Neuromotor Training for Lifelong Cognitive Benefits
Over the years, I started noticing something in my classes that didn’t quite fit the usual fitness story. Yes, people were getting stronger. Yes, their balance improved. But there was something else happening that felt just as important. I can usually see a noticeable shift after about two to three months of training. People react faster. They start thinking on their feet. And maybe most telling, they laugh when things get a little chaotic.
That’s what led me to look more closely at neuromotor training—the kind of training that includes hand-eye coordination, balance, arm and leg coordination, spatial awareness, reacting to moving objects, and doing more than one thing at once. Imagine a graph with a line moving sharply up and then gently leveling off. Think of this curve as an improvement in reaction time and coordination. It climbs quickly in the first couple of months, then continues to build more gradually. That early jump is exactly what I see in class.
It’s multiple systems working together: Neuromotor training sits right at that intersection. It includes:
Goal-oriented movement tasks
Coordinative exercises
Dual-tasking (moving while thinking)
Reacting to unpredictable cues
I mentioned to some of my classes that I recently had a conversation with Ryan Glatt, who is doing leading work in this area through the Pacific Neuroscience Institute. Since then, we’ve started exchanging ideas about how some of the principles used in exergaming can be applied in a real, live class setting. His work typically happens on a screen. People react to visual cues, make decisions, and get feedback through a device. But there’s no reason those same principles can’t be brought into a more social, in-person environment.
In my classes, we already do pieces of this. Ladder drills for memory and agility. Tossing a ball in patterns, then changing one variable and watching everyone adjust. You’ve probably felt that moment where your body is ready, but your brain needs a second to catch up. That’s the space I’m now building into more intentionally with the Brain Agility Lab.
With Ryan’s input and the research he’s shared, I’m designing classes where cognitive challenge is layered directly into the movement. Not as something separate, but as part of the work itself. Reaction, memory, attention, and decision-making are all happening while you’re stepping, lifting, reaching, or turning.
And we keep it social, because that piece matters more than people realize. We start in a circle. We talk. There’s a question of the day. You know who you’re next to. When people feel comfortable, they’re more willing to try, to miss, and to try again. No one is getting called out. You just missed that round. We move on.
That combination—movement, thinking, and connection—is where the real change happens. This is still evolving, and I’m looking forward to feedback from the people in the room. It’s early, but it’s exciting. And as Ryan said, this kind of work is just starting to move out of the lab and into real-world settings. We’re right at the front edge of that.