A few months ago, one of my students — a Grade 10 boy preparing for his IGCSE Additional Maths — messaged me at 9pm saying he'd been staring at the same trigonometry problem for 45 minutes and couldn't move forward. I told him to close the book, go for a walk, and come back. He messaged me 20 minutes later with the solution. He'd figured it out mid-walk, without looking at a single note.
That wasn't magic. And it wasn't a coincidence either. There's real science behind what happened — and once I understood it properly, a lot of things I'd been noticing across my students for years suddenly made sense.
I'll be upfront: I'm not a neuroscientist. I'm a maths teacher. But I work out regularly myself, and I've noticed the difference it makes to my own focus and clarity — especially on days when I'm planning lessons or thinking through how to explain a tricky concept.
In fact, I have a confession: whenever I am truly stuck on something — a problem, a lesson plan, how to explain a concept in a way that will finally click for a struggling student — the first thing I do is put my shoes on. Not make tea. Not stare at the ceiling. I lace up and go for a run. And here's what's strange: I'm not thinking about the problem while I run. I'm thinking about nothing in particular. But somewhere around the 20-minute mark, the answer arrives. Just like that. Fully formed, out of nowhere.
This has happened too many times to be coincidence. And once I understood the science behind it, I started seeing the same pattern in my students. So here's what I know, what the research says, and what I actually tell students to do about it.
Here's the short version: when you exercise aerobically — running, walking briskly, cycling, swimming — your brain releases a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). Researchers have nicknamed it "fertiliser for neurons." It literally helps grow new brain cells and strengthen connections between existing ones, especially in the part of the brain responsible for memory and the ability to hold multiple things in mind at once.
That last part matters enormously for maths. Think about what your brain is actually doing when it solves a multi-step problem — it's holding variables, tracking conditions, remembering what it proved two steps ago, and planning what comes next. All simultaneously. That's called working memory, and it is probably the single most important cognitive resource for mathematical thinking. Research shows exercise can meaningfully improve it — particularly for students who struggle with it most.
A single 20-minute aerobic session raises BDNF and dopamine — and in the window shortly after, your brain is most receptive to hard, new thinking. Don't spend it on easy revision. Sit down with the problem type that's been giving you trouble.
Exercise also raises dopamine and norepinephrine — the chemicals behind focus and motivation. When a student tells me "I just can't concentrate," I don't immediately assume it's a discipline problem. Often it's a brain state. And the fastest, most reliable way to change a brain state is to move your body. Not coffee. Not scrolling. Movement.
And there's a second mechanism at play — one that explains exactly what happens on my runs. When you stop forcing a problem and let your mind wander during movement, your brain shifts into what neuroscientists call the default mode network. This is not idle time. This is when your brain quietly connects ideas across different areas, approaches the problem from angles your focused mind would never try, and surfaces insights you couldn't manufacture by staring harder at the page. The problem doesn't disappear when you walk away from it. Your brain keeps working on it in the background — and movement creates the exact conditions for that background work to break through.
In Indian schools — and many of us remember this well — teachers used to punish students by making them hold their ears and squat repeatedly. The classic uthak-baithak. We thought it was just humiliating. Turns out, there may have been some accidental wisdom in it. This posture — holding crossed earlobes while squatting — is actually known in yogic tradition as Thoppukaranam, and a peer-reviewed study published in PubMed Central found it had a measurable immediate effect on selective attention compared to regular squats alone. Separately, Dr. Joie P. Jones of the Department of Radiological Sciences at the University of California examined the practice and found it activates acupressure points concentrated around the ear. The research is still limited and not all claims around it are proven — but the core idea that brief physical movement combined with specific posture can reset attention? That part holds up. Our teachers probably had no idea they were onto something. But here we are.
Before I get to exercise specifically, I need to say something I believe very strongly: maths ability is not a talent you are born with. I have heard this from so many parents — "she's just not a maths person" — and it genuinely makes me cringe. I've seen too many students go from failing to confident, from terrified to genuinely enjoying the subject, to believe that ability is fixed.
What looks like "talent" in maths is usually a combination of strong foundations, good problem-solving habits, and — this is the part nobody talks about — a brain that's been given the right conditions to think. Exercise is one of those conditions.
The students I've taught who are physically active — who play sport, who dance, who go for runs — tend to have a very specific quality that I've come to value enormously: they're better at being stuck. Being stuck is the central experience of learning maths. You will hit a wall on every hard problem. The students who break through are not the ones who never get confused — they're the ones who stay in it without panicking. That capacity to sit with discomfort and keep trying? Exercise builds it.
