We all heard that exercise is good for us. That is good for the body and mind. But did you know exactly how it’s good for you? I read the book Hjärnstark and it has completely changed the way I look at exercising and my health. We all know that it’s good for you but Anders Hansen shows up in detail what happens in the brain when we exercise.

“Hjärnstark” (meaning roughly powerful brain) by the Swedish psychologist Anders Hansen is one of those life changing books that you will read. It doesn’t tell you how to work out or give you that general “it’s good for you” talk. What Anders Hansen has done is that he, in detail, describes what’s happening inside your brain and how it benefits from exercise – in a very easy and understandable way.

What as a real eye-opener for me was that he shows studies on how your creativity is benefitting from it. Exercising makes you a more creative person. Other great perks are that your brain is getting younger and physically bigger!

Let’s get brainy!

Here is 10 very important takeaways from the book “Hjärnstark” by Anders Hansen

1. A fun fact about the brain is that is uses up to 10 times more energy per kilo than the rest of the body!
   
2. Stress makes the frontal lobe of your brain to shrink. Studies show that people who are under lots of stress for long period of time has a smaller frontal lobe than people who is not under stress that often.
   
3. People who are active often tends to have a less cynical view on life and are less angry. 
   
4. Being stressed prevents you from losing weight. The stress hormone, cortisol, prevents the body from burning fat. 
   
5. Having high levels of cortisol makes the body store fat in the abdomen. Because fat is energy and for many (many!) years ago we needed that energy (fat) to get away from a lion (a stressful situation). 
   
6. Cortisol also makes you crave for sugar and increases your appetite.
   
7. Cortisol reduces your brain cells ability to communicate with each other.
   
8. Physical activities, preferred cardio, strengthens your brains ability to prevent stress and anxiety.
   
9. Having a hard time to concentrate? Wonder why everyone says take a walk? Exercise raises your dopamine levels and dopamine helps you concentrate.
   
10. Have a job that needs you to perform your absolute best everyday? Exercise in the morning, so all the positive effects from the workout lasts during your time at work.  

This was a short summary of what I felt is very important points of information to take with you. In the following blog post I will dive in to it deeper, from a creatives perspective.

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