Rhonda Patrick

And it helps with the connections between neurons so that your synapses and your connections and your long-term potentiation, things that are forming long-term memory are more solidified.

It plays a role in neuroplasticity, the ability of your brain to sort of adapt to the changing environment and a variety of other things.

things that's doing in your brain that's hugely beneficial for brain aging, for cognition.

So you really want to increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the brain.

There's been a variety of exercise protocols, high-intensity exercise protocols, vigorous exercise.

It seems as though the more vigorous the intensity of the exercise, the more robust the brain-derived neurotrophic factor effect is.

And again, this comes down to lactate as well as other mechanisms.

Lactate's one mechanism because lactate has been shown to cross over to the blood-brain barrier and in the brain activate brain-derived neurotrophic factors.

So it's one of the ways your muscle communicates with the brain and tells the brain, you know,

You're also stressing your brain at the same time.

And so it's a way, it's a response, an adaptation, the way your body is adapting and going, okay, I need to make sure I can handle this stress.

Let's make more brain-derived neurotrophic factor so that I can handle that stress.

high-intensity interval training workout has been shown to improve cognition.

I often like to do a 10-minute Tabata before I do something that I need to be sharp or focused on, like a podcast, for example, because it's a 10-minute workout.

I mean, you have 10 minutes and you can do it.

And I often feel really good after that.

So we do cover some of that in the training guide as well.

I think that the bottom line with protocols to improve brain-derived neurotypic factor is

is intensity and also volume.

So, you know, even if you're doing a 20-minute workout and you want to be at least like 80% your max heart rate for those 20 minutes, more like a zone three-ish kind of workout, right?