Doing cardio affects your brain differently than things like strength training—here's how
为什么有氧运动对大脑产生的影响不同于力量训练？
Whether you’re a cardio fan or not, the popular opinion among people who exercise regularly is that workouts that spike the heart rate feel better and more satisfying than workouts that don’t. To get to the bottom of whether that means different things for you on an actual cranial level, we’ve asked fitness experts for intel on how cardio affects your brain, and how it compares to simple strength training.
无论你是不是有氧运动爱好者，经常锻炼的人普遍认为让心跳加速的锻炼会让人感觉更好，让人更有满足感。为了搞清楚有氧运动到底能否给人的大脑带来了影响，关于有氧运如何影响人的大脑，以及有氧运动与简单的力量训练之间的区别等问题，我们访问并咨询了一些健身专家。
“From a brain-health standpoint, we know that [aerobic exercise] increases your heart rate and causes you to breathe harder, which means that your body is delivering more oxygen to your brain, which is good for overall brain health,” says David Geier, DO, orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist. It also can simply feel more invigorating to do a cardio workout versus any other type of exercise because of the “runner’s high,” AKA that rush of endorphins, which gives you a happy, euphoric feeling.
骨科医生，运动医学专家大卫·盖尔（David Geier）医生表示：“从大脑健康的角度来看，有氧运动会提高人的心率，促使人更用力地呼吸，这意味着身体正向大脑供应更多的氧气，这对大脑的整体健康是有好处的。”与其他类型的运动相比，有氧运动带给跑步者“兴奋感”让人感觉更加精力充沛。这种兴奋感源自于体内内啡肽的激增，这是一种能让人产生愉悦感和亢奋感的物质。
According to Thomas Falda, PT and training expert with Freeletics, cardio training gives you a whole list of benefits that you don’t get from other types of workouts. “It has been proven that cardio can have a variety of positive effects on the human body, from enhancing cognition, to improving cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular fitness, to improving glycaemia and insulin regulation, to obviously strengthening the musculoskeletal system,” he says. Keep scrolling for the four major ways that cardio impacts your brain for more than just body-strengthening benefits.
根据锻炼与运动指导平台Freeletics的体育运动和培训专家托马斯·法勒达（Thomas Falda）的观点，有氧运动能给人们带来一系列其他类型的锻炼所没有的益处。他还提到：“事实证明，有氧运动能给人体带来有多种有益的影响：从提高认知能力，到改善心肺功能和心血管健康，到改善血糖和调节胰岛素，再到明显地加强肌肉骨骼系统等。”有氧运动不仅对人体健康有益处，还会影响人的大脑，下面就是有氧运动影响人大脑的四种主要方式。
The brain benefits of doing cardio
坚持有氧运动对大脑的益处
1. Cardio stimulates brain elasticity:Your brain is elastic in nature, which means that neuronal connections can decrease, and that new neuronal connections can be created. “That’s why it feels challenging to do something that you’ve never done before,” says Dr. Falda. “It has been proven that exercise and cardio stimulate that brain elasticity by stimulating the formation and growth of new connections between brain cells.”
1.有氧运动能使大脑保持弹性：人的大脑是有弹性的，这意味着神经元联结会减少，但是同时新的神经元联结也会产生。这就是为什么当人们做一些从未做过的事情时会感觉到富有挑战性。”法勒达表示，“事实证明，锻炼和有氧运动能够通过促进脑细胞之间新联结的形成和生长来促使大脑保持弹性。”
2. Cardio helps reduce your brain’s response to stress:Dr. Geier points out that cardio exercise decreases inflammation and reduces your brain’s response to stress. Stephen Gonzalez, PhD, CMPC, sports psychologist with the Association of Applied Sports Psychology, echoes this, adding that there are an increasing number of clinical trials that look at the connection between exercise and how it can help relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety. “When you hit your 70 percent of your maximum capacity, it has a profound impact on our mood and can be huge in helping to treat some of the psychological problems related to stress and anxiety,” he says.
2. 有氧运动有助于减弱人的大脑对压力的反应：盖尔医生指出有氧运动可以减少炎症的发生并且减弱大脑对压力的反应。注册心理咨询师，应用运动心理学协会的运动心理学家斯蒂芬·冈萨雷斯（Stephen Gonzalez）博士对此回应并补充表示，越来越多的临床试验致力于研究锻炼的作用，以及锻炼与辅助缓解抑郁、焦虑症状这两者之间的联系。他说：“当人们达到体能极限的70%时，锻炼会对人的情绪产生深远的影响，并且非常有助于辅助治疗一些与压力和焦虑有关的心理问题。”
3. Cardio can reduce your risk of memory loss:“A number of studies have shown that cardiovascular exercise results in a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s,” says Dr. Geier. In some research, studies have found that cardio strengthens the hippocampus, aka the part of the brain that deals with long and short-term memory.
3.有氧运动可以降低失忆的风险。盖尔医生说：“许多研究表明，有氧运动可以降低患痴呆症和阿尔茨海默病的风险。”在一些研究中，还发现有氧运动可以增强大脑中的海马体，海马体在大脑中负责长期记忆和短期记忆部分。
4. Cardio tends to promote mindfulness:When you’re sweating through a HIIT workout, for example, you’re focused on every single exercise and your body’s form throughout. In certain types of cardio though—think running and cycling—you can kind of zone out. “This is why a lot of people swear by walking or running for clearing their brain,” says Dr. Gonzalez. “The monotonous movement frees up a part of our mind so that creative thoughts or ideas can emerge.” It’s essentially a moving meditation.
4.有氧运动往往能提高专注力：当人们在高强度间歇训练（HIIT）中大汗淋漓时，人们的注意力会集中在每一个锻炼动作和身体的形态上。在某些类型的有氧运动中，如跑步和骑自行车等，人们可能会有一种“走神”或者“放空”的感觉。“这就是为什么很多人要通过散步或跑步使自己流汗，以此来保持头脑清醒。”冈萨雷斯博士解释说，“那些形式上比较单调的运动能够将人们大脑的一部分空间解放出来，这时一些创造性的想法或灵感可能会浮现在我们脑海中。”有氧运动本质上相当于在运动时冥想。
