Exercise the day of the test?

[millepora]

I have heard that endorphins you build up when exercising, benefit your mind. Also, it helps gets a larger amount of blood pumping into your brain. I suppose exercise can have the opposite effect too, and make you more tired than usual before you start the test...

What is everyones thoughts on exercising the day of the test?

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[loveoforganic]

If you exercise regularly, awesome idea. Not sure I'd do it if I wasn't used to it though.

 

[sv3]

I don't think you'd have to ask if you excerise regularly.......meaning you would already know how you handle it. Prolly better not to take risks....if you dont excerise before your practice tests you likely don't want to change it up for the real deal. You can always experiment now.....not so much on test day. that's game day......no messing around on game days.

I religiously work out and will my test day.....but definitely won't be pushing it b/c i know when i do i come home and goto into a coma.

 

[shishicd]

i'm neither a great exerciser nor a morning person, but i only gave myself a month to study for the mcat so i woke myself up in the morning at 6am by running or swimming for half an hour. (i kept this up for about two weeks before i got lazy and went back to sleeping in) i'm writing at noon on the 28th, so my plan is to be up at 8, hit the treadmill for a bit, and have a big cup of coffee - then i'll be raring to go! my advice is not to overdo the exercise - just enough to kick-start your sympathetic nervous system, and get into the rhythm of exercising in the morning a few days before your test date. best of luck!

 

[215353]

do whatever is going to set your mind at ease. Frankly you don't have to worry about whether you might exhaust yourself or not from exercising prior to the exam...once you get yourself in front of that screen on exam day your adrenaline is going to working on overdrive regardless.

 

[dundunham]

i personally wouldn't do it although I do an hour of cardio everyday to get sweat going on a daily basis since it does make me feel good. I don't think endorphins are going to help you much, instead all the hard work you put into studying or rather the confidence that you maintained through practice tests is what's going to make you feel good on test day... don't you think so?

 

[PRodulous]

agreed with above. do it if you exercise regularly. To add to their comments, i feel that exercising helped me calm myself down before the test. Before I wrote, I did a hard workout and afterwords felt good and relaxed for my test. Finding a way to get yourself to focus on test day is just as important as studying and knowing your stuff. If you have the time, see if it works for you.

 

[millepora]

I take 3 more AAMC tests before test day, so I guess I will have to try it out.
I hardly exercise anymore, but I used to back before the MCAT consumed me.

I might just be a pain to really get reasonable results, because it varies from test to test. I got 8,9,10 left. Since I have recently took 5,6,7, those could be my control for not exercising. Which of the new ones do you think coincide (5,6,7, vs 8,9,10)?

 

[sv3]

your totally over thinking this. I can guarantee you exercising for a month doesn't make you smarter or whatever you've read about. Don't try to apply a micro-fact to something macro like test performance. Perhaps over the course of years it can make you more energetic and allow you to study more.....but smarter? i doubt it. Of all things that play a role in MCAT success, i am sure exercise is not something that matters. Just think about it.....do you think anyone out of shape can't kill it? So do yourself a favour and focus on things that can help your score and don't worry about exercise.....focus! I work out very hard and if exercising made you smarter I would have cured cancer and AIDS....this morning and be working on Ebola right now.

 

[muhali3]

Exercise can cause neurogenesis in the hippocampus, but this mostly results from long-term exercise. Anyways, you should focus on using what you have more efficiently instead of trying to find some magic short-cut to getting a better score. If exercise helps you pay better attention, then you can do that, but don't think that exercise has some physiological effect that will somehow make you score 2-3 points higher.

 

[phEight]

your totally over thinking this. I can guarantee you exercising for a month doesn't make you smarter or whatever you've read about. Don't try to apply a micro-fact to something macro like test performance. Perhaps over the course of years it can make you more energetic and allow you to study more.....but smarter? i doubt it. Of all things that play a role in MCAT success, i am sure exercise is not something that matters. Just think about it.....do you think anyone out of shape can't kill it? So do yourself a favour and focus on things that can help your score and don't worry about exercise.....focus! I work out very hard and if exercising made you smarter I would have cured cancer and AIDS....this morning and be working on Ebola right now.

Sorry but I think you're mistaken here. Your example of someone out of shape killing the test doesn't really apply. I'm almost certain that were that out of shape person to exercise on a daily basis, they would be able to better apply themselves in every part of their life, including mentally. Exercise does help many mentally as well as physically. It's all related, your body utilizes energy better, your mood will be better, you will be more energized, and for those who have trouble focusing, it will even help you focus because you are more mentally alert. Granted you're not anymore "smarter", but you're better able to use the intelligence you do have. To say exercise plays NO role in MCAT success I think is a mistake. But obviously one day of exercise the day of the MCAT is useless if you're not used to working out..

