The Benefits of Exercise for Junior Doctors: Brain Fuel for Memory, Mood, and Focus

Being a junior doctor is like running a marathon at sprint pace. You’re expected to be sharp, compassionate, and constantly learning—often on minimal sleep, with barely a moment to catch your breath. If you’ve ever asked yourself, “Is this stress just part of the job?”—you’re not alone. But what if the antidote to burnout, brain fog, and study fatigue wasn’t more caffeine or longer hours—but movement? Here we’ll uncover six science-backed principles behind the benefits of exercise for junior doctors. These aren’t just fitness hacks—they’re strategies to help you think clearer, study smarter, and feel stronger.

The Science Behind the Benefits of Exercise and Brain Performance

Imagine a pill that improves memory, sharpens focus, boosts mood, reduces stress, and enhances sleep. If it existed, it would be revolutionary. But this “pill” already exists—it’s called exercise.

Dr. John Ratey, clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, outlines in his book Spark how the benefits of exercise extend deeply into brain function. He identifies three key mechanisms:

1. Balances Neurotransmitters: Exercise regulates dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine—neurochemicals essential for attention, motivation, and emotional stability. For junior doctors, this means better focus during long shifts and greater emotional resilience under pressure.
2. Stimulates Neurogenesis: Physical activity promotes the birth of new neurons in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory center. This process, known as neurogenesis, is vital for learning and long-term memory formation.
3. Strengthens Neural Connections: Exercise enhances synaptic plasticity—the brain’s ability to form and strengthen connections between neurons. This makes it easier to consolidate new information and retrieve it when needed, whether during a viva or a clinical handover.

Why Exercise Matters for Junior Doctors

Junior doctors are expected to perform at peak cognitive levels while managing sleep deprivation, emotional stress, and intense workloads. The cognitive demands of medicine—diagnostic reasoning, rapid decision-making, and memory recall—require a brain that is well-nourished, well-rested, and well-exercised.

But many doctors report feeling mentally foggy, emotionally drained, and forgetful. They study for hours, only to find that the material doesn’t stick. They struggle to focus during clinical rounds and feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information.

As Study Less and Still Blitz Your Medical Exams puts it:

This isn’t a failure of intelligence—it’s a failure of brain maintenance. And that’s where the benefits of exercise come in.

Evidence-Based Benefits of Exercise for Learning and Memory

There are plenty of exercise benefits - but lets look at three of them

1. Exercise Improves Memory	2. Exercise Enhances Mood and Reduces Stress	3. Exercise Improves Focus and Attention

1. Exercise Improves Memory

Memory isn’t just about cramming—it’s about encoding, consolidating, and retrieving information. Studies show that moderate to high-intensity exercise before studying improves all three stages of memory formation.

A meta-analysis published in Translational Sports Medicine reviewed 13 studies and found that even a single bout of exercise (2–60 minutes) before studying significantly improved memory performance over the next two hours.

Actionable Tip: Before a study session, do 5–10 minutes of brisk walking, stair climbing, or bodyweight exercises. You’ll prime your brain to absorb and retain more.

2. Exercise Enhances Mood and Reduces Stress

Stress is inevitable—but chronic stress is a cognitive killer. It impairs memory, drains focus, and fuels burnout.

Junior doctors often operate under chronic stress—long shifts, emotional demands, and the looming pressure of exams. Chronic stress floods the body with cortisol, impairing memory, focus, and emotional regulation.

Exercise activates your parasympathetic nervous system—the “rest and digest” mode that calms your body and mind. It regulates cortisol, improves sleep, and restores emotional balance.

Many junior doctors in the book described feeling overwhelmed and emotionally depleted. When they reintroduced even short workouts, their energy, mood, and motivation rebounded.

3. Exercise Improves Focus and Attention

Attention is the gateway to learning. Without it, information doesn’t stick. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex, which governs executive function—planning, decision-making, and attention.

Doctors who exercise regularly report feeling more alert during clinical rounds and more focused during study sessions. Even short bursts of movement can reset attention and reduce mental fatigue.

Actionable Tip: Use the Pomodoro technique with movement. Study for 50 minutes, then take a 10-minute break to stretch, walk, or do light exercise. This improves focus and helps consolidate learning.

But I Don’t Have Time…

This is the most common objection. Junior doctors often feel that every spare minute must be spent studying. But this mindset is counterproductive. Exercise doesn’t take time away from study—it enhances the quality of study.

In Study Less, the authors emphasize that wellbeing is not a luxury—it’s a necessity. Exercise, sleep, and nutrition are the “pit stops” that keep your brain functioning like a Formula 1 engine. Without them, performance suffers.

Integrating Exercise into a Busy Schedule

You don’t need a gym membership or a 90-minute workout. Here are practical ways to integrate exercise into your day:

• Micro-workouts: 5–10 minutes of bodyweight exercises (squats, lunges, push-ups) before or after study.
• Active commuting: Walk or cycle to work if possible.
• Stair breaks: Take the stairs during hospital rounds.
• Stretching routines: Use breaks to stretch and reset posture.
• Weekend planning: Schedule longer workouts on days off—walks, runs, yoga, or group sports.

Tip: Treat exercise like a prescription. Schedule it. Protect it. Prioritize it.

Final Thoughts: Exercise is Brain Fuel

If there’s one takeaway to carry forward it’s this: exercise is not a luxury—it’s brain fuel.

In the high-stakes world of medicine, junior doctors often sacrifice movement for more study time. But as we make clear, that trade-off is a false economy. Exercise doesn’t take time away from study—it enhances the return on your study time.

Whether it’s a brisk walk, a short burst of high-intensity interval training, or dancing to your favourite song, movement primes your brain for learning. It balances neurotransmitters, stimulates neurogenesis, and strengthens neural connections—all of which are essential for memory, focus, and emotional resilience.

The authors cite compelling evidence: even 2–60 minutes of moderate to high-intensity exercise before studying can significantly improve encoding, consolidation, and retrieval of information. That means you retain more, recall faster, and feel better doing it.

And it’s not just about cognitive performance. Exercise is a powerful antidote to burnout, anxiety, and the emotional toll of medical training. It’s a way to reclaim control, boost mood, and reconnect with your body—especially when everything else feels overwhelming.

So as you move forward, ask yourself:

• Can I schedule short bursts of movement before study sessions?
• Can I reframe exercise as a cognitive enhancer, not a time cost?
• Can I use movement to reset my mood, reduce stress, and improve sleep?

You don’t need to overhaul your life overnight. Start small. A few minutes of movement can make a measurable difference. And over time, these small shifts will compound—boosting your memory, your mood, and your mastery of medicine.

Exercise isn’t optional. It’s your edge.