With the mandates about staying at home unless the trip is necessary leaves a person with some spare time. I started to re-read the book, “Spark, the Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain,” by John Ratey. The benefits of running, exercise, and being active to the health and physical fitness of a person are mentioned many times in articles and books. The book, “Spark,” takes a look at one benefit that most people do not associate with fitness. It brings out the benefit of actually increasing the mental aspect of exercise and getting smarter.
The book presents some solid facts and research about how exercise increases brain nerves and makes people smarter. One example of how exercise helped with students in a school setting stands out. The school was in Naperville, Illinois (suburb of Chicago) that took an international test that competes with China, Japan, and Korea, as the schools that usually are at the top of the list. Students in Naperville took first place in the science category and sixth in the math section. It was the only school in the United States to be listed in this test.
The example goes on to one possible factor of why these students did so well on the test. Students had a voluntary “zero hour” class that starts before the first period in school. In the class, the students run a mile, do exercises and play vigorous games during that hour before school officially starts. The teachers of other classes note that the students that participate in the “zero hour” class seem to have better concentration and are more attentive to the material being presented. The result is a better learning of the material and a possible reason for the excellent showing on an international test.
