I've learned this fact in my neuropsychology class from Prof. Dr. Erik Scherder. He is nowadays semi-famous in The Netherlands even and spreads this message as loud and as far as he can.
The thing that annoys me about research like this is: it may be true, but I don't feel it. So to what extent is it really helpful?
That is until I had an accidental yet natural experiment that lasted for two weeks.
For two weeks I cycled every odd day to my work and I went to my work by metro every even day. It happened to rain every even day (and sometimes I decided to go cycling anyway on odd days, despite it raining).
At some point, after about a week, I started noticing upon reflection that I felt much better at work whenever I cycled. This reflection wasn't planned, I simply wondered why I felt not as horrible as I usually do in similar circumstances -- I was severely sleep deprived when I was reflecting on this. Since I wasn't purposefully conducting an experiment and this wasn't on my mind, I figured this showed the true strength of the effect. The second week I started zooming in on this difference and really noticed it well.
I estimate that I was about 20% cognitively more performant and 20% more emotionally stable. It didn't matter whether I had sever sleep deprivation or not. It always felt like I was about 20% better.
So, if you want to experience it yourself. Cycle on odd days (for about 20-30 minutes) and go to the metro on even days. Within 2 weeks you should have noticed a difference.
The thing that annoys me about research like this is: it may be true, but I don't feel it. So to what extent is it really helpful?
That is until I had an accidental yet natural experiment that lasted for two weeks.
For two weeks I cycled every odd day to my work and I went to my work by metro every even day. It happened to rain every even day (and sometimes I decided to go cycling anyway on odd days, despite it raining).
At some point, after about a week, I started noticing upon reflection that I felt much better at work whenever I cycled. This reflection wasn't planned, I simply wondered why I felt not as horrible as I usually do in similar circumstances -- I was severely sleep deprived when I was reflecting on this. Since I wasn't purposefully conducting an experiment and this wasn't on my mind, I figured this showed the true strength of the effect. The second week I started zooming in on this difference and really noticed it well.
I estimate that I was about 20% cognitively more performant and 20% more emotionally stable. It didn't matter whether I had sever sleep deprivation or not. It always felt like I was about 20% better.
So, if you want to experience it yourself. Cycle on odd days (for about 20-30 minutes) and go to the metro on even days. Within 2 weeks you should have noticed a difference.