The article is part of the section Science, research – our chance.
Even though the connection of body and spirit development has its origins in the ancient kalokagatia, the demanding training of a top athlete still tilts the scales in favor of muscle growth or heart performance. Top athletes often train 2-3 times a day. Challenging preparation drains energy, tires brain cells and takes its toll – depression.
During the “break” between pre-lunch and post-lunch exercise, rest or, in other words, regeneration of strength, both physical and mental, is necessary. Then the capacity of the brain to create new, deep intellectual tracks decreases.
Similarly, if a school-bound athlete gets up early in the morning for training and then sits down before eight o’clock after an exhausting drill, his concentration and ability to remember the material weakens significantly.
This effect is reinforced if he browses social networks or shoots virtual tanks until midnight or early in the morning, or between breaks during classes. The dopamine (a chemical in the brain that, among other things, increases motivation and the ability to learn) constantly tested by his smartphone is running out. And when it is needed when learning new material, its lack prevents nerve cells from communicating with each other and creating a memory trace.
Neurons charged with movement
Movement is a fundamental manifestation of life, regardless of whether we are observing under a microscope a Črievička in hay brine, or we are watching the master of creation in the tangle of his daily activities and duties. Prominent personalities forming the social knowledge base were certainly not known for their sporting achievements.
However, this does not mean that they have spent their whole lives observing the universe or mixing pitch in a makeshift laboratory. In addition to mathematical formulas, Albert Einstein also loved hiking in the Swiss Alps. Marie Curie-Skłodowska drove the Polish side of the Tatras in the Baganci. Later, as a respected professor at the Sorbonne, she regularly swam in the Mediterranean Sea on the coast of southern France, where she spent time with her daughters, especially in the summer.
After all, physical movement has a positive effect on the activity of the brain and at all costs does not cause depression. Especially if we find a golden middle path in adopting it.
It was originally thought that movement primarily improves blood flow to the brain, which would mean more nutrients and oxygen to the brain. However, skeletal muscles are also a factory for chemical substances (myokines), which are part of many signaling and metabolic pathways. Their action creates and releases other factors directly acting on brain cells – neurons (e.g. synapsin, BDNF).
Receiving new information and especially memorizing it forces brain cells to literally shake hands, communicate and create ties and connections. Well, the above-mentioned neurotrophic factors, also stimulated by body movement, help them to do this.
In order to light up the household in the evening, we need chandeliers, lamps and switches. However, an electrician must connect them to the circuit using electrical cables. When we turn on the light, an electric current flows to the bulb and the room glows. Similarly, it “lights up” children during mathematical calculations, when the movement prepares the conditions for them – the cables. The solution to the task itself is the switch (or rather the switch) that will allow the memory to be erased. Well, movement is the electrician who prepares the electrical circuit.
It is worth mentioning the results of several foreign researches showing a positive relationship between physical condition and academic performance of pupils. Additionally, the literature is compelling in the evidence that lack of exercise and excess body weight reduce gray matter volume in various brain regions. This is reflected in the fact that children have a worse ability not only to concentrate, but also to remember something or reproduce new information.
Slovak study: Fit children achieve better results
The Slovak Olympic and Sports Committee has been organizing the so-called Olympic all-around badge. Every year, several tens of thousands of students throughout Slovakia are subjected to a battery of fitness tests.
In cooperation with NIVAM (National Institute of Education and Youth), we analyzed the connection between physical fitness and the academic score of ninth graders (monitor results). We included more than 6,500 Slovak ninth graders in the research. We analyzed the association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), body mass index (BMI) and school results in mathematics and the Slovak language.
The results were surprising.
Pupils who had the required physical condition (World Health Organization standard) and normal weight achieved significantly better academic results than their less active and obese classmates. Physically fit boys were almost 3 times more likely to excel in mathematics and an incredible 6 times more likely to achieve excellent results in the Slovak language compared to inactive, obese peers.
I note that the research results do not allow for a universal generalization that the better the physical condition, the higher the academic score. This is an important indication that the child benefits from a normal body weight and a certain degree of physical condition. Better condition does not guarantee or condition better benefit. On the other hand, excellent school performance was rather an exception for obese children with poor physical condition.
Movement to school desks
The conducted research shows that only a quarter of children and youth follow the recommendations of world organizations for the amount of daily physical activity.
Most children move outside of school only once a week, while their free time is mostly spent on sedentary activities. The majority of schoolchildren are not tired during classes due to excessive sports or active movement from home to school. The attenuation of their nerve cells during lessons originates mainly from inactivity. Their brain “hatches”.
For the sake of the children, it is very important to allow the children to move spontaneously or in an organized manner even during classes in the school environment. In addition to physical fitness, bone mineralization and physical health, movement also has a significant impact on psychological health – it increases self-confidence, reduces anxiety and helps manage stress.
Movement games develop the ability of cooperation, discipline and responsibility in the social field. The current digital age clearly shows that children need much more opportunities for active movement than their peers thirty years ago, whose parents did not bring them to school.
prof. RNDr. Viktor Bielik, PhD.
- Faculty of Physical Education and Sports of the Charles University in Bratislava, since 2023 he has been working as its dean
- sports physiologist
- investigates the gut microbiome and metabolome and implements physical exercise among pediatric oncology patients
- promoter of the probiotic effect of sheep’s milk
