What Happens To Your BRAIN If You NEVER Exercise?

Hello Health Champions. There are such  huge misconceptions about the reasons   to exercise and the reasons to lose  weight. A lot of people still believe   that the only reason to exercise is to lose weight,  but I'm here to tell you the real reason you want   to exercise is that if you don't get regular  movement your brain will degenerate prematurely   and i know that sounds like a pretty big  statement so today I want to go through some of   the mechanisms so that you have absolutely no doubt how it works and I want to help you understand   that it is not possible to have  optimal health without regular movement.   Coming right up. Hey I'm Dr. Ekberg. I'm a holistic  doctor and a former Olympic decathlete and if you   want to truly master health by understanding how  the body really works make sure you subscribe hit   that bell and turn on all the notifications so you  never miss a life-saving video. Now for some of you   we need to have a little serious talk because  you're doing all the right things you're eating   low carb you're eating less frequently you're  switching from processed foods to whole food   you're doing so much right but the one thing  that you're still not doing is exercise so I   hope that i can bring across to you today how  important it is that it's critical exercise is   not optional if you want to have optimum health  so hopefully after this video you'll start   entertaining the idea of start moving a little  bit more first of all we want to talk about cause   and effect to lay a foundation here so most  people say that obesity is the problem and I   have countless people come into my office and they  say oh my doctor told me that my headaches would   go away my wrinkles would go away my back pain  my knee pain my shoulder pain my blood pressure   everything would just go away if I just lose some  weight so the general idea is that obesity causes   these things and we have cause and effect pretty  mixed up because they find that obesity the   obese people have more of these things  and therefore they think that obesity is   the cause but it is not all of these things  are caused by insulin resistance so insulin   resistance causes the obesity and insulin  resistance causes the metabolic syndrome   that raises blood pressure causes inflammation  and arthritis type 2 diabetes high triglyceride   so it's not that the obesity is the cause it is  that it's observed together with and then we draw   the incorrect conclusion about cause and effect  so that's the first thing we have to understand   now what does that have to do with exercise well  exercise is tied to these things in the sense that   most people believe most doctors will tell you  that you just need to exercise to lose weight and   then these things will go away and it just won't  work very well it will work fairly well if you are   insulin sensitive if you're just overweight  because you ate too much food because you   eat processed foods you get cravings you eat too  much bread and pasta and sugar and pizza and beer   now you could gain a lot of weight and still  remain relatively insulin sensitive if you have   favorable genetics or if you just haven't done  it long enough to break the carbohydrate handling   machine then you can get pretty good results just  eat less exercise more you lose the weight and   then unfortunately what happens is these people  think that they are being successful because   they're doing something that would work for  everybody and they have the the moral strength   and the fortitude and the persistence and then  they tell everyone else to do that but if you're   insulin resistant if you have broken your machine  it is not going to work and this is where this is   so frustrating because this is the foundation for  all the official government dietary advice from   dietitians and doctors and so forth so if you  are insulin resistant then the exercise is not   going to do all that much I'm not saying not to  exercise. I did a video before called how to lose   belly fat naturally without exercise and what I  wanted to emphasize was the fact that the exercise   might contribute 5 or 10 percent to reducing the  insulin resistance but the way you're going to   reduce insulin resistance is to eat less sugar  less carbs less frequently and I've talked about   that in lots of videos but the point is here that  exercise is just not going to be the main path to   solve these problems and yet exercise is promoted  as solving these problems and most people think   that's the only reason to exercise so if exercise  is not going to fix these problems for most people   then why exercise and that's what we're going to  talk about in some detail today. For the purpose   of our discussion we're going to introduce three  categories the first category is plants the second   category is minerals that's the rocks and the soil  and the dirt everything on the planet that's not   alive basically and the third category is animal  and you watching this today you are fitting   into one of these categories and if you can't tell  which one then you probably don't need to watch   any more of this video some people have a  problem with being called animals but the fact is   that we are one of the animals on the planet  now if you notice something in the picture here   there's something different about this human  animal it has something that the others don't   and for those of you who are really perceptive  you can tell right away that it's the brain so   the simplest answer to the question who needs  to exercise that answer is those who have brains   need to exercise. Why do we even have a brain? Well  the answer seems so simple but the one that first   comes to mind is probably not the right one we've  been conditioned to think that the brain thinks   just because the human brain is so much better  than other animals at thinking we believe that's   its primary purpose but that's not even close  to the big picture. What is the difference   between you and a bunch of amoebas in a pond you  have 40 trillion cells in your body and there   could very well be 40 trillion amoebas swimming  around in a pond now they are very similar to   your cellular structure you have a cell membrane  you have different components in your cell but the   difference between you and them is that you are  one organism you have a unifying principle called   your nervous system the nervous system allows your  cells to be aware of each other the amoebas can't   do that and because they're aware of each other  they can have a common purpose