Working Out To Process Your Problems May Not Be Such A Good Idea After All

Unsplash/Jacob Postuma

Any fitness junkie can tell you that one of the best ways to process your problems, stress or anxiety is to log a serious sweat session. Whether you’re into running, power yoga or CrossFit, there’s just something about physical exertion that makes us feel more effective in working through our inner demons. However, a new study dares to suggest the opposite.

According to research, thinking deeply while moving intensely can inhibit your ability to do either well. Since both the brain and the muscles throughout the body use glucose as fuel, scientists at Cambridge University in England wanted to explore whether one system takes priority over the other when it comes to the distribution of energy or if the two can actually share the source equally.

For the study, the researchers recruited 62 male, elite-level, college-aged rowers and performed three separate tests with them.

The first one was a mental test, requiring them to sit in a quiet room, look at a screen displaying dozens of words, memorize as many as they could in three minutes, and then write down as many as they could as soon as the screen went dark.

The second one was a physical test, involving rowing as powerfully as they could for three minutes. The researchers measured their energy output and muscular strength throughout the time period.

The third one combined the first two tests, asking the participants to memorize words on the screen as they rowed intensely, and then write down as many as they could as soon as the three minutes of exercise came to a close and the screen went blank.

Unsplash/Kimon Maritz

The third test revealed by far the poorest results when it came to both physical output and word memorization and recall. But what’s most interesting is that the brain outlasted the muscles. On average, the decrease in rowing energy was 30 percent lower than the decrease in word recall.

The researchers did venture to say that this outcome was due to the fact that both parts of the body we’re ultimately fighting for the same resource and, at the end of the day, the brain wins. While the study is limited by its sample size and demographics, the specific type of exercise (and intensity of exercise) used and the type of mental strength tested, it does lead us to ponder the question: “How much do my workouts suffer when I arrive with mental or emotional distress on the table?”

We honestly didn’t think we had to choose between a good, long run and processing the fight we just had with our significant other, but the human body really doesn’t love multitasking after all. Sigh.

[h/t The New York Times]