The timing and intensity of your workouts can have a powerful impact on how well you remember things, so sayeth two new studies. It seems exercising can impact your ability to remember and retain information, but not always in a good way. A German study had three groups of women listen to a vocal lesson. One group road a stationary bicycle at low intensity and then listened to the lesson; one group road at medium intensity and then listened; and a third group listened after sitting quietly for a half hour.

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The group that peddled at a low intensity speed actually did the best when it came to retaining the language lesson. Another study presented at the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis, IN, created a similar experiment. But researchers found that there was no demonstrable memory improvement among the group that exercised, and in fact they performed worse on a battery of tests.

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So the upshot? Mild exercise may help you retain information, but don't go buck wild and do a crazy Zumba class before a big test. [Source]