I haven’t done this before in a blog post, but I thought it would be a nice bonus if I started recommended a book that inspires me.
Spark by John J. Ratey, MD is an outstanding read that demonstrates the revolutionary new science of the impact on exercise and the brain.
Exercise Science
Exercise Science is a relatively new field of study for about 20 years. I graduated from the University of Maryland in 1998 with a degree in Kinesiology. Do you know what that is? I am sure you don’t. That’s ok because most people do not. Kinesiology is the study of human health and performance. In this broad subject, I studied the way the body moves or doesn’t move related to the nervous system, the skeletal system, and the muscular system. And how all these systems and subsystems could be enhanced optimally with proper health and fitness. It was a fun major for me since I loved learning about movement, especially after my accident where I was paralyzed and had a miraculous recovery that even stumped the Doctors who worked on me.
The past 20 years has opened up a whole new way of looking at exercise. Not only are scientists looking at the way exercise impacts our movement, but now the big discussion is on how exercise makes us think and effects our brain.
This area of focus is so cool for me! I’ve always known intuitively and through experience the positive impact that exercise has on the brain. It worked for me to recover from brain damage, memory loss, both long-term and short, and paralysis. So why wouldn’t it have an impact on someone who seemingly had a healthy brain? The answers are getting clearer and cleaere
Spark Your Brain With Exercise
John Ratey, MD shares a fascinating and entertaining journey through the mind-body connection in his book Spark. Spark uncovers the current research to prove that exercise is the truly our best defense against everything from mood disorders to Alzheimer’s to ADHD to all types of addictions. This book is filled with amazing case studies with kids, adults and the elderly exploring the comprehensive link between exercise and the brain.
I give this book a FIVE STAR rating for anyone interested in the link between exercise and your brain.
I AM Healthy & Fit Podcast
LISTEN HERE. to my latest podcast on meditation “Amp Your Meditation”. Thanks to you and all my podcast listeners, I AM Healthy & Fit podcast is growing organically by leaps and bounds. In October the number of listeners increased by 20%. In the next few episodes, you’re going to hear from 2 NY Times best-selling authors on nutrition and I am very excited to announce that the legendary boxer Sugar Ray Leonard will be on the show in a few weeks.
I am grateful for all of you who read, listen and appreciate my efforts to offer you health and fitness solutions. I have been receiving awesome feedback from many of you. Keep the feedback coming or rate the podcast. It helps others find it who would benefit from listening.
Thank you for your support!
Your health and fitness coach,
Steve Jordan
