According to the online health site “Health in Motion,” exercise is extremely beneficial to the body by providing a higher energy level, a healthy heart and bones and a longer life expectancy. But what most people do not know is that according to multiple studies conducted by the University of Illinois, exercise can improve a person’s academics as well.
Personal trainer and assistant STA cross country coach Kerry Jones says running has countless benefits, some that even carry over into the classroom. Last year, the cross country team at STA had the highest overall GPA out of all the fall sports, with varsity averaging a 3.9 and JV a 3.7.
“There are so many [benefits to running]: you will be in great physical shape, you sleep better and you tend to eat healthier,” STA cross country coach Karen Moran said. “Running creates a sense of well-being and it helps to relieve stress; sometimes going for a run is the best thing you can do after a hard day at school.’Â
The purpose of the study conducted at the University of Illinois was to see how fitness affects the immature human brain, and according to Dr. Jay Giedd, the brain is not fully mature until a person reaches their 20’s.
The researchers began by recruiting children and asking them to run on a treadmill. Based on their runs, the children were divided into highest and lowest-fit categories, and asked to complete a series of challenges dealing with memory, judgment and reasoning. After the higher-fit children scored better on these tests an MRI was done to see why that might have happened.
The MRI scans revealed that the higher-fit children had larger:
* Basal ganglias, the part of the brain that helps in maintaining attention and the ability to coordinate actions and thoughts crisply.
* Hippocampi, the part of the brain that forms, sorts and stores memories.
* Dorsal striatum, the part of the brain that prevents negative behavioral interferences.
These studies prove that, exercise, in addition to all of its other benefits, plays an important role in the brain development of youth.
