We know exercise makes you smarter. Now so does blogging!

A good reason to perhaps start your own?

Here is an excerpt from a piece by writer Jessica Wapner of Scientific American on why scientists think that blogging (and other forms of expressive writing) are beneficial:

Self-medication may be the reason the blogosphere has taken off. Scientists (and writers) have long known about the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. But besides serving as a stress-coping mechanism, expressive writing produces many physiological benefits. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients, and even speeds healing after surgery. A study in the February issue of the Oncologist reports that cancer patients who engaged in expressive writing just before treatment felt markedly better, mentally and physically, as compared with patients who did not.

Scientists now hope to explore the neurological underpinnings at play, especially considering the explosion of blogs. According to Alice Flaherty, a neuroscientist at Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital, the placebo theory of suffering is one window through which to view blogging. As social creatures, humans have a range of pain-related behaviors, such as complaining, which acts as a “placebo for getting satisfied,” Flaherty says. Blogging about stressful experiences might work similarly.

Flaherty, who studies conditions such as hypergraphia (an uncontrollable urge to write) and writer’s block, also looks to disease models to explain the drive behind this mode of communication. For example, people with mania often talk too much. “We believe something in the brain’s limbic system is boosting their desire to communicate,” Flaherty explains. Located mainly in the midbrain, the limbic system controls our drives, whether they are related to food, sex, appetite, or problem solving. “You know that drives are involved [in blogging] because a lot of people do it compulsively,” Flaherty notes. Also, blogging might trigger dopamine release, similar to stimulants like music, running and looking at art.

If you do not want to start up a blog, try writing a journal or diary of your day to day experiences. You can also add a written portion to your training log describing what you thought about and how you felt during your training session. I find this to be a great way to monitor how my mental attitude, past workouts, sleep patterns, diet and other variables effect my workouts.

A great online training log can be found at dragondoor.com. It is simple to use and allows you to type as much info as you want in any format you choose. The log is automatically private and others can only see it if you decide to make it public. I have recently switched over to this method of recording my training and am very happy with it! You can, of course, make your own with Excel... but will you? : )

Do.