Single session of weightlifting improves executive function and processing speed

A new study found that processing speed regarding inhibitory control (the ability to suppress automatic or impulsive responses) and working memory improved in a group of participants after moderate-intensity resistance exercises compared to a group that was resting and watching a video during that time. Blood lactate levels and systolic blood pressure also increased after exercises. The paper was published in Psychophysiology.

Resistance exercises are physical activities that make muscles work against an external force, such as weights, resistance bands, or one’s own body weight. They are designed to increase muscle strength by challenging the muscles to contract against this resistance. Common forms include weightlifting, push-ups, squats, and exercises using machines in a gym.

These exercises trigger muscle fibers to adapt and grow stronger over time. Resistance training can also help improve bone density, which is especially important for preventing osteoporosis. It boosts metabolism because stronger muscles burn more calories even at rest. Such exercises are valuable for improving balance and coordination, particularly in older adults. They also reduce the risk of injuries by strengthening the muscles that support joints.

Study author Nicholas W. Baumgartner and his colleagues note that resistance exercise has emerged as a critical component of health, playing a key role in regulating blood glucose, reducing obesity, and lowering blood pressure.

They conducted a study aiming to evaluate the effects of acute resistance exercises on executive function and to explore potential mechanisms underlying those effects. Executive function is the set of mental processes that enable a person to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, control impulses, and coordinate complex goal-directed behavior.

Free daily newsletter

Study participants were 121 healthy adults. Their age ranged between 18 and 50 years, with the average being 27 years. 41% of them were women.

Study authors randomly divided them into two groups. One was to undergo resistance exercises of moderate difficulty, while the other group rested watching a video. The data collection was done on two separate days. On the first day, participants completed a demographic survey, and tests of strength (1RM protocol) and cardiovascular fitness (graded maximal exercise test for VO2 max).

On their next visit, which was at least 2 days after the first visit, participants gave blood samples and had electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of their brain recorded while they completed a set of cognitive tasks measuring executive function.

Next, depending on the group they were assigned to, participants either completed a set of resistance exercises or watched a video of a same-sex adult performing resistance exercises. After this period, they again gave blood samples and completed the cognitive tasks assessing executive function while the EEG activity of their brains was recorded.

The resistance exercises lasted for 42 minutes. They started with a 2-minute warm-up followed by two sets of 10 repetitions for each exercise: chest press, latissimus dorsi pulldown, dumbbell bicep curl, leg press, cable triceps extension, and leg extension. They were set at 65-75% of the maximum strength for each participant separately, with 1–2-minute rest periods between sets and 2–3-minute rest periods between exercises.

Results showed that response times for inhibitory control and working memory moderately improved in the group that completed resistance exercises compared to the group that watched videos. As expected, blood lactate levels and systolic blood pressure strongly increased after exercises as well.

Study authors tested a statistical model proposing that increased systolic blood pressure mediates the link between exercises and improved executive functions (inhibitory control and working memory). In other words, they proposed that resistance exercises increased systolic blood pressure and that increased pressure improves the speed of executive functioning. Results showed that such a mediation is possible.

“Overall, these findings provide evidence that acute RE [resistance exercises] enhances neuroelectric and behavioral markers of inhibitory control and working memory performance and highlight the potential for systolic pressure as a mechanism through which acute RE influences cognition,” study authors concluded.

The study contributes to the scientific understanding of the effects of resistance exercises on cognition. However, the effects on cognition were measured immediately after the exercises, so it remains unknown how long the effects last. If the improved executive functioning is indeed caused by increased blood pressure, as study authors suggest, it is likely that they would return to baseline together with blood pressure, which is within an hour.

The paper, “Brawn and Brainpower: Acute Resistance Exercise Improves Behavioral and Neuroelectric Measures of Executive Function,” was authored by Nicholas W. Baumgartner, Michael D. Belbis, Kyoungmin Noh, Daniel M. Hirai, Steve Amireault, and Shih-Chun Kao.