Lift Some Weights

Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley

Lifting weights is obviously great for your strength, but it can also boost your brain power, improve your immune system, and even reverse signs of cellular ageing.

Michael enlists Jenny, a self-confessed weight-lifting novice, to try strength training at home using milk bottles and a sturdy rucksack. He speaks to Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose at the University of British Columbia, Canada, who has recently found that strength training can lead to better memory. She reveals how activating your muscles can release special chemicals called myokines which, astonishingly, can travel around the body and cross your blood-brain-barrier where they can have beneficial effects on your brain.