I’ve been dedicating part of my time to understand how I can improve my learning process. I’m the kind of person that is truly passionate about learning, so I try to understand too many things at once — which I know can be a problem. As a consequence, I forget most of them in a matter of days.

This process was never going to work and I knew it.

It doesn’t matter if I’m reading a thousand pages a day.

I need to make sure I’m getting something from it.

Last week I finished a course focused on getting better at learning. There it was, once again, the idea I’ve been ignoring for too long: the best gift you can give your brain is physical exercise.

Just like you, the first time I bumped into this concept I rolled my eyes too. How can exercising my body change my brain? The difference is that I was studying something created by all those neuroscientists. They couldn’t be ignored once more.

Once upon a time, we believed our neurons were born with us. They would evolve and get old by our side. Eventually, just like us, they would die.

This is not actually true.

Hey there, my name is Hippocampus. Yeah, it's kinda weird. It's greek.

The hippocampus, together with a few other parts of our brain, actually grows neurons during our whole life. About 700 new brain cells are being born there every damn day, to be exact.

The hippocampus is the star of the show, deeply associated with our memory and capacity of learning.

Brain growth is natural and happens without you having to lift a finger.

The goal is to nurture those brain cells so they actually stay there and don’t die. Basically, if your old cells don’t ask for help, the new neurons die fast — because they’re useless. They’re bored. They’re not being challenged.

Another thing that is also natural? As you get older, the neurons of the hippocampus start to shrink one to two percent every year.

If you don’t work your way out of this, your hippocampus gets smaller and smaller. (That might explain why your grandparents do not understand your internet friends)

For your brain, working out is swimming against the stream.

For good or bad, your brain is not the same today as it was yesterday.

What does physical exercising have to do with that? It’s simple, my sedentary friend.

Physical exercising is the single most effective way to help your brain show to those neurons they are needed.

It’s even better than all those experimental drugs that promise to enhance the capacity of your brain.

Physical exercising benefits all your vital organisms, not only your brain. It especially enhances your capacity to learn new things and keep them in your long-term memory. Exercising helps your hippocampus stay active, call for help of those new neurons saying they’re needed and welcomed.

Be aware, though, that not every type of physical exercise makes you grab your neurons by the balls and keep them where you want them to be.

One study separated two different groups of adults:

Half of this group spent their time walking for 40 minutes three times a week.

The other half was still exercising but focused on balance and strength.

After a year, the size of the hippocampus of those who were walking increased 2 percent. The ones who focused on balance and strength, such as weight lifting, had their hippocampus decreased 1 percent in volume — a natural process that happens with all of us.

You have to pick a physical exercise that increases your heart rate.

When I say go for a run, I really mean it.

It’s the easiest way to improve your brain.

This study also shows that you’re capable of improving your brain even after you become an adult. Not only that, you’re capable of growing your hippocampus even though you’re getting older, working against all odds and having more brain cells in the long run — maybe this pun was intended.

Just don’t fool yourself: in order to really experience the benefits of brain cell growth, you need to keep an exercising routine. Otherwise, after about three months, those bright and shiny new neurons might die.

So you don’t wanna do any physical exercise?

That’s me, trying to replace physical exercises with books

Of course, you were waiting for this part. If running for 30 minutes every other day is too much to add to your busy schedule, we can try something else.

Let’s recapitulate:

• New neurons are born every day and you want them to stay alive

• For that, you have to send the message that they’re needed in your hippocampus

• So you have to make sure your brain actually needs all those new brain cells

How do you do that? Exercising your brain.

Go after new experiences. Get lost. Learn a new language. Play an instrument. Make this pretty brain of yours work hard and process more information. Enjoy new experiences and make your old neurons ask for help. I’m sure your newborn neurons will be there waiting for this moment.

Those brain cells are being born everyday to help you process new things. If you don’t provide new things to be processed, you can kiss them goodbye.

Is it going to work wonders like physical exercise? Of course not. But it’s better than nothing.

You can also help your brain by eating lots of omega-3 fatty acids, try to reduce your stress levels, start meditating and of course making sure you’re getting enough sleep.

Let’s grow some neurons, my friend.