In Learning How to Learn, Dr Terry Sejnowski discusses the value of exercise and how it can help our brain retain connections and learn more easily. Understanding Dementia and Preventing Dementia also mention that keeping physically fit can lower the risk of dementia in later life. Some time ago, I discussed how exercise can help you learn.

With many people around the world in lockdown and unable to play sport or go to the gym, it can seem difficult to continue exercising. Add to this the explosion of interest in online learning and it can be easy to spend long hours of screen time and forget to exercise.

You may even miss your daily walk to work or the bus stop.

Staying home does not necessarily mean the end of all exercise. You don’t need expensive equipment. With people in many countries confined to their houses, we need to make sure we fit exercise into our days. Some strategies can help.

Regular readers will know of the Pomodoro. Use it to track your course time as well as force you to take regular breaks. Walk, dance, or do some quick exercises in the short breaks, then use longer breaks to really move around. Or use the Pomodoro to time 25 or 30 minute exercise blocks.

Walking

If you can’t go outside, walk around inside your house. Take some turns up and down the hallway. If you have stairs, use them to get your heart pumping and the blood flowing to all the organs in your body. A few flights of stairs every couple of hours can build leg strength and stamina. Add some weights (perhaps a couple of canned foods or a loaded backpack) to increase the exertion.

While keeping connected to your family and friends by phone or video chat, use a mobile device and walk while you talk. If it’s video chat, though, check if the camera motion is an issue. In a recent video chat to my mother, I sat down after several minutes of pacing around the house. She instantly said, “That’s better!”

Sorry, Mum, I didn’t mean to make you seasick.

Type “exercise at home” into a search engine and thousands of sites will appear. Strength routines, cardio routines and everything in between. Try to find something realistic without spending hours deciding what to do. Find Pilates, yoga and dance routines on YouTube.

Even housework or gardening can get the heart pumping and the blood flowing. Wash the car, clean the windows, or scrub the bathroom. The more you do, the more exercise you get!

Keeping Fit

Perhaps you want to maintain fitness so you can easily step back into your usual social sport after the lockdown? Start with thinking about how much time you previously spent on your activity. How long at training? How many times each week? How long does a typical game last? Add all those times up and devise a training schedule to incorporate the particular skills or strength you need for your sport. Even a simple jump rope routine several times a day could improve your fitness level. To keep your mind and reflexes sharp, try juggling or bouncing a ball off a wall and catching it in alternate hands.

A Final Thought

Taking breaks from your online courses to move around is likely to benefit both your learning and your mood.

By Pat Bowden, published April 15, 2020.