<story><title>Squats can boost brain activity [video]</title><url>https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09v8wyh/how-squats-can-boost-your-brain</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mmaunder</author><text>Funny how people become obsessed with specific movements, specific exercise styles, etc. I’ve done it all including becoming obsessed with Mark Rippetoe and the derivatives, cardio like running and mountain biking, swimming 2km a day (80 lengths) etc. The one thing that has absolutely transformed my life is yoga. No more back pain, insane strength I never had, no more injuries from eg lifting a 100 lbs propane tank at an awkward angle onto a truck, and unbelievable mental clarity and focus. I do it daily for 30 mins. Never been to a class. I got into it via the 3 week yoga retreat program on the Beachbody app. Been doing it for about 4 years now. Takes about a year or two to fully realize the benefits.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>bamboozled</author><text>Funny because I did yoga for years and I&amp;#x27;ve never felt better since doing olympic weight lifting and other forms of strength training.</text></comment>
<story><title>Squats can boost brain activity [video]</title><url>https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p09v8wyh/how-squats-can-boost-your-brain</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mmaunder</author><text>Funny how people become obsessed with specific movements, specific exercise styles, etc. I’ve done it all including becoming obsessed with Mark Rippetoe and the derivatives, cardio like running and mountain biking, swimming 2km a day (80 lengths) etc. The one thing that has absolutely transformed my life is yoga. No more back pain, insane strength I never had, no more injuries from eg lifting a 100 lbs propane tank at an awkward angle onto a truck, and unbelievable mental clarity and focus. I do it daily for 30 mins. Never been to a class. I got into it via the 3 week yoga retreat program on the Beachbody app. Been doing it for about 4 years now. Takes about a year or two to fully realize the benefits.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>deviation</author><text>Interesting- The benefits you mention are primarily physiological.&lt;p&gt;I would argue that if building strength, clarity, and focus is someone&amp;#x27;s main goal then this could be just as easily achieved by regular routine exercise like a calisthenics or bodyweight program with a healthy diet to boot. 
At least this way you can realise the benefits much quicker than a year or two.&lt;p&gt;I can&amp;#x27;t speak to the rewarding &amp;#x27;zen&amp;#x27; nature of Yoga. After close to a decade of full-time weightlifting though, perhaps it has conditioned me into treating it as a sort of routine, mental therapy.</text></comment>