If you're already able to focus and have plenty of energy then exercising probably won't help that much. But if you're someone who is low on energy, has trouble focusing... putting 30min-1hr aside for exercising can definitely help

 

[sv3]

First re-read my initial response before countering. I started off by specifically talking about the effect of one month of exercise. And my example does apply. We are talking about doing well on specifically the MCAT. Is excerise a must for this? No, it isn't. And I don't agree at all that anybody who is out of shape and smart, can definitely be better at applying themselves by exercising. Some people respond well, some don't. some don't have the time management to even make it a part of their lives. Some people won't get enough benefit to make up for the time they spend getting in shape. Your response is a little too nice and clean cut = ideal. Nothing is ideal in the real world. Either way what anyone chooses is the best choice for them. This isn't a concept you can apply so broadly and loosely. Can exercise help you be more alert and study with more energy? Sure it can - just like i said above - but it doesn't happen in as little as a couple of weeks (if anything, you are way more fatigued when starting an exercise program as your body has to adjust - so i would be extremely cautious of recommending this course to anyone a couple of weeks before a major event). If your going to make a major life change and incorporate exercise into a daily routine, you should know the first little bit is very tough on your body, etc etc. Later on, as you adjust, then yes mentally and physically you should be better off (at least thats the theory).

But bottom line is it won't make a difference if you're excerising a few weeks before the test. If someone says otherwise wait for the magic pill they are about to sell you. As an above poster said, this isn't a shortcut to make your score higher. There are much better ways to boost your score that are MCAT specific....and not life specific.

Sorry but I think you're mistaken here. Your example of someone out of shape killing the test doesn't really apply. I'm almost certain that were that out of shape person to exercise on a daily basis, they would be able to better apply themselves in every part of their life, including mentally. Exercise does help many mentally as well as physically. It's all related, your body utilizes energy better, your mood will be better, you will be more energized, and for those who have trouble focusing, it will even help you focus because you are more mentally alert. Granted you're not anymore "smarter", but you're better able to use the intelligence you do have. To say exercise plays NO role in MCAT success I think is a mistake. But obviously one day of exercise the day of the MCAT is useless if you're not used to working out..

If you're already able to focus and have plenty of energy then exercising probably won't help that much. But if you're someone who is low on energy, has trouble focusing... putting 30min-1hr aside for exercising can definitely help

 

[phEight]

most everything you said

I agree. But I would hope what I said applies to people who are able to make time to work out, and do have enough time to get into a routine. I should have made that more clear. Your earlier post didn't seem to acknowledge the possible benefits of exercise with the MCAT and everything else academically, and that's what I was trying to do. Proper time should be given to adjust, and I should have clarified that... thanks for pointing it out.

 

[sv3]

I agree. But I would hope what I said applies to people who are able to make time to work out, and do have enough time to get into a routine. I should have made that more clear. Your earlier post didn't seem to acknowledge the possible benefits of exercise with the MCAT and everything else academically, and that's what I was trying to do. Proper time should be given to adjust, and I should have clarified that... thanks for pointing it out.

its all good bud. I just am religious about working out and stuff and didn't want to sound arrogant but just think it takes time to get a good routine down, and benefit from it. If someone is asking about it, then they likely haven't had the experience or they wouldn't have to ask right? Anyone who works out regularly knows its amazing. So if your new to it.....and doing it just for the sake of improving a test mark......then what i meant was there's better ways to improve a test mark (not to say exercise over time can't help). I shoulda been more specific too.

Spending time studying for the MCAT on a sat nite makes for a cranky me!

 

[SuperSaiyan3]

don't exercise.

if you regularly exercise, this will actually benefit you as you will have extra energy that you would normally use for exercising readily available for your brain.

 

[tae]

I'm a runner and my running schedule was planned specifically for last Friday's MCAT. I did a 6 mile run on both Wednesday and Thursday (I usually run 6 miles - 4 or 5 days a week.) This both helped me sleep Thursday night and helped me relax Friday. I had to drive 250 miles to my test center Thursday afternoon (nightmare) and so I did a bunch of stretching Friday morning and during exam breaks to loosen up. The morning of the exam I also did a bunch of pushups and crunches in my hotel room to get my body woken up and energized.


I remember looking at the floor during one of my breaks thinking, how much of a freak will the staff think I am if I try and discreetly knock out 50 pushups real quick? Speaking for myself, exercise (aerobic or anearobic - whatever) relaxes me and helps me focus. I agree that it seems like a pretty far stretch to assume that regular exercise can increase an IQ but I'm fairly confident that your brain will be sharper and your memory better - especially later in life - with regular exercie - aerobic\cardio in particular. My $0.02..

 

[Bernoull]

I'm not very active, so I'll do something inactive for my MCAT's eve, I'll go for a full-body massage😀😀😀... I dont know what neurochemicals are released during a massage but they are pretty darn good!!! Most importantly, i think this is guarantee a restful night and hopefully calmed nerves the next day!!

 

[muhali3]

You're mostly mentioning psychological reasons for doing exercise, that it can calm you and make you more alert. If it does that for you, then it's good for you to do that, but exercise won't have that effect on everyone. Everyone should do what psychologically preps them for the test, but that won't be the same activity for everyone. I doubt that 40+ scorers would really do any better by exercising before they did the test. I think the better way to get ready is to get used to the test format via practice tests so that on the real test you don't burn out.