Practicing physical exercise improves academic performance

A study shows that playing sports also helps you get good grades.

The college years are demanding, so many students feel a lot of pressure to get good grades. many students feel a great deal of pressure to get good grades, sometimes leaving them exhausted.sometimes leaving them exhausted. Important exams can cause anxiety and emotional instability, because when they approach, it is common for them to lock themselves in their rooms (or in libraries) for weeks, and they may adopt harmful habits such as eating badly, not exercising, etc.

Adopting this attitude may not be the best. Several studies, such as the one presented by the American College of Sports Medicinehave shown that physical exercise helps to alleviate anxiety and leads to better grades..

The psychological benefits of exercise

For several decades, experts have been recommending physical exercise for its numerous physical and mental benefits. Regarding the latter, the regular practice of physical or sporting activities can help us to achieve greater well-being, but also to improve our cognitive functions.but also to improve our cognitive functions, regardless of age or physical condition.

The psychiatrist John Ratey, professor at Harvard Medical School and author of the book The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brainexplains: "Regular exercise is good for improving our self-perception, mood, memory or learning. Therefore, exercising regularly helps us to obtain a better academic performance, since, in addition to producing happiness chemicals or improving our self-esteem, it provides us with other benefits that can favor a better academic outcome: it reduces stress, improves memory and learning, increases brain capacity and improves productivity.

To learn the results of different studies that explain the psychological benefits of regular physical activity, I invite you to also visit my article:

• "The 10 psychological benefits of practicing physical exercise".

Better grades for those who practice exercise

That practicing physical exercise improves academic performance is not a new idea. That is why researchers at Saginaw Valley State University (United States) decided to put this theory to the test. After analyzing the exercise habits of 266 students, the researchers concluded that those individuals who exercised vigorously had higher concluded that those individuals who exercised vigorously had higher scores on the on the GPA scale scale than those who did not.

The GPA scale is a grade point average ranging from 0.0 to 4.0, which is used by many academic institutions. The results of this research showed a higher average of 0.4 points for those who exercise regularly. Knowing this, you may want to schedule gym, yoga or running sessions as part of your study hours, if only to unwind.

Improvements in the academic performance of children and adolescents have also been documented.

Improvements in academic performance due to physical exercise not only affect college students, but children and adolescents also see their grades improve thanks to the practice of physical activity.

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine claims that boys and girls who are more active perform better in school. For this study, a group of researchers from the United Kingdom, Scotland and the United States measured the level of physical activity of 5,000 11-year-old boys and girls. Their math, English and science scores were assessed when they were 11, 13 and 16 years old.

After analyzing the results of the study, the researchers concluded that the most physically active children at age 11 performed better in all three disciplines. In addition, 17 minutes of exercise a day is enough to improve academic performance in boys.. For girls, 12 minutes a day is sufficient.

Studies on school performance in children

Another study, in this case carried out by a group of researchers from Vrije University (The Netherlands), relates better cognitive performance of children to their level of physical activity..

But there are more studies that corroborate the claim that physical activity influences children's school performance. According to the University of North Texas, a healthy heart and lungs have a beneficial impact on children's reading and math levels. This could indicate that Cardiovascular exercise improves both school skills. Therefore, the director of the study, Trent A. Petrie, recommends that schools "review their physical education policies, as including more hours per week of this subject could have a beneficial effect on the performance of their students".

On the other hand, research by the Autonomous University of Madrid, led by Irene Esteban-Cornejo, analyzed data from 2,038 Spanish children aged 6 to 8 years. The results showed that cardiorespiratory capacity and motor skills correlated positively with academic performance, both independently and in combination.both independently and in combination.