This Type of Exercise May Cut Your Alzheimer's Risk In Half

ou know that clocking hours at the gym or in a cardio kickboxing class has major body and brain benefits in the short term. Not only does all that physical activity build muscle and burn fat, it also leaves you feeling sharper and less stressed.

Turns out, breaking a sweat has long-term brain benefits too, according to a new study published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Researchers from UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh looked at over 800 patients over the course of 30 years to track how physical activity impacted their risk of Alzheimer's and overall brain function.

People answered questions pertaining to memory and exercise habits and had MRI scans of their brains, which allowed the researchers to measure overall brain volume as well as the size of particular brain regions involved in memory and tied to the risk of Alzheimer's disease—namely the hippocampus.

Not only was more physical activity correlated with an increased volume in several regions of the brain (including the hippocampus), it was also tied to a 50 percent reduced risk of Alzheimer's. How? Aerobic exercise reduces inflammation and also increases blood flow to the brain—both factors that promote growth and better neuronal health, says Cyrus Raji, M.D., Ph.D., lead author of the study.

This is the first study to show that pretty much any type of aerobic exercise—we're talking everything from walking to tearing up the dance floor—can boost brain volume and drastically reduce your risk of Alzheimer's.

The researchers didn't study the effects of anaerobic exercise, but simple aerobic activities like walking helped, so it's easy to work this kind of movement into your workout routine. If you're a cardio-hater, try walking to your barre class instead of driving to kill two brain and body-boosting birds with one stone.