MORGANTOWN, W.Va. ― A West Virginia University professor has been researching which types of exercise are effective in improving academic performance.
The university said in a news release that Assistant Dean James C. Hannon of the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences says resistance exercise such as weight lifting and using resistance bands seems to help improve work in the classroom.
Hannon says most studies of young people have looked at aerobic exercise. But he says by researching other activities, the range of exercise that teachers could use to help in the classroom may grow.
The report examines differences in learning between 30 minutes of various levels of exercise in comparison to non-exercise with high school-age students. It suggests that both acute resistance and aerobic exercise increased measures of learning compared to non-exercising students.
The study was published in the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.