Are traditional gym exercises becoming old-fashioned? Training the mind and muscles together might be the way of the future.
No doubt there are times, while running on a treadmill at the gym, when you feel like a hamster on a wheel. It might do you good, but it's no fun at all. In fact, boredom is often the reason well-intentioned people give up on exercise.
But there is cause to rejoice: big changes may be coming to a gym near you. Increasingly, experts are realising the limitations of traditional exercise and are turning to alternatives that stimulate the brain as well as the body, and promise entertainment instead of repetitive boredom.
Neuroscientist and exercise physiologist Paul Taylor has long been anti-gym, and has developed an action plan called Acumotum that optimises not just physical fitness but brain health as well. He says his rather unconventional exercises – now available at his first Acumotum studio in Prahan in Melbourne – are challenging, fun and even laughter provoking.
"Traditional forms of exercise completely fail to properly stimulate the brain," says Taylor. "Do something like chest presses and your body locks itself into a repetitive pattern that only stimulates the brain's motor cortex." But, he says, exercise at its best can involve the entire cerebellum, which encourages the production of growth factors for the brain and helps it stay fit and healthy.
Of course, the link between physical and mental fitness is nothing new. Mens sana in corpore sano (healthy mind in healthy body) was a famous dictum of the Romans, and ancient practices such as yoga emphasise the link between mind and body. Modern research repeatedly shows that there is a close parallel between physical fitness and mental health.
"Yoga and tai chi are excellent," says Taylor. "But they're all about concentrating the mind like a form of meditation. New methods are about something different: literally exercising your brain by setting challenges and getting it to think about what it is doing."
He sees himself at the vanguard of a movement taking a much closer look at mind-body exercise instead of just the body exercise society is so obsessed with. Is time running out on the treadmill? Perhaps. Bring on the fun, and let the brain flourish.
How to give your mind and body a workout together? Here are some tips that, while they mightn't be as advanced as exercises developed at Acumotum, should help.