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Today’s Health Upgrade
Feeling mentally drained? Here’s the workout for you.
The surprising health benefits of Tetris
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Does magnesium fight cancer?
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Fitness
Feeling Mentally Drained? Do This Type of Workout
We’ve all had those days when our mind isn’t in it, but if you perform the right type of workout, your physical performance doesn’t have to suffer.
Research suggests that even when your mind is exhausted, your body can still perform near its peak — if you pick the right types of exercises.
The scientists found that even when your mental fatigue is high, you can still maximize your strength. Those battling cognitive fatigue could lift near their maximum strength (on exercises like the bench press) and jump explosively. But other types of exercises don’t fare as well.
When mental fatigue hits hard, your muscular and cardiovascular endurance are reduced. Studies show you won’t be able to perform as many reps, and distance activities such as running, biking, or swimming see a significant drop-off.
While more research is needed to determine precisely why endurance exercise is affected by mental fatigue while strength is not, there is some evidence that it's about cognitive demand. A long run or higher-rep sets require more mental energy.
If life feels heavy, the best antidote might be lifting heavier weights. Or, if you prefer cardio, just understand you might feel it more during your workouts.
The easiest fix might be reducing social media time, especially before your workout. Research has found that scrolling your phone within 60 minutes of your workout can make it more difficult to dig deeper and push harder when you exercise.
On Our Radar
How Tetris Helps Fight Trauma
“Treating trauma with Tetris” sounds like a ChatGPT hallucination, but it was the subject of a new study.
Recent research suggests that a single session of Tetris can help reduce damaging thoughts connected to traumatic memories.
The study recruited 144 healthcare workers who had experienced a traumatic event, such as witnessing a patient die, resulting in intrusive thoughts related to the event. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group or a control group. In the intervention group, the participants visualized something that reminded them of their traumatic memory and then played Tetris for 20 minutes.
Over the next 5 weeks, that Tetris session reduced participants’ intrusive thoughts by an average of 70 percent.
While this study was not designed to uncover how Tetris was beneficial, one theory is that it works via a psychological phenomenon called memory reconsolidation. By visually recalling traumatic triggers and then partially “distracting” the brain with a visual task like Tetris, the neural pathways that encode a traumatic memory are weakened, helping prevent intrusive memories in the future.
While more research is needed, this isn’t the first time playing a video game like Tetris helps reduce the side effects of negative experiences.
If you want to try it, do as they did in the study and spend time recalling a negative experience and engaging in the game for at least 20 minutes.
Fact Check
Does Magnesium Protect Against Cancer?
From Tracy: I recently saw on social media that magnesium helps prevent cancer. Is this true?
Back in 2015, researchers found that for every 100 mg of magnesium you consume, you reduce your risk of pancreatic cancer by 24 percent.
The research was an association study, meaning the scientists analyzed data on more than 66,000 men and women, ages 50 to 76, looking at the direct association between magnesium and pancreatic cancer.
The study found that magnesium was protective and offered benefits regardless of age, gender, body mass index, or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use.
While it was just one study, other research has found that magnesium intake is associated with a lower risk of diabetes, which is a risk factor for pancreatic cancer. That’s because magnesium plays a role in beta-cell activity in the pancreas, which helps your body regulate blood glucose.
So, does this mean magnesium prevents cancer? That’s an overstatement, but that doesn’t mean magnesium can’t reduce risk.
If you’re deficient in magnesium and don’t get enough in your diet from foods like dark leafy greens (think spinach and kale), nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains, then supplemental magnesium could be a good source of health protection against cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure. And a recent study even suggests that it could help protect against stroke.
The recommended dose is about 300 to 400 mg per day. We recommend magnesium from Momentous because they invest in third-party testing to ensure the highest quality, purity, and safety standards.
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Publisher: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Editors-in-chief: Adam Bornstein and Daniel Ketchell
