Transcript: Your Brain on Movement: Why It's Not Just About Your Body
Full transcript for this episode of More Movement Please. For Donato’s structured summary, questions, quotes, and listening profile, go back to the episode page.
5 chapters — tap to expand the full text
Famous Ashley Grant explains she is on a brief hiatus building the Patreon and introduces today's guest voice note from Jessica Covington, founder of Fitology, who works with women with ADHD.
What's up, my movers and shakers? Famous Ashley Grant here. Welcome to More Movement, Please, the podcast where I hope to inspire you to move your body more. So I am still... on a little bit of a hiatus because I'm trying to build up the Patreon and like I had mentioned in a previous episode I am letting other people take over the show for just a little bit while I work on those assets. So today's voice note comes to us from Jessica Covington. She is the founder of Fitology and she says that she is happiest when she's in the dance studio on the beach or deep in the woods and she also talks a lot about ADHD and so that's why I was so excited to have her voice note come in and here's what she had to say.
Jessica Covington argues that movement's biggest benefit is what it does for the brain — improving attention, mood, creativity, and mental energy — and that even one minute or a walk around the block counts.
The thing I want people to know about movement is that it's not just exercise. It's not just for our bodies. It's actually brain care. So often we think about movement as something we do to change our bodies, and we forget that one of its biggest benefits is what it does for our brains. Even if it's just a few minutes, movement improves attention, mood, creativity, mental energy, and more. And it doesn't have to be a workout. to get that benefit. It doesn't have to be in the gym. One minute counts. Five minutes count. A walk around the block, a dance off with your kids, taking the stairs, stretching or doing air squats between meetings. All of it matters and builds up to a great big benefit. And it doesn't have to be perfect either. If you can't get around to moving more daily, that would be ideal. I would love that for everybody. But if it can't be daily, at least come back to it.
Be persistent enough to come back when you fall out of the habit. And movement is great for every single brain that exists in the world. I happen to work with women who have ADHD, like I do. So for us, it's especially important. But for anybody, movement is a powerful regulation tool. Physical activity helps us regulate attention and arousal. It's not just about burning energy. We all need to think more clearly. We all want to jump in and initiate tasks more easily and feel more emotionally regulated. And all of that can happen after we move our bodies. So it's less about getting tired. and more about getting the brain into a state where it can function at its best, where it can function really well.
Jessica explains that physical activity helps regulate attention and arousal for everyone, and is especially important for people with ADHD, and that movement primes the brain for difficult tasks by activating dopamine-linked networks.
A lot of us make the mistake of thinking, well, if I work out, I'm going to be exhausted, and it's going to make me physically tired. But ironically, what we find is that it actually gives us energy. You can try some movement before challenging tasks. Like if you have a difficult meeting or paperwork that you don't really want to do, maybe you have to focus on something you're writing, or there's a conversation you've been avoiding.
Just try moving your body first. And this works because the networks in the brain that govern both physical movement and motivation, dopamine, let's say, They're connected. They're physically connected inside the brain. So you can think of movement as really preparing your brain for something difficult. I teach a method that is called Intensati that combines movement with spoken affirmations. So instead of exercising, looking in the mirror and criticizing yourself the whole time, you're literally practicing empowering thoughts while your body is moving, which makes those thoughts. even more powerful. It helps them really sink in and you begin to embody these things that we repeat. Affirmations like, I'm powerful beyond measure, I'm stronger than I seem, I'm braver than I think, and so on. That combination matters because movement activates the body, speaking engages the language centers and breathing, and repeating intentional statements
Jessica describes the Intensati method she teaches, which pairs physical movement with spoken affirmations, arguing that doing both together makes the thoughts more embodied and easier to carry into everyday life than positive thinking alone.
really focuses our attention. Doing all three together, plus listening to the music, plus listening to cues, plus understanding where your body is in space, and so much more. It creates a whole person experience that often is easier to remember and carry into everyday life than just positive thinking alone. So the goal here isn't fitness necessarily, it's self -trust. Every time you keep your promise to move, even if it's just for a minute or two minutes. You collect evidence that your brain can remember. It's evidence that you can follow through. And that counts because your brain is always looking for evidence of what you can do or what you can't do. And when you are persistent enough to come back to that movement habit day after day, it shows your brain that, in fact, you are somebody who can follow through and stick to something. And those small wins really build confidence that extends far
beyond exercise. So don't underestimate what a few intentional minutes of movement can do. You're not just strengthening muscles, you're strengthening your brain and your mood and your confidence. And sometimes the best workout isn't even necessarily the hardest one. It's just the one you actually do. Thanks for tuning in to More Movement, Please. I hope the messages from today's episode inspired you. If you'd like more content, check out our Patreon. And if you'd like to be on the show, head over to famousashleygrant.com backslash fitness. Onwards and upwards, my friends. Have you worked out today?
Jessica reframes the goal of movement as self-trust rather than fitness, saying that every time you keep your promise to move — even for a minute — you collect evidence for your brain that you can follow through.
No transcript lines in this chapter.