As we get older, we want to stay independent, keep doing what we enjoy, reach our goals, and remember the people who matter. All this depends on how well our brains work. Brain health matters more than ever as life expectancy increases and dementia becomes more common, affecting our memory, thinking, and daily life.As we think about lifespan, we should also consider our “brainspan”—the years our minds stay healthy enough to think, remember, adapt, and fully enjoy life.
That said, protecting our brains is about more than doing crossword puzzles or keeping our minds active. How we move, eat, sleep, manage health, handle stress, and stay connected all influence how our brains age.
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Don’t wait until you start forgetting
Sometimes, I walk into a room and suddenly wonder what I came for or feel like my brain isn’t as clear as usual. Is this what people mean by midlife brain fog or an overloaded brain? These moments can happen for many reasons and don’t always mean something is wrong. But they remind us that we shouldn’t wait until memory problems affect daily life before taking care of our brains.
Midlife is a key time to start paying closer attention to brain health. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common cause of dementia, usually appears after age 65, but brain changes can begin much earlier. New 2026 WHO guidelines estimate that up to 45% of dementia risk is linked to modifiable risk factors including physical activity, diet, and social connection. Our 40s and 50s are a critical time to manage blood pressure, blood sugar, and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, as high levels can negatively affect long-term brain health. For women, menopause matters too, as changing estrogen levels can affect sleep, mood, focus, and memory.
A new study released this month involving more than 12,400 adults found that people without high blood pressure, diabetes, or smoking lived almost 13 years longer without dementia than those with all three. Taking care of our health in midlife may help protect our brains later in life, too.
Is your brain overloaded or meaningfully challenged?
It’s hard to challenge our brains effectively with too much stress and constant stimulation from work, responsibilities, and screens. Our attention gets scattered. We may read without remembering or multitask without focusing. Prolonged stress and elevated cortisol can also affect memory and learning. We may need fewer distractions and better recovery before adding more challenges.
Meaningful challenges are different. It gives our attention a purpose. Learning a new skill, solving a problem, or remembering a dance routine asks us to focus, learn, remember, and make decisions toward a goal.
On the other hand, we may not challenge our brains enough when our days become too repetitive, or we have less interaction with others, which can sometimes happen after retirement. Brain wellness is about finding the right balance: enough stimulation to grow and adapt, with enough recovery to avoid overload. A powerful way to do this is through movement.
What if your workout could challenge your brain, too?
Physical activity is one of the most evidence-backed lifestyle strategies for supporting brain health. Exercise, for example, improves blood flow to the brain and supports its ability to change and adapt. It also helps manage blood pressure, blood sugar, sleep, and stress, all of which are important for long-term brain health. One long-term study of women even linked greater leg power in midlife with better cognitive aging over the next 10 years.
We can challenge our brains while we move, too. Researchers call this dual-task training—combining movement with a mental or physical challenge, like walking while remembering something or balancing while catching or passing a ball. A 2025 study, for example, found that orienteering (running while navigating and making decisions) had broader immediate cognitive benefits than running alone.
You don’t need to challenge your brain every time you exercise. But your workout can be a chance to engage your mind, not just move your body.
READ: Why you still feel drained despite trying to recover
5 ways to engage your brain while you move
Know what type of challenge your brain needs. As you move, ask: What does my brain need today—to focus, learn, react, solve, or remember?
1. Focus: Be fully present while you move
Use your workout to practice mindfulness and train your focus. Instead of exercising while watching TV, pay attention to what your body does. In Pilates or yoga, focus on breathing, alignment, and transitions. When lifting weights, notice your form and muscles working. When walking or running, notice your stride and effort.
2. Learn: Explore new ways to exercise
Engage in unfamiliar movements that challenge your learning, memory, balance, and coordination. If you usually run, add functional strength training. If you mostly lift, try boxing or ballroom dancing, where you learn, remember, and coordinate steps with a partner.
3. React: Make movement less predictable
Challenge your reaction and decision-making with activities like tennis, pickleball, basketball, dance, or group workouts that make you respond to changing situations. Doing these with others adds social connection, another important part of brain health.
4. Solve: Think while you move
When I exercise with my online group clients, I watch how they move, remember what we’ve worked on, and decide what comes next. My body moves, but my brain constantly observes, remembers, solves, and adapts.
5. Remember: Give your brain space to think
Last Sunday, I left my phone at home during an hour-long run. Without my usual podcast, I was able to think of this article—from its concept and flow to the important details.By the time I got home, I still remembered the ideas and quickly made an outline. I realized that simple, repetitive movements like walking, running, or cycling can give our brains the space to think, create, remember, and grow.
What if we could also sharpen our minds while we move our bodies? Along with good nutrition, recovery, connection, movement can strengthen our bodies while challenging our brains to think, remember, and adapt, so we can keep living fully now and as we get older.
