Okay, with all these grueling, sub-zero temperatures that we have been experiencing lately, there is no doubt that we are stuck in the depths of the winter season. Therefore, this brings me to my key question: are you still remembering to exercise at least three times a week? Perhaps you have started working out due to a New Year’s resolution, but since then have you possibly lost motivation? If you have not been exercising as much as you would have liked to recently, now is the time to get back into your routine. Why? We all know that exercising can improve our health, possibly increase our longevity, and reduce our susceptibility to colds and viruses. We also know that exercise can rid our minds of headaches, stress, and make us feel happier. However, a recent study, conducted by the University of Muenster in Germany, also found that exercising can actually make us smarter. Listed below are three benefits of what exercise can do for you, which includes making us smarter, brought to you by Prevention magazine.

1. Exercise makes you healthier. This is obvious, for those of you who play sports or exercise routinely and diligently. Scientific studies have shown that exercising improves the cardiovascular system, therefore reducing the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, blood clots, and even respiratory arrest. In addition, those who exercise for at least one hour, four days a week, reported falling asleep faster and staying asleep.

2. Exercise can make you happier. Employees who exercise at a gym near their place of employment reported thinking more clearly, getting more tasks accomplished, maintaining better focus, and overall, having better relationships and communication skills with their co-workers. The same was reported by high school students who also work out before and/or after school at a gym nearby.

3. Exercise can make you smarter. That’s right, you read it correctly. A recent study, conducted by the University of Muenster in Germany, has shown that exercisers, after just one single treadmill session, learned and acquired an average of 20 new words that were never familiar to them before. This is because the high-intensity cardio session makes the blood pump more oxygen to the brain, stimulating new growth in the area of the brain responsible for memory, multitasking, and planning.

Therefore, I hope you take these tips and use them as an excuse to get back into exercising again for this year. A vital activity such as exercising must not be forgotten, even in these cold, bitter temperatures, especially when there are this many benefits that can result from it. In addition, next time your English teacher asks how you earned that 100 for a score on that vocabulary test, use “exercise” as your reason to befuddle his/her knowledge in the realm of sports medicine.