Use it before you lose it would better be rephrased as, use it, or lose it! That applies to both mental and physical capabilities. Research published in the journal JMIR mHealth and uHealth with lead researcher, Zvinka Zlater, a clinical psychologist at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, has shown that physical exercise can improve cognitive performance in older people. The study had a population n = 90 people, aged 50 to 74 years, over 14 days. The people exercised using an accelerometer. Brain function of the test subjects was measured through twice daily ecological momentary cognitive tests (EMCTs) conducted using a smartphone. It was found that increased physical activity from exercise resulted in improved test scores, and hence cognitive performance. It would have been surprising if the null hypothesis proved to be accepted, since there has been a large body of research, as well as common sense observations, of the benefits of exercise.
But what exercise? Clearly for everyone, first one needs to get checked over by a GP to ensure that conducting such activities would be safe. A variety of exercise programs are discussed below. The main thing, even after given the medical A-Okay, is to go slow and progressive, for acting like a bull-at-the-gate may lead to injuries such as pulling muscles. It is really easy to do, usually not serious, but still painful and puts you out of action for a while.