Brain Training (Braining?)

My mum is really into her exercise. Ever since I was born, she made sure to find hours, every week, that she could dedicate to keeping fit. Not just the usual stuff like jogging - but weights, sit-ups, all the muscle based stuff that means nowadays she's actually a bit buffer than you might expect. My dad does exercise to keep healthy; but my mum genuinely enjoys both the process and the end result. I take after her more than my dad in this respect - I not only enjoy the getting active, but I like looking in the mirror and noticing changes, little by little, that help improve my self image and feeling of confidence. Exercise began for me at 13 - doing 20 sit-ups and feeling rather good about myself for doing anything at all. I would add little bits on top, and the general vicinity of exercise increased over the years. I'm not an exercise buff by any means, but I do like to keep fit.

Exercise is not just about the physical addition to your body, though. Exercise is shown in all sorts of studies to be good for your mind, too - that it helps organise your brain space. Part of the reason I have maintained an exercise regime for eight-ish years is that, even when stuff really went wrong, and I had days where I didn't even feel like getting up, getting some exercise done meant that day wasn't a wash. On days where I actively took steps backwards - like breaking up with a girlfriend, or failing a test, or something like that - doing a few weights, some press-ups, and some sit-ups was the only thing holding the rest of the day together. I think exercise improved my brain state to such an extent that I could never reach the same lows I used to be capable of, years ago. It's difficult to doubt yourself totally when you're keeping your body in good nick.

There are days like today, though. I try to keep on top of the exercise - sometimes I don't feel up to it but I still try to get a few bits done - but the body doesn't always play along. Even after years of testing my body, random nerves will get trapped, I'll strain a muscle just a little bit too much, or sometimes I'll just lose track of what exercise I was meant to be doing. Today my left arm is killing me, for no apparent reason. Doing anything with the left side of my upper body kills me, so I'm resigned to having done some weights earlier on in the day before the arm really hurt, and doing some bicycle kicks to keep the legs active. I'm disappointed - not in myself, as it's not my fault my arm chose today, weights day, to be bloody-minded - but mostly disappointed I don't get to test the body a bit today.

Then again, maybe this arm is my body's way of saying its been tested enough.