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Gym Rats

Three days as a slug have got me thinking I need to go to . . . the gym.

But this thought process itself runs counter to the latest mind-body study which suggests that exercise, nay, the right kind of exercise – the kind that makes you perspire and breathe heavily – can make you “smarter.”  It makes sense.  You run, fast, and your heart starts pumping harder and faster and the blood works its way down to your toes and back to your brain and – aha! that’s the moment! – in the brain it helps build new neurons and connections.  And there you are, both exercised and smarter.

It’s the perfect study to tout to people like us.  We know exercise is good for our health and reasonably good for our bodies; we know it helps us resist heart disease and Alzheimer’s;  but did we know it could actually make us smarter?  Perhaps I am smart enough if I figured out all on my own that I needed to get back to the gym after a three-day lapse.  But how can any of us resist the temptation to get even smarter?