When training legs there are always a few goals in mind – squatting 5 plates, quads like watermelons and hamstrings bigger than your head – but can training legs help improve your brain?
That’s right, recent studies have been asking the question – does training legs actually make you smarter?
And the answer is veering towards yes.
In a study that followed 324 female identical twins over the course of 10 years titled ‘Kicking Back Cognitive Ageing: Leg Power Predicts Cognitive Ageing after Ten Years in Older Female Twins’ – various lifestyle and fitness habits were measured by experts to see how they’ve changed over the decade.
Out of all the factors that were examined, leg power seemed to be the best at determining how healthy the subjects cognitive ability was.
After the 10 year period there appeared to be a common theme of the twin with the strongest leg power maintaining having sharper cognitive abilities when compared to it’s weaker leg powered sibling – with the genetics between each twin being exactly the same it seems to be pretty clear that the stronger the leg, the smarter the sibling.
The argument here could be fitter body – fitter mind, but some psychologists thinks the connection between stronger legs and better brains runs a little bit deeper than that.
Here’s the theory why training legs help improve your brain.
One of the main things your body deals with when working out is stress. Exhausting big muscles like legs sends a shockwave through your body (as any morning after leg day will tell you). This sends information to the brain, information that they need to be repaired and also what else needs to be done to avoid the same stress again.
This then stops being just an exercise for your legs, but an exercise for your brain as well – this keeps your cognitive skills in check and could explain why the strongest siblings are having sharper mental skills in the long run.
If training legs help improve your brain – definitely sign us up!
This is a wake up call to all those guys that refuse to train legs – even simple lower body exercises could make all the difference to your gains, as well as your brain power.
Adding legs into your routine split wouldn’t only just help your brain, but it would also support your testosterone levels as well.
If you’re looking to boost testosterone levels, the nutrients in TestoFuel are a good place to start, check out the ingredients to see how our T-Booster can help you today.
References
[1] Steves CJ et al., Kicking Back Cognitive Ageing: Leg Power Predicts Cognitive Ageing after Ten Years in Older Female Twins, Department of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, Kings College London, London, UK, PMID:26551663