at best, might be able to hunt down an animal and kill it but are otherwise unable to show any hint of advanced thought? It might be easy to reach this conclusion, but in fact you and they are very much alike. Of course, they dont speak the same language, and they have a completely different set of experiences, but overall they function quite similarly to you. They possess the same cognitive abilities and feelings you do. We humans have not changed all that much, really, over the past twelve thousand years.

By contrast, your lifestyle has undergone immense transformation in only one hundred years, and if you look back twelve thousand years, the degree of change is unbelievable. You live in material comfort and make use of technical tools the likes of which your ancient predecessors could not conceive of in their wildest dreams. You exist in entirely different social environments. You probably meet as many fresh faces in a single week as they would over the course of their entire lifetime.

There is also another fundamental difference between your way of life and that of your ancestors: they move considerably more than you do. Taken in historical context, they are not alone in doing this. Over millions of years, our ancestors were significantly more physically active than we are today, and the reason is simple: throughout most of human history, it has been necessary to be physically active to procure food and to survive. Consequently, not only is our body built for movement, so is our brain.

One hundred years might seem like an eternitylet alone twelve thousand yearsbut from a biological perspective, its no longer than the blink of an eye. Evolution often requires considerably more time before big changes appear in any species, and this applies to us humans, too. Our brain hasnt changed significantly, whether in one century or over twelve thousand years. Despite the enormous transformations we have made to our lifestyle that have removed us further and further from the life we were designed for, our brains are still living in the savannawhere our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived many years ago. That is true especially when it comes down to how much we move. Even though we dont need to hunt for our food and can now order our groceries online, our brain still runs more efficiently if we live a little more like our ancestors didwhen we move our bodies.