Can Challenging Yourself Make Your Brain Better?

Challenge is a word we hear all the time and holds different definitions for people. ?My suggestion for today is?Set a challenge for yourself with a specific date for it to be accomplished. ?For instance, sign up for a 5k run, a 5k walk, a triathlon, a half marathon, a bike-a-thon or a Spartan race.

Tell all of your friends and family that you have done this and ask them to help keep you accountable. ?Challenges appear in all areas of our lives, find things out of your comfort zone and watch yourself grow.

Possible Challenges:

• Sign up for some non-matriculating college classes to learn something new
• Sign up for a new fitness class
• Go Gluten Free for at least a month
• Take cooking lessons and challenge yourself to cook 3 new meals a week at home with fresh, local ingredients
• Experiment with new foods, especially vegetables and fruits in season
• Puzzles and Challenging games
• Make a fitness challenge that you will have to train for to accomplish
• Challenge yourself to get up earlier and set intentions and a tone for your day
• Challenge your beliefs and expand your world

Once you have your first challenge do something that won?t allow you to back out. ?For instance, register at a local college for a class you want to know more about. ?Sign up for your cooking class and buy the foods you?ll have to cook. ?Invest in a bicycle and set a date for a specific ride.

Here are the benefits of Challenging yourself:

1. The benefit of taking a new fitness class is that your brain will have to process the new movements. ?This process helps to stimulate ?a higher calorie burn and keep your brain younger.
2. By eating new foods, you may introduce new nutrients to your body that may actually make you stronger, more mentally clear and/ or have a stronger sex drive. ?These are all great results. ?You can add a shake a day of Rockin??Wellness to your day.
3. Different routines challenge your body and mind, usually yielding different results, that change your experiences and your life. ?Your challenge can be something as simple as attempting the New York Times Sunday Crossword puzzle or downloading some brain games on your phone.

I recently did this when I decided I would train for a long bike ride. ?I just bought a new Hybrid bike with the intention of riding 20 miles by September with a friend of mine. ?The ride is on the East End of the Long Island. ?Just to be clear, I have zero sense when it comes to distance and directions. ?On our first day out, my friends said we will start with a short ride, and when we returned, I learned that I rode for 12 miles. ?I was floored. ?By day 3, I rode for 18 miles and if they had asked me before we left if I could bike that distance, I would have probably said No. ?In my mind, this challenge was out of my scope and ability. ?I share this story because looking back, it was a challenge but it was much easier than I ever expected. ?I don?t think I would have set out to ride that far on my own. ?I actually loved it. ?There is something about the outdoors, sunshine, scenery and ride that brings you to another place. ?Now, I have set 2 challenges for myself with set dates. ?1. To ride my bike from Greenport to Montauk in September and 2. To run the Spartan race with a team of friends. ? ?

Challenges take you out of your comfort zone and out of your regular routines. ?Think of a challenge as a way to stop the insanity in your life. ?Insanity may be the repetitiveness, the plateaus and the ho-hum. ?Challenges also bring you to another level, by giving you new abilities, skills and accomplishments. ?Remember that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different result. ?Set challenges for yourself at a rate you know you will be able to reach them or at least be able to tackle them. ?You will get new results, a new-found energy and motivation and possibly more brain activity, keeping you younger.

?

Tagged as: accountability, bicycle, biking, challenges, courses, fitness, Gluten Free, insanity, marathons, puzzles, training

Source: http://coreandmorehealthandfitness.com/can-challenging-yourself-make-your-brain-better/

rachel crow rachel crow steelers browns va tech dan gilbert david stern david stern