5 Minutes of This Exercise Slashes Dementia Risk
In our busy lives, finding time for exercise can feel impossible. But what if just five minutes of movement could help protect your brain health? As a movement expert and wellness educator, I've worked with everyone from professional athletes to Hollywood stars like Ashley Olsen to everyday people looking to improve their health. What I've discovered is that movement truly is medicine—especially for your brain. Through my method, I've seen how simple, consistent movement transforms not just bodies, but minds. Read on to discover five simple exercises that can help lower your risk of cognitive decline—they only take minutes a day.
Your Muscles Make "Hope Molecules"
I describe the movement as using your body to engage with life. Whether I'm working with a pro athlete who's trying to recover from an injury or improve their game, a celebrity, a working mom, or a senior citizen with Parkinson's who just wants to be able to balance better and think more clearly – when you contract your muscles when you move physically, your brain and body reward you.
Movement is medicine. Recent NIH research explains that when you contract your muscles, they literally secrete a small protein into your bloodstream (myokines) that makes you resilient to stress and can protect you from depression. Scientists call them "hope molecules." Your muscles are manufacturing antidepressant molecules, and they travel to your brain from your muscles. They help people have more hope and recover from trauma and improve cognitive function. And so, when that's happening, improving cognitive function, the brain is working in your exercise session to help your body get better, and at the same time, your brain is also getting stronger.
It's not just that an athlete with a torn Achilles is re-strengthening his ankle, but he's also teaching his brain how to keep his ankle strong and how to feel better while doing it. This goes across the board for everyone. And there's no dose of movement that's too small to get physical and mental benefits. Because if we are regularly active, the structure and function of our brains change in ways that teach us how to be resilient to stress and more sensitive to joy. And so, you have this increased availability of dopamine, endocannabinoids (which is the molecule that cannabis mimics), and endorphin receptors. While you are improving your physical function, your brain is saying, I guess we can experience more joy and meaning in life and more hope and optimism.
Why Just 5 Minutes Makes a Difference
So, in short-duration, moderate exercise is beneficial to brain health in that when we exercise, our heart rate increases, which pumps more blood to the brain. This extra blood brings more oxygen and nutrients that are essential for brain cells to function properly. It also triggers the release of a protein called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).
Brain Fertilizer and Mood Boosters
BDNF is like fertilizer for your brain. It helps your brain cells grow, develop, and make new connections. Higher levels of BDNF have been linked to better memory, learning, and improved mood. Moderate, short exercises also help regulate the stress hormone cortisol and release endorphins, which reduce feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
Better Sleep, Better Brain
Better sleep means your brain can repair and refresh itself, supporting cognitive health by promoting better rest. It improves mood and reduces depression. A happy brain can function more effectively and prevent cognitive decline. Even in these small doses, these small bites enhance the brain's ability to fight off damaging processes like inflammation and oxidative stress to keep it healthier for longer.
5-Minute Daily Exercises Exercise That Lower Dementia Risk
Small, powerful, short-duration movements throughout the day will help improve your cognitive health. I like to call them movement bites or movement snacks. They're short, intentional time increments of movement that nourish your body, mind, heart, and spirit. And it works because they fit into your daily rhythm, so you can ensure you stay active even on your busiest days.
Body Weight Squats
Instructions are to stand with your feet shoulder width apart, lower your body by bending your knees, pushing your hips back as if you're sitting in a chair, keeping your chest lifted and shoulder blades squeezed down behind you, navel to spine, always connecting navel to spine, and then return to standing. Do this movement for a minute, two to three times with 20 to 30 seconds of rest in between. Why is it effective for brain health? Because squats promote circulation, they engage large muscle groups and help release BDNF, which improves memory and cognitive function. A modification for a gentler version would be to perform them a little more shallowly. Or to use a chair to actually squat down to ensure you don't go too deep. And a common mistake to avoid would be to not let your knees cave in towards each other. Be sure to keep your knees in line with your ankles and toes. Think joint stack alignment. That's what I like to call it.
Marching in Place
Stand tall and alternate, lifting your knees up to about hip height while swinging your arms in opposition as you march. Do it for a minute with about 15 to 30 seconds of rest in between sets and do at least three sets. That will give you about a five minute movement snack! It's effective for brain health because it increases your heart rate and blood flow to the brain. While at the same time, the coordination between the arms and the legs stimulates brain activity. Modification – if you have joint issues, just reduce the intensity by marching slowly and without lifting your knees too high. You want to avoid leaning forward. Stand tall, and don't forget about drawing your navel in and up. Stay connected to your spine, your upper and lower body connected by your core. So keep your torso upright, engaging your core, and your shoulder blades down.
Arm Circles
Extend your arms out to the sides while you're standing tall, moving from the shoulders with your arms strong and enthusiastic and your fingers long. Make small circles, and gradually increase the size of the circles for 30 seconds and then reverse direction. So that's a full minute. Do this three times with a short rest in between. This movement is effective for brain health as it not only engages shoulder muscles, but improves blood circulation, which helps relieve tension and increase mental clarity. If you have any shoulder pain, you can modify this move by doing smaller circles. If needed, you could also do the exercise seated. Common mistakes include stiffening your neck, looking up or looking down, and clenching your hands. So keep your arms long and strong, move only from the shoulder, and find a focus point in front of you to keep your head steady.
Standing Leg Raises
Standing tall – and you can modify this by holding onto a wall or chair for balance – lift one leg out to the side, keeping it straight, then lower it back down and lift it in front of you a little bit, keeping it straight. So you are engaging different parts of the leg when you move it to the side and then forward. Do this for about a minute for one leg and short rest and then alternate sides.
