"In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these two means, man can attain perfection."
~ Plato
I like to exercise (most days) but sometimes I get in a rut and just need some motivation, or a spark. This book did that for me. Obviously exercise is good for our bodies, and as strange as it may sound, our brains are actually connected to our bodies. So, logically speaking, exercise might also be good for our minds.
In truth, I've known this fact for a long time. What I loved about Spark is that it explained the how and why behind it. It showed through case studies, scientific analysis, MRIs, etc. exactly how exercise affects the brain and thereby our mental capacity, emotions, focus, mood, etc.
The first part of the book goes into detail and several case studies to explain how exercise improves your ability to learn and how it actually causes brain cells to grow. "Exercise improves learning on three levels: first, it optimizes your mind-set to improve alertness, attention, and motivation; second, it prepares and encourages nerve cells to bind to one another, which is the cellular basis for logging in new information; and third, it spurs the development of new nerve cells from stem cells in the hippocampus." Who knew?
The middle section of the book looks at the positive effect that exercise has on stress, anxiety, depression, attention deficit, addiction, hormonal changes, and aging. These are each separated into chapters and the authors go into a lot of detail into how and why exercise helps these conditions.
The last part of the book talks about what kind of exercise you should be doing to maximize your brain's potential.
Spark goes into a lot of detail and as you're going through the middle chapters, it can seem a little repetitive. If you aren't super into the science behind it all, I would suggest reading the first two chapters and then reading any of the middle chapters that specifically apply to you before reading the last chapter.
This book definitely motivates you to want to exercise, and who doesn't need that.
Favorite quote: "If exercise came in a pill form, it would be plastered across the front page, hailed as the blockbuster drug of the century."
