Studies Show You Are Actually Smarter The Hour After You Workout

You ever get frustrated while writing a term paper? Get caught up with a presentation? Trouble finishing up your thesis?
Well the key to your mental block may be a good workout. At least that’s what a study from Michigan State University suggests.
Matthew Pontiflex, Ph.D and lead study author states,

“There’s a growing body of data that shows the more physical activity you engage in, the better long-term memory you have.”

Dr. Pontiflex had 92 adults memorize a list of word associations and after 12 hours the participants were tested on how many word associations they remembered from that morning.
The results were probably not what you would’ve expected.
Dr. Pontiflex reports that it made no difference whether you were a couch potato for the entire day or a gym rat, there were no increases or decreases in memory capacity.
But where there were major differences were with people who had worked out an hour before getting work done.
According to the study led by Dr. Pontiflex,

“People who work out within the hour showed improvements on their memory, regardless of their age.”

Exercise may increase the availability of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine in the brain, which helps with critical long-term memory. However, not all pre-work workouts are created equal.
According to the same study, Dr. Pontiflex reported that people who worked out AFTER studying did worse than other participants, though he is still unsure about this dilemma,

“There’s something about exercising just after you learn something that makes it harder to remember.”