and a common goal   so the purpose of a brain is to coordinate  the function between those cells to allow the   cells to do what they need to do under different  circumstances and create balance or homeostasis   the second purpose is to coordinate movement  because now that you have a common purpose   you need to be able to move around and do things  toward that common goal. A rock is not alive and   it doesn't move so it doesn't need a brain a plant  is alive but it doesn't move it has no place to go   so it doesn't need a brain and a nervous  system to guide it so as you know by now   humans animals are alive and we move and we need  to move about and that is the purpose of a brain   so things that don't have cells that work together  they don't need brains this brings us to one of my   favorite creatures of all time because this is  such a powerful illustration meet the sea squirt   this is an interesting life form it starts  out life as an egg and that typically means   it would be like an animal like a bird or a fish  or something and this turns into a tadpole like   a frog and this tadpole has a primitive nervous  system it has about 177 neurons brain cells it   has a spinal cord it has a sensory organ like an  eye it can detect its environment it can interact   and respond to its environment and it has a tail  and it can move it can perform a whipping motion   so it has every property of a tadpole of an  animal but it only has these things so that it   can move about and find one place to call home and  once it selects that perfect place that it calls   home then it settles down and it never moves  again so what happens it essentially becomes a   plant and as soon as it went from being an animal  to a plant then it stops moving and it doesn't   need a brain anymore so that's just precious  resources it used resources to build a nervous   system now it doesn't need it so it gets rid of  the brain it eats its brain or reabsorbs its brain   because those resources can be used better now  that it doesn't move the next incredibly powerful   principle is use it or lose it we all know about  this we've heard it but what does it really mean   well if you have a muscle and you work it  out you put some strain some tension on   that muscle it performs work and then that  body is gonna create some growth the stress   sends signals that says hey we gotta get better  at this because he might do it again tomorrow so   then we want to be prepared and have a big strong  muscle so we can perform that work again well   then let's say you do that and then you injure  yourself you fall off your bike or you fall down   the stairs and you break your arm you put it in  a cast and now it sits in a cast for six weeks   now that muscle gets involuntary rest and it  hardly moves at all and now your muscle starts   degenerating protein has a half-life protein wears  out and if you have growth then it's going to   rebuild itself but if it breaks down and you're  not stimulating it it's not going to rebuild   the missing pieces and now you start a process  called atrophy which is breakdown degeneration   so now instead you end up with a skinny little  muscle and you've all seen this either on yourself   or someone you know they take the cast off and it  looks like the arm is gone it's just like the bone   is left there and we're all kind  of familiar with that principle but   most people don't understand that also happens  to the brain maybe even faster normally when   you move an arm that movement sends a signal to  the brain and the job of the brain is to process   that signal and control the arm but when you put  the arm in a cast then there are no more signals   so that brain doesn't get stimulated and just  like the muscle that doesn't get stimulated   it starts to atrophy and in the brain this  leads to brain shrinkage and I kid you not   that once you put that arm in a cast and you  stop sending the signals those signals are   supposed to go to a very specific area  in the brain corresponding to that arm   and now that area in the brain starts degenerating  You literally will get a soft spot a less healthy   tissue area in your brain. How are the signals in  the body generated and what does that have to do   with exercise? Any time that you have movement or  stretch of the body there are various receptors   there are mechanoreceptors there are Golgi tendon  organs there's muscle spindle cells and all of   these have different functions in letting the  brain know what's happening touch for example   light touch we have pressure anytime that you  have a light touch you activate a receptor when   you have pressure you create some deformity of the  tissue you send signals when you have skin stretch   whenever you move there is skin stretching and  that lets the brain know what's going on but most   of the information comes from joint motion when  the joint is moving you have mechanoreceptors that   tells the brain the angle and position of that  joint and that body part and that is how the brain   knows where your body parts are that's called  proprioception because if you think about it   the brain has no eyes the brain doesn't know  anything about where your body parts are except   what it's being told through this kind of  information and this is most of the signals   that reach the brain we also have golgi tendon  organs and this is where the muscle connects to   a tendon and the tendon inserts to a bone the  muscle is actually strong enough to rip that   tendon straight off the bone so there needs  to be a sensor there needs to be a brake that tells the brain how much tension there is  so that it can slow the muscle down before it   causes injury and part of proprioception  and the brain knowing where things are   is the muscle spindles that tell the brain how  the muscles are changing in length so all of this   is incredibly important information and  this is most of what the brain does signals   keep the brain alive now that you understand  use it or lose it let's expand just a little bit   on that and i'm going to repeat some things but  sometimes we miss the really simple stuff because   we think it's too simple oh i heard that but when  we hear it again now we really start to get it   really start to own it the purpose of the brain  is to process signals that's why we have it it's   to coordinate the signals and the function between  the cells 90% of these signals come from movement   movement generates these signals and these signals  keep the brain alive they're generally mostly from   the spine that the majority of these come from  movement but most