Did Leonardo da Vinci Discover the Ultimate Functional Fitness Training Program?
Probably because my only image of him was a self-portrait done in his later years, I’ve never thought of Leonardo da Vinci as an active and athletic young man. But aside from his fame as an artist, engineer, and inventor, the world’s original Renaissance Man was renowned for his physical strength, grace, athleticism, and attractive appearance.
In fact, Leonardo was known in his day as the “strongest man in Florence.”
He would impress visitors to his studio with acts of impressive physical strength, like bending horseshoes with his bare hands. As a young man, born illegitimately to a young aristocratic official, he was raised in his father’s household. There, he learned and excelled at the typical physical pursuits of males at that time and place—horsemanship and fencing. Throughout his life, he was fond of walking and hiking, and unlike most men of his age, he stayed in prime physical condition well into his later years.
Exploring the link between functional fitness training and mental fortitude
The correlation of Leonardo’s creativity to physical activity is simply one example of the emerging scientific evidence that links exercise to creativity or what’s more scientifically referred to as cognitive flexibility. The work of neuroscience researchers continues to demonstrate exciting connections between exercise and creativity.
He may be best known as an artist—and the renowned creator of iconic paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. But his creativity seems boundless.
In dozens of fascinating notebooks that he titled codexes, he showcases the breathtaking expanse of his genius, covering topics from engineering, water dynamics, mechanics, anatomy, botany, and war machines. Because he was left-handed and didn’t want to smudge his writing, he taught himself to write backward, from right to left, as if to be read in a mirror.
So much of this dizzying output serves as evidence of a remarkably active and productive brain. In fact, within the blogosphere genre of entrepreneurial performance enhancement and optimization, there are countless articles with titles like 7 Ways To Think Like Leonardo or The DaVinci Code to High Performance.
What do we mean by creativity or cognitive flexibility?
In his book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, John Ratey, M.D. notes, “Cognitive flexibility is an important executive function that reflects our ability to shift thinking and to produce a steady flow of creative thoughts and answers as opposed to a regurgitation [of common responses.] The trait correlates with high-performance levels in intellectually demanding jobs.”
Scientists continue to demonstrate that we can enhance our cognitive flexibility from even relatively short single sessions of exercise, such as 30 minutes or so of brisk walking. And yet, most of us spend a remarkably small amount of our day moving. To the detriment of our creativity.
In one notable study from 2007 that sort of mimicked the game show Family Feud, two groups of 20 middle-aged people were asked to rattle off alternative uses for common items, things such as a newspaper, which, aside from being read, can be used as package stuffing, wrapping paper, to line a pet’s cage or other such uses.
One group of 20 did a moderately vigorous 35-minute session on the treadmill. The others just watched movies. Each group was tested before, immediately after, and again 20 minutes later. The folks who watched movies showed no improvement. The exercise group showed significant improvement in processing speed and cognitive flexibility.
Isn’t that encouraging! Thus, if our work or studies require from us even a modicum of mental agility and “the ability to shift thinking and produce a steady flow of creative thoughts,” exercise can help boost that capacity. Isn’t that worth taking a little time for?
How does it all work? What changes in our brains when we exercise to make us more cognitively nimble?
Neurotransmitters, such as dopamine and serotonin, play a big role in helping us to focus. They also impact your cognitive flexibility.
Additionally, there are chemicals known as growth factors that are produced by exercise. One such growth factor is known as brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF. Whereas neurotransmitters are involved in carrying the signals from one neuron to the next, BDNF and other neurotrophins are at work building and improving the cell circuitry.
If we can imagine our brain cells as plants with long stems, roots, and leaves, then BDNF is a lot like Miracle Grow. Remember that, generally speaking, the more brain cells we have and the more connected they are with other brain cells, the better off we are cognitively. BDNF is a miraculously powerful fertilizer that works to improve the strength of individual cells, thickening the myelin sheaths of the nerve endings. It increases and improves synaptic connections with other brain cells, which allows them to communicate more quickly and effectively. And BDNF sparks neurogenesis, the creation of new brain cells. It’s such amazing stuff, who wouldn’t want more of it?!?!
Exercise produces a flood of BDNF, and that sizable dose of Miracle Grow-like brain fertilizer fires up all sorts of amazing biological improvements to our brain cells that then lead to more capacity for cognitive flexibility, lateral thinking, and creative output.
Complex exercises—like those in our functional fitness training program—increase the cognitive creativity benefits.
While any exercise is beneficial to our cognitive ability and creativity, additional research has shown that complex activities combined with more traditional exercise compound the benefits. Dr. Ratey notes that while exercise “elevates neurotransmitters, creates new blood vessels that pipe in growth factors, and spawns new cells, complex activities put all that material to use by strengthening and expanding networks. The more complex the movements, the more complex the synaptic connections. And even though these circuits are created through movement, they can be recruited by other areas and used for thinking.”
Hence, when we subject our members to challenging new movement patterns as we do in our Friday FunYay workouts, which feel awkward and frustrating and may make us feel silly at first, we’re directly imprinting new and improved neural pathways and creating brand-new baby brain cells! Those workouts are making us smarter and more creative!!!
Leonardo didn’t have the benefit of all this amazing scientific discovery when he was working in the 15th century. Heck, the printing press was only invented 13 years before he was born. But, his experience and lifelong habits of physical activity seem to suggest that he must have understood the productive connection between exercise and creativity.
Hopefully, some of this creative talk has inspired you to get up and move. And we’d like to help. Even if you never actually become a MidStrong member or client, Julie and I share a passion and a mission to teach, guide, and support as many good people along a path to optimal healthspan. Don’t hesitate to reach out if we can be of any assistance.
MidStrong is for life.
At MidStrong, we put the “fun” in functional fitness training programs—with effective and adaptive workouts that meet you where you’re at.
Join us online for functional fitness classes, nutrition coaching, and habit development, or join a small group class at our gym in Westborough, MA.