Douglas Zimmerman Comments on New Study Showing Exercise's Benefits

PHILADELPHIA, PA, April 22, 2013

Douglas Zimmerman, a personal trainer in Tampa, is speaking out on new information that further reinforces the benefit of regular exercise. A new article discusses research on exercise's impact on humans and animals. The findings illustrate that exercising regularly can offer improvements with memory, which is welcome news for individuals who may be at risk for cognitive decline.

The study, which was published in The Journal of Aging Research, considered dozens of women ages 70 to 80 who were suffering from mild cognitive impairment, where memory and thinking are more muddled than the average person in that age group. This type of condition is a risk factor for dementia. Seniors with mild cognitive impairment get Alzheimer's disease much more frequently than those who have strong cognitive skills.

Volunteers were assigned to participate in six months of supervised exercise. Some lifted weights, others briskly walked, and the rest skipped endurance exercise and just focused on stretching and toning their muscles. The women completed a range of tests of their verbal and spatial memory, both at the start and end of the six months. After six months, findings showed that the women in the toning group scored worse on the memory tests than they had at the start of the research. Their memories had continued to decline. However, the individuals who walked or did weight training were found to perform better on almost all of the testing.

Douglas Zimmerman comments on this, stating, "We've always known that there are significant benefits to regular exercise, but these findings just emphasize that point. For those who think that exercise is only running marathons or doing other high-intensity activities, this proves that varying types of workouts can still provide benefits."

Though each exercise group improved on tests of spatial memory, those who walked had more significant improvements in verbal memory than those who lifted weights. The study's authors explain that this shows that endurance and weight training have different physiological effects within the brain, and therefore cause improvements in different types of memory.

Teresa Liu-Ambrose, an associate professor at the Brain Research Center at the University of British Columbia, explains that older women benefit most when they incorporate both aerobic exercise and weight training into their exercise regimens. However, she also notes that concentrating just on one form of exercise still offers a host of benefits. She states, "When we started these experiments, most of us thought that, at best, we'd see less decline. But beyond merely stemming people's memory loss, we saw actual improvements."

Zimmerman notes, "It's clear that exercise provides a range of benefits, particularly for older people looking to keep their memories sharp." Douglas Zimmerman encourages all people to participate in some form of exercise on a regular basis, whether it's walking, swimming, or doing yoga.

ABOUT:

Douglas Zimmerman is a health and wellness coach who resides in Tampa. He is also a personal trainer who provides his clients with information on proper nutrition and exercise techniques in order to enable them to age gracefully. At his facility, he focuses on cardio and resistance training and proper nutrition. He is certified in corrective exercise by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and is a certified strength and conditioning specialist.

Website: http://douglaszimmerman.co