Q: Does strength training have any impact on the brain?
A: Past research has found regular exercise to be a good way to help protect your brain from the normal deterioration that occurs due to aging. Normal deterioration includes memory loss and the decline of cognitive abilities. The exercise that is most often researched is walking and aerobic activity and very little research has been done on strength training.
A recent study that focused on strength training has found that regular strength training does provide benefits to the brain. As we age, lesions form in the white matter of the brain. White matter is the material that connects the various regions of the brain. Studies have found older people tend to have more lesions and, the more lesions there are, the worse your cognitive abilities are.
Similar to how strength training increases or maintains muscle mass, researchers wondered if strength training could have the added benefit of maintaining the brain’s white matter. The study found that women who strength train twice a week had less shrinkage and damage to the white matter. The study also found that the number of lesions had increased at a slower rate.
The study did not attempt to measure changes in cognitive ability, but researchers hope to study that issue soon. It is not entirely clear why exercise, including strength training, helps the brain, but it does have benefits and further research is needed.
The following websites were used as references in answering the question:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/21/lifting-weights-twice-a-week-may-aid-the-brain/
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110