We have a tendency to lean to the standing leg when raising the other one. Be sure to avoid this by keeping your torso upright and engaging the core, navel to spine.
Torso Twists
Stand with your feet about hip width apart, maybe a little wider. Arms reach in front of your chest and you clasp your hands like you're making a gun, or what I like to call "Charlie's Angels hands." Then twist your torso to the right and then to the left, moving from your mid back so your hips don't move too much. A little bit is okay, but twisting side to side in a controlled movement, keeping your arms at shoulder height for about a minute, resting for about 20 seconds in between. Do this three to four times. This rotation engages your spine, which improves flexibility and stimulates mental alertness by enhancing that coordination. To modify, if you have back issues, you can just perform a gentler version with a smaller range of motion. You can lower your arms a little bit if you have shoulder pain. Be sure not to force the twist and don't twist too much. Let momentum help you move within a comfortable range of motion so you're not putting any strain on the body.
Benefits for Your Whole Body
These five exercises are simple and effective ways to boost your brain health. They all work by increasing circulation, stimulating neuroplasticity, and releasing mood-boosting chemicals into your body. By incorporating them into your daily routine, you enhance your focus, reduce your stress, and improve your overall cognitive function.
How to Make These Exercises Part of Your Day
Consistency is key. To start, you can put alerts in your phone for every hour, every two hours, or even every three hours, three times a day, aim for five times a day. You could do it first, something first thing in the morning, one of the gentler ones, and marching in the morning is a great way to start the day. Before you sit down to work, after every meal, and throughout your workday if you have a desk job.
The Nutrition-Movement Connection
Nutrition plays a crucial role in supporting brain health and for optimizing the benefits of movement. Because it fuels brain function, it enhances cognitive performance and it also aids in recovery after any movement, any exercise. This is especially true for nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, as these vitamins and minerals are essential for brain health.
Brain-Boosting Foods
For exercise in particular, you want to eat clean complex carbohydrates like sweet potatoes and oats. You want to eat lean protein such as chicken breast, grass-fed lean beef and tofu as well as healthy fats, including avocados, nuts and seeds. This all helps fuel your energy and repair the muscles. And for brain health, omega-3s are especially important. Think salmon, walnuts, and antioxidants like berries, and the vitamins found in spinach and eggs. This is going to support cognition and reduce inflammation. So together, proper nutrition and regular movement boost memory focus and overall brain health. They go hand in hand.
What to Avoid
Limit processed foods, limit added sugars, and limit alcohol. These can all have negative effects on brain health.
What to Expect After 30 Days
So even though the improvements might not be dramatic, especially in the first month, the consistency of these five-minute movement bites will help you build momentum and foster a positive relationship with physical activity. This leads to very tangible benefits like better energy, mood, and mobility. It also sets the stage for increasing the duration or intensity of the movement as you progress.
Mental Benefits First
It's about building consistency and still, even though it's short, regular movement improves mental clarity and mood by boosting endorphins, reducing stress, helping you focus better, increasing energy levels by stimulating the blood circulation, feel good hormones, and improving how you think and feel overall.
Physical Changes Come Later
You will improve mobility and flexibility over time. Especially when you include stretching or dynamic movements, there will be improvement. This all contributes to better posture and counteracts the effects of sitting for long periods. With body weight exercises like squats, you can also start to improve muscle tone pretty quickly in the core and the legs. Same thing with the arm circles. It's not going to give you significant muscle growth in such a short time, but it will definitely help maintain and improve muscle endurance.
Building Lasting Habits
As you get your heart pumping, increasing circulation, your cardiovascular health will improve over time. You'll notice a little more stamina and endurance, and again, this fosters a relationship with movement that'll have you doing it longer, sooner. And it's this consistency of behavior formation, daily routine, reinforcing the habit of movement in your brain and body, that will make it easier to expand the plan over time. I would say the most noticeable changes will be in mood stress reduction and overall energy right away. And then the physical improvements come a little more slowly over time. But building a positive relationship with physical activity leads to all of these benefits as you progress.
Move Your Body
My best advice, number one, is always to exercise regularly. That's physical activity. It's one of the best ways to support your brain health by increasing blood flow to the brain, encouraging growth of new brain cells and helping with memory and cognitive function. Other ways include engaging in mental stimulation, whether that's reading, learning a new skill, hobby, language or instrument, or playing memory or strategy games where you have to think and reason.
Prioritize Sleep
Quality rest is also key. Aim for seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Avoid screen time and caffeine before bed. Eat a brain healthy diet to play a crucial role in cognitive health. Balance diet, the omega-3 fatty acids like fish, salmon, walnuts, flax seeds, antioxidants like berries and leafy greens and nuts, whole grains and healthy fats, lean proteins and legumes, and again, limiting added sugar, alcohol.
Stay Connected
Don't forget to socialize and stay connected because regular social interaction will stimulate your brain and protects against cognitive decline. Engage with friends, family, community. Being socially active does help maintain mental sharpness and emotional wellbeing.
Manage Stress
Manage stress with meditation, mindfulness, deep breathing exercises, yoga, Tai Chi, and spending time in nature because chronic stress impairs brain function, particularly memory. So, practice those stress-reducing techniques.
Monitor Your Health
Monitor your health conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Stay on top of your own health and be an advocate for your own health because all of those things affect brain health over time. Have your regular labs and checkups done with healthcare providers who are collaborative. And mostly, just stay curious and open to life and new experiences. It keeps the brain flexible, adaptable, and resilient.
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