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How to get the most brain benefit from regular exercise:
Exercise with other people. Having a walking partner, or someone who you meet regularly at the gym helps to motivate and sustain your interest. Group activity, such as classes, also helps people to sustain exercise. Water aerobics classes, for instance, are popular—in part because water exercise is gentler on arthritic joints.
Social connection of any kind, whether in the gym or a local park, promotes healthy, happy aging. "Just being outside exercising will give you more energy and put you at a greater chance of more social involvement and reduce any social anxiety," Dr. Ratey says.
Exercise outside. Whenever you can, go outside into nature. It provides an environment that is more mentally stimulating than staring at a video monitor or listening to music. "We are meant to be out there,". "The more different things we do and see, the better. Look for variation and novelty."
Exercise in a way that's fun. Gym machine exercise can feel like the human equivalent of a gerbil wheel. It's isolating and too much like work—hence the difficulty many people have with sustaining an exercise program. So find exercise that you want to do, not just that you have to do. "The best thing is to be outside and with somebody," . "That can be a team sport. It can be just walking with somebody. It's better than being on a treadmill alone."
