THE BIOLOGY OF SUCCESS
ing else, through her training she’s become
more confident, and she is now recogniz-
ing herself as a woman who can tackle all
of these things being thrown at her.” In
younger students, Leifer has witnessed
their training translate to better behavior
and habits at home and at school.
The relationship between exercise and
success is a talking point of some of the
world’s rich and powerful. Investor Mark
Cuban has said cardio training riles his
competitive spirit. Serial entrepreneur
Richard Branson cites health and fitness
as a key component of his achievements.
Closer to earth, a 2012 study in the Jour-
nal of Labor Research found that employees
who regularly exercise earn 9% higher sal-
aries than less-active counterparts. Many
of the most successful and innovative com-
panies in the world including Google have
onsite exercise facilities.
Why does exercise prime us to succeed?
According to Leifer, striving for health
goals helps other accomplishments fall
into place. “When you set a fitness goal,
say, earning your first belt in martial arts,”
she says, “you set up granular action steps.
You learn and master techniques, mem-
orize patterns, earn stripes; you break
boards. All these little successes build con-
fidence. With your first accomplishment
comes a little voice that says, ‘Wow, if I can
do that, maybe I can do this.’ With that con-
fidence, you take more risks, you take on
bigger challenges. This confidence even-
tually spills over into other areas of life.”If exercIse can give us the tools and
motivation to work toward goals outside
of the gym, how much of an impact does
that translate to? Heather Sanderson, an
assistant professor of nutrition, health and
human performance at Meredith College,
has probed the measurable effects of exer-
cise on college students’ academic success.
In a 2017 study, Sanderson and her team
found that participating in recreational
physical activities at the college level may
hold a key to improving classroom per-
formance. The researchers studied the
physical-activity habits and academicperformance of more than 21,000 under-
graduate students over a 16-week semes-
ter to simulate performance of a complete
academic year. “For every hour of physical
activity a week, a student can increase their
GPA by 0.06,” says Sanderson.
So if a student went from exercising
zero times a week to three 50-minute ses-
sions—federal guidelines recommend at
least 150 minutes of moderate physical
activity per week—that student could up
their GPA by 0.18. Sanderson’s team also
found that regular exercise increases the
odds of graduation by 53% (though spend-
ing too much time exercising beyond the
national guidelines can take too much time
away from academic activities and thus can
have a negative impact on GPA and gradu-
ation rate). Sanderson and her team con-
trolled for factors that would predict al-
ready highly disciplined students, such as
high school GPA and SAT score.
When final exams come around, Sand-
erson urges students to keep moving. On
a neurological level, exercise can stimulate
“an immediate response with the prefron-
tal cortex, where decision-making hap-
pens,” she says. “If a student has a paper
to write or needs to take a test or problem-
solve,” exercising beforehand activates the
prefrontal cortex “at a higher level, and it’s
able to increase one’s attention and focus.”safeguardIng the mInd is essential
for achieving success as we age. Our brains
power our decision-making and fuel inno-
vation and strategy. Exercise is known to
improve mood, reduce stress and anxiety,
and help us sleep. But the benefits of ex-
ercise come directly in how it affects the
health of the brain and protects memory
and thinking skills, two necessary ele-
ments of success both in and out of the
workplace. J. Carson Smith, an associate
professor in the department of kinesiol-
ogy at the University of Maryland, has re-
searched how exercise impacts the aging
brain. His team looked at physical activ-
ity in older adults at an increased genetic
risk for Alzheimer’s disease. These individ-
uals carry a susceptibility gene for the dis-Exercise
helps
protect
memory
and
thinking
skills, two
necessary
elements of
success.