Want to stay mentally sharp? There are all kinds of things you can do: listen to music, read a book, gaze at a building, help someone out, get involved in a hobby. These activities not only make you feel good, they also happen to be very good for your brain in a variety of different ways.

Listening to music, for example, lowers stress hormones and increases well-being and focus.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been so focused on increasing my level of physical activity over the past couple of months, but what I appreciate the most about music and the brain is the fact that music helps me exercise. I enjoy listening to upbeat music, of course, but the benefit extends way beyond the enjoyment.

Over 100 years ago, a researcher discovered that cyclists pedaled faster when they listened to music than they did in silence. Now I know it’s not my imagination that I get a better workout with music than I do without it. I also know why.

Normally, when the body is tired and wants to stop, it signals the brain for a break. Well, music can turn down the volume on the brain’s complaints about being tired. Music competes for the brain’s attention, so during low- or moderate-intensity exercise it helps us override our fatigue, which means we can exercise longer and harder.

Music also helps us use our body’s energy more efficiently and effectively. Cyclists in a 2012 study who listened to music used 7% less oxygen than their counterparts who didn’t listen to music.

Another study with cyclists showed that the tempo of the music can have a significant effect on athletic performance. After listening to some popular music while riding stationary bicycles, one group listened to the same music slowed down by 10% and another group listened to the same music sped up 10%. Here’s what happened:

When the tempo slowed, so did their pedaling and their entire affect. Their heart rates fell. Their mileage dropped. They reported that they didn’t like the music much. On the other hand, when the tempo of the songs was upped 10 percent, the men covered more miles in the same period of time, produced more power with each pedal stroke and increased their pedal cadences. Their heart rates rose. They reported enjoying the music – the same music – about 36 percent more than when it was slowed. But, paradoxically, they did not find the workout easier. Their sense of how hard they were working rose 2.4 percent. The up-tempo music didn’t mask the discomfort of the exercise. But it seemed to motivate them to push themselves. As the researchers wrote, when “the music was played faster, the participants chose to accept, and even prefer, a greater degree of effort.”

It’s pretty easy to create your own workout playlist, but experts recommend incorporating songs that have 120 to 140 beats per minute. There’s no benefit to increasing the bpm above 145. You can calculate the beats per minute of a song by counting or by using a site such as songbpm.

Here’s one of my favorite workout songs, clocking in at 124 bpm:

Exercise has plenty of positive effects on the brain, but if you’re like me, you also do it just because it feels good.

Here are some of the other things you can do that both you and your brain might enjoy. (Click on the links to read the full articles.)

• Playing a musical instrument benefits your brain even more than listening to music by giving it an excellent “full-body” workout.
• Looking at buildings designed for contemplation may produce the same benefits to your body and brain provided by meditation—and with less effort.
• Dancing, getting some hobbies, and reading (among other things) all help to keep your brain young.
• Speaking of reading, ditching the e-reader once in a while and reading an actual book can increase your comprehension, make you more empathetic, and even improve your sleep.
• No matter how old you are, learning a new language improves gray matter density and white matter integrity.
• Finally, giving really is better than receiving—for you and for your brain.

Be good to your brain and your brain will continue being good to you!

Note: A much-abbreviated version of this post was published on 12/4/14.