How Exercise Helps Students Get Better Grades
By Eshan Belligundu
The World Health Organization recommends that adolescents (children between the ages of 10 and 19) engage in one hour of moderate exercise daily; however, only 19 percent of teenagers reach these numbers. Especially when entering high school, many students choose to prioritize their education over exercise, but new research shows that exercising regularly can help students improve their focus, retain new information, and even score higher on tests.
Despite the subjectiveness of academic performance, whether it be GPA or standardized test scores, studies from the Department of Preventative Medicine in the University of Southern California have been able to draw a positive correlation between staying active and better academic success, with students who regularly exercise or even join a sports team showing higher grades and enhanced cognitive performance in measures such as focus, memory, and more. As regular exercise and its subsequent impact on cognition have gained traction, recent studies have uncovered insights about:
- The optimal durations of exercise for cognition
- The best forms of exercise for academic performance
- Which subjects benefit the most from exercise
Recent posts from the Stanford Lifestyle Medicine Blog have touched on “exercise snacks,” short bouts of exercise that focus on fitting exercise into your day instead of making time for it. These can range from choosing to take the stairs to doing push-ups while your food heats up, allowing students to fit exercise into even the tightest of schedules and ensuring that anyone can reap the cognitive benefits of regular exercise. Overall, these studies inform students of potential boosts in academic performance, as well as how to optimize them to work in their favor.
Want Better Grades? Try These Exercises
Although studies have demonstrated that the optimal amount of exercise for adolescents rests at one hour per day, a post from the Journal of Sports Sciences has shown that even shorter bursts of exercise can have positive effects on attention, memory, and executive functioning. Although the intensity and total amount of exercise matter more than the length of your specific workouts, the type of exercise you participate in could make a difference in your cognition. Specifically, anything high intensity or aerobic in nature, such as swimming, running, or brisk walking, has been shown to be effective, with children who participate in regular aerobic exercise over the course of months showing better executive functioning and standardized test performance.
In addition, an article from the BMJ-British Medical Journal shows that moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise can improve attention, working memory, and even classroom performance, among other positive cognitive processes. Overall, studies have demonstrated that regular aerobic exercise at a reasonable intensity can be extremely effective at boosting cognitive functions and academic performance.
Working Out Helps With More Than Just P.E.
For students who engaged in regular exercise, when comparing academic performance to their sedentary classmates, it was observed that not all school subjects were affected equally. Noticeable improvements in the standardized test scores of math and reading were shown, a result that has been attributed to improved executive functioning and increased brain activity in the regions associated with focus and memory, such as the prefrontal cortex. Other reviews from the University of Southern California and the Journal of Sport Science have also supported this, stating that regular bouts of physical activity enhance skills such as cognitive flexibility and working memory. These findings have shown that, beyond general cognition and academic performance, incorporating regular physical exercise into students’ routines can provide benefits in focus and memory, as well as boost standardized test scores in math and reading above most other subjects.
The exact standardized test improvements varied from person to person, and while mathematics and reading were the only subjects that showed a significant increase in boys, the BMJ-British Medical Journal found improvements in science for girls participating in regular exercise. Overall, most students who started incorporating and reaching their goals for physical activity saw an increase in standardized test scores for their respective subjects, and beyond the school subjects, saw an increase in working memory, focus, and attention.
Here, Have a Snack
For most teenagers, especially those in high school and further, it can be difficult to fit workouts, even shorter ones, into their schedules while balancing studying, clubs, sleep, and more. For many in this position, “exercise snacks” offer a way to stay fit and active, performing many short exercise sessions over the course of a day. These can be as small as a couple of minutes at a time, but performed over a day, offer the perfect way for time-crunched students to stay healthy. Some examples recommended by experts are jogging up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, doing push-ups while your food’s warming up, or doing burpees for a minute in the middle of your workday.
While these shorter workouts offer the same cognitive benefits as standard ones, research shows that exercise snacks can even offer better stress relief than longer workouts, offering themselves as an alternative for time-crunched students. According to the lifestyle medicine blog from Stanford, these small bouts of fitness can improve focus and working memory directly after the exercise snack, similar to the effects of a full-on workout. Most students will find its effects the most useful if they exercise, rest, and then perform some sort of academic activity directly afterwards. Even so, these can offer great ways to stay active and stimulate the brain without an abundance of free time.
Conclusion
Most teenagers think about exercise as a way to keep in shape, something important for their physical health, but not necessarily useful when it comes to academics. This mindset leads to many teens feeling burnt out or overwhelmed, sidelining their exercise in favor of supporting their grades and focusing on school; however, whether it’s through a full workout or short “snacks” throughout the day, consistent physical activity can lead to significant improvements in academic performance – especially in school subjects such as reading and math, as well as on standardized tests like the SAT.
Even more than the improvements to your grades, exercise can help you enhance your memory, deepen your focus, deal with stress, and help you build healthy, long-term habits. Instead of just another time-consuming activity, think of exercise as a lifestyle improvement activity, something to help boost cognition and academic performance. Remember: a little goes a long way. It’s a simple tool, and not something to be overlooked or dismissed.
