Research
Mixed
Gains in dynamic muscular strength mediate improvements in global cognitive performance and executive functions.
Improving your muscular strength through resistance training can directly boost your cognitive performance and executive functions, suggesting that physical strength is a key driver of brain health.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
it was observed that gains in dynamic muscular strength (assessed by one repetition maximum in different resistance exercises) after 6 months of progressive resistance training mediate improvements in global cognitive performance... Similar to the previously mentioned finding, it was reported that changes in isokinetic knee extension and knee flexion torques after 3 months of progressive resistance training mediate improvements in executive functions.
Why this rating
Based on specific studies cited in the review, but the review itself notes limited evidence pooling for mechanisms.
Source
Functional and/or structural brain changes in response to resistance exercises and resistance training lead to cognitive improvements – a systematic review
Fabian Herold et al. · European Review of Aging and Physical Activity · 2019
DOI 10.1186/s11556-019-0217-2
systematic_reviewCited 322×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Resistance training induces functional brain changes, particularly in the frontal lobe, which are associated with improvements in executive functions.Moderate
- Resistance training leads to structural brain changes, specifically lower white matter atrophy and smaller white matter lesion volumes.Moderate
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