The most notable feats include 99% in ICSE Grade 10 Boards, 95% in CBSE Grade 12, clearing the NDA written examination, and 99th percentile in JEE Main — despite my SSB exam ending just 5 days before my first attempt.
What people don't see in that result is where Avighna started. When he first came to me, maths was not one of his favourite subjects — it didn't come naturally to him and he never felt particularly drawn to it. But something shifted as we worked together. The concepts started clicking, the problem-solving began to feel logical rather than overwhelming, and what once felt like a chore gradually became something he could approach with confidence and even enjoy. What also set him apart was that he was boxing and running every single day alongside his studies. His SSB exam — which tests physical and mental endurance together — ended just five days before JEE. Most students would have fallen apart at that point. He didn't. I genuinely believe the physical discipline he had built fed directly into the mental discipline he brought to maths. That kind of composure under pressure is not something you can manufacture in the last week of preparation.
Anoushka like most kids never liked Maths but after tuitions with Kirti, she has grown to really enjoy the subject. Kirti is extremely serious about her work — an hour of math means a full hour. Whenever Anoushka goes to college, Kirti will be with her.
This student was a competitive swimmer — training seriously and regularly alongside her studies. When we started working together, she was around a B or C in maths. By the time she sat her IGCSE, she came out with an A. She then went on to AP Statistics and SAT Maths, all the way through to college. I don't think the swimming was incidental to that journey. Training at a competitive level teaches you something no amount of desk time can: that discomfort is not failure, it's just part of the process. She brought exactly that attitude into our sessions — and her results showed it.
I'm not going to tell you to join a gym or run 5km every morning. That's not realistic for most students, and honestly it's not necessary. What matters is consistent, moderate movement — and being a little strategic about when you do it.
I work out regularly myself, and I notice a real difference on the days I do versus the days I don't — in my own clarity, in how quickly I can think through a problem, in how patient I am. So this isn't advice I'm giving secondhand. Here's what I actually recommend:
This is the one I push hardest. Even 20 minutes outside before a study session changes how your brain arrives at the work. You're not rewarding yourself — you're preparing yourself. There's a difference.
After movement, your working memory and focus are at their sharpest. Don't waste this on reviewing things you already know. Open the chapter that's been bothering you. Attempt the question type you've been avoiding. That's what the window is for.
This is my personal rule and I swear by it. If I have tried something more than twice without progress, I stop. I lace up and go for a run. I am not thinking about the problem — I am thinking about nothing. And the answer usually finds me before I'm back. My Grade 11 student solved his trig problem mid-walk without looking at a single note. Your brain keeps working even when you aren't watching it.
The brain responds to rhythm. A short walk or a quick workout every day does more for cognitive function than an intense session on the weekend. You don't need to be fit — you just need to be consistent.
Regular exercise is associated with better sleep quality, and sleep is when mathematical memory actually consolidates. Everything you practised that day gets wired in overnight. I see students staying up until 2am before boards thinking they're being productive. They're not. They're undoing the work.
Two weeks before any major exam, I tell every single student the same thing: your sleep and your daily movement matter more right now than extra study hours. I know that feels wrong. It isn't. A rested, clear-headed brain on exam day will outperform an exhausted one that crammed an extra three hours the night before. Every time.
| Type of Exercise | Primary Cognitive Benefit | Best Timing | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brisk walk / jog 20–30 min |
Working memory, focus, BDNF spike | Before study session | High |
| Cycling / swimming 30+ min |
Sustained attention, stress reduction | Morning | High |
| Easy walking 10–15 min |
Divergent thinking, insight generation | When stuck on a problem | Medium |
| Yoga / stretching 20–30 min |
Anxiety relief, exam-day calm | Morning of exam | Medium |
| Resistance / weights 2× weekly |
Processing speed, pattern recognition | Alternate study days | Medium |
I want to be clear about something: I'm not writing this to tell students they need to become athletes. I'm writing it because I genuinely believe that the way we think about studying is too narrow — too focused on hours at a desk, and not enough on the conditions that allow a brain to actually do its job.
And the biggest condition of all, the one I keep coming back to, is this: maths is not a talent. It is a skill. And skills are built by brains that have been given what they need to grow. Sleep. Movement. Good instruction. Consistent practice. That's it. There's no secret.
So to the student reading this at 11pm with a past paper in front of them: close it. Go to sleep. Walk tomorrow morning. Then sit down and do the work. I promise it will go better than it would have tonight.
And if maths is still feeling like a wall that won't move — that's exactly the kind of problem I love working on. Reach out.
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