{"id":156528,"date":"2025-11-27T23:49:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T23:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/156528\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T23:49:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T23:49:09","slug":"just-one-session-of-weightlifting-or-resistance-training-boosts-brain-power-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/156528\/","title":{"rendered":"Just one session of weightlifting or resistance training boosts brain power, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

By ZOE HARDY, HEALTH REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 11:32 EST, 27 November 2025 | Updated: 11:38 EST, 27 November 2025 <\/p>\n

Hitting the gym can boost your memory, promising research has suggested.<\/p>\n

US scientists say weight training for just over 40 minutes can enhance long-term memory in healthy adults.<\/p>\n

Although the study used weight exercises as a form of resistance training, researchers said that resistance activities such as squats or knee bends should produce the same results.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Results demonstrate that acute resistance training positively impacts executive functions, enhancing processing speed and working memory and improving neuroelectric function,’ the scientists from Purdue University in Indiana<\/a>, added.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the study, they tracked 121 adults aged between 18 and 50 and split them into two groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

All underwent cardiovascular fitness tests and were quizzed about their lifestyle.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two days later, all participants then gave blood samples and had an\u00a0electroencephalographic (EEG) scan to\u00a0record the electrical activity of the brain.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The first group then did sets of weight exercises of moderate difficulty, while the other was asked to watch a video of adults performing resistance exercises.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Resistance <\/p>\n

Resistance exercises trigger muscle fibers to adapt and grow stronger over time<\/p>\n

The resistance exercises lasted for 42 minutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They began with a 2-minute warm-up followed by two sets of 10 repetitions for each exercise: chest press, pull downs, bicep curls, leg press, cable triceps extensions, and leg extensions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Once completed, volunteers gave blood again and underwent a second EEG.<\/p>\n

The scientists found that response times for working memory\u00a0moderately improved in the group that completed resistance exercises compared to the group that watched videos.<\/p>\n

Writing in the\u00a0journal\u00a0Psychophysiology<\/a>, the scientists said they could not prove exactly why weight training improved working memory.<\/p>\n

But they hypothesised that increased blood lactate \u2014 a marker of fatigue within muscles \u2014 and blood pressure after working out improved the speed of ‘executive function’.<\/p>\n

This, in turn, may enhance cognitive performance.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, they noted, that because cognitive tasks were carried out straight after the exercises had been completed, it is not possible to ascertain how long the effects last.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n

But, they added: ‘Clinically, these findings support the integration of resistance exercise into exercise programs for acute benefits to executive functions.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Previous research has also suggested that increasing the time spent exercising as you hit middle age may help\u00a0preserve cognitive function and slow the onset of dementia in later life.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Spanish scientists, who tracked more than 300 adults, found that those who increased their activity levels to around two and a half hours a week, between the ages of 45 and 65, were less prone to a toxic protein, amyloid, spreading in the brain- which is thought to be behind the symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lifting weights just three times a week has also been shown to slash a person’s biological age<\/a>, by almost eight years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week \u2014 or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise.<\/p>\n

The NHS also\u00a0suggests strengthening activities that work all the major muscle groups, including the legs, back and abdomen, on at least two days a week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Just one session of weightlifting or resistance training boosts brain power, study finds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By ZOE HARDY, HEALTH REPORTER Published: 11:32 EST, 27 November 2025 | Updated: 11:38 EST, 27 November 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":156529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[2039,589,163,85,2315,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-156528","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-fitness","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-il","12":"tag-indiana","13":"tag-israel"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}