Which is Better: Aerobic or Resistance Training?

“Which is better: aerobic or resistance training?” When it comes to general fitness, experts tell us we need both. What about improving memory — does the type of exercise we choose impact the functioning of our memory? Apparently, it does.

Here are the key points of an article on this topic from sharpbrains.com.

Which is Better: Aerobic or Resistance Training?

Which is better: aerobic or resistance training?

Aer­o­bic exer­cise is the kind of exer­cise that has been con­sis­tently shown to trig­ger the growth of both brain cells and new con­nec­tions between them, boost­ing cog­ni­tive func­tions

A study compared 3 types of exercise and showed these results.

…women were divided into 3 groups: 1) a resis­tance train­ing group, 2) an aer­o­bic exer­cise group, and 3) a bal­ance and tone train­ing group. Each group exer­cised twice a week for six months.

The results showed that resis­tance train­ing improved both exec­u­tive func­tions and mem­ory per­for­mance. Brain scans demon­strated increased blood flow to areas of the brain asso­ci­ated with the improved per­for­mance (such as the occip­i­tal and frontal regions of the brain).

In con­trast to prior stud­ies, there was no ben­e­fit of the aer­o­bic train­ing on cog­ni­tive per­for­mance (even though the car­dio­vas­cu­lar per­for­mance of the par­tic­i­pants in this group did improve).

If you’d like to read about the scientific details of the study, you can go here.

Which is better: aerobic or resistance training?  It appears that resistance training has the edge.

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