of that is movement of the spine   that's because the spine has a lot of moving parts  and the spine has a higher receptor density than   any other part of the body and the spine is like  the foundation it's the platform from which all   other body parts work the shoulder can only  be stabilized after the spine is stable and   same thing with the head and all other extremities  really so when you walk and when you run and when   you stretch you are always moving the spine even  breathing creates a little bit of spine movement   if you're relaxed and you have a full breath  when you're doing it chiropractic is a way to   unlock certain areas of the spine if your  spine is stuck then it doesn't help if you   walk or run or stretch because those signals are  still not going to be generated so chiropractic   frees up some movement that helps create a  normal pattern of stimulation to the brain   yoga is primarily about spine flexibility that  most of the stretches are somehow related to the   muscles that make a spine flexible and same thing  with pilates and core these are all excellent   exercises because they're all about making  more signals around the spine more signals   for the brain so think of movement and signals  as the juice that keeps the brain alive   what about people in coma well there's  not much movement there there are very few   signals generated and as a result there is brain  degeneration now what follows from that is often   muscle contractures that can lead to permanent  deformities when the brain degenerates   it loses its ability to inhibit so the brain turns  things on and it turns things off so in order to   set the proper muscle tone it has to both turn it  on and off pretty much continuously at the same   time and part of that is inhibition but when  the brain degenerates it loses the ability to   inhibit more so and therefore muscles start to  tighten up and we can get permanent deformities   as a result so what do they do they perform  physical therapy if you're fortunate enough   to be in a place where they can sort of afford  to do that then they can perform physical therapy   for hours every day just passively moving  body parts because even passively you generate   brain signals you keep that brain alive and  you're minimizing these deformities so that   if this person is fortunate enough to wake up then  they have a healthier brain and a much healthier   body than if they hadn't moved moving their body  parts around then basically keeps their brains   from dying now what kind of exercise do you need  to do to get a certain benefit and i've done lots   of videos so i encourage you to look closer at  those to learn more about the details but so far   today we talked all about brain activation use it  or lose it and that is by far the biggest reason   to exercise but there are other benefits and one  is blood circulation because blood circulation   it provides drainage it brings nutrients to the  tissues and it brings waste products from the   tissue so if you can increase that circulation  you're going to increase the distribution of both   nutrients and waste which helps in detox so  blood circulation is tremendously important   for detox and for proper elimination of waste in  the body now we have this weird modern notion that   we have to have a gym membership that you have to  go someplace you have to do a special activity you   have to suffer you have to produce blood sweat and  tears otherwise it doesn't count and that's not   what this is about at all it's about moving your  body through space against a field of gravity and   in doing so you generate signals to stimulate  brain so yard work is great walking biking hiking   things that you can do for a long period of time  with lots of repetition and movement those are   great swimming you can do tennis and golf and  these are just examples I'm not saying these are   better than anything else they're just examples  do something you enjoy because if you like it you   feel good and that's better for your brain than  if you don't like it and you're not feeling good   but there's one more benefit and that's hormones  so if you have been a couch potato for a number   of years or a few decades then you probably have  some brain degeneration and if you want to reverse   that then you want to do a little bit more than  just these these are great they're beneficial but   they're not going to produce the intensity that  challenges your body to make growth hormone and   bdnf brain derived neurotrophic factor so what are  these things these are hormones that allows you   to make new brain cells even a few years ago they  still didn't know that you could make new brain   cells they thought that you get a certain number  and then as you went through life you got fewer   and fewer and fewer and that's why you aged today  they know you can make new brain cells and even   more importantly you can reshape your brain called  neuroplasticity you can make new synapses you can   make new connections you can rewire your brain  you can learn new things you can expand certain   areas right all of that is because of hormones  this is like Miracle Grow for your brain   you cannot make synapses you cannot rewire without  these and you pretty much make these hormones in   proportion to the intensity of the exercise so  these things are great for the first two points   but they're not intense enough to provoke to  scare your body into getting better so this is   where we have weights sprints and high intensity  interval training you got to push your body you   have to challenge it so that it has a reason to  get better and the good news though is you don't   need to do a lot of this you could do this in 10  minutes a week or 10 minutes a day twice a week   something like that it doesn't take a tremendous  amount of time but it needs to be intense if you   enjoyed this video and you'd like to learn more  about how this miraculous body of hours work   that video would be perfect for you next thank  you so much for watching i'll see you next time

Channel: Dr. Sten Ekberg

Views: 131,172

Rating: 4.965517 out of 5

Keywords: what happens if you stop exercising, benefits of exercise, what happens to your body when you stop exercising, what happens if you stop working out, how long can you stop working out, what happens to your body when you stop working out, no exercise, if i dont exercise, dr sten ekberg, sten ekberg, dr ekberg, Wellness for life, what happens to your body during exercise

Id: 31w7mqEVh6I

Length: 24min 14sec (1454 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 05 2021