There's a question Todd Vande Hei has been asking for years: if you only have 30 minutes, do you meditate or do you work out? For most high performers, the answer is obvious—you train. The research on exercise and brain health is overwhelming. VO2 max, BDNF, neuroplasticity, mood regulation. The data is unambiguous: if you're pressed for time, you move.

But a conversation between Dr. Rhonda Patrick and neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson—who has spent 40 years studying the brains of meditators at the University of Wisconsin—turned that assumption on its head. His answer: you don't have to choose. And the reason why changes how you should think about every workout you've ever done.

Neuroplasticity Is Neutral

Here's what most people don't know about exercise and the brain. Vigorous aerobic exercise—zone 4 or zone 5 cardio—is the most empirically validated strategy for increasing neuroplasticity we have. That's not debated. Hard cardio makes your brain more plastic, more adaptable, more capable of change. This sounds unambiguously good.

But here's what Davidson discovered that almost nobody talks about: neuroplasticity is neutral.

It doesn't care whether it's encoding resilience or anxiety. If you increase neuroplasticity while your mind is running stressed, toxic, self-critical thoughts, you become measurably better at being stressed and self-critical. The more plastic the brain, the more susceptible it is to whatever mental environment you put it in during that window.

So the question isn't how much neuroplasticity you generate. The question is: what mental state are you in when you generate it?

Contemplative Aerobics: The Protocol

Davidson calls the solution "contemplative aerobics." The execution is deliberately simple.

Before you train—when you're lacing your shoes, warming up, in the first few minutes of a ride or a run—deliberately invoke a specific mental state. Not generic motivation ("I want to do this for me"). Instead: Who in my life benefits when I'm healthy? Who depends on me to be sharp, recovered, and present?

That shift from self-focused motivation to altruistic motivation does two things simultaneously at the exact moment neuroplasticity is ramping up. First, it fills your mind with what Davidson calls a "wholesome state"—positive, outward-facing, purposeful. Second, it activates something the neuroscience community now considers one of the most powerful levers of longevity: the biology of social connection.

In 2023, the US Surgeon General issued the first health advisory in American history specifically about loneliness and social isolation. The finding that prompted it: loneliness is a greater risk factor for premature mortality than smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Not sadness. Not isolation as a feeling. A measurable biological driver of early death.

The Biology of Connection—Even When You're Alone

What Davidson's research confirmed is remarkable: you can cultivate the biology of social connection even when you're alone. That altruistic mindset during exercise—orienting your thoughts toward how your health benefits the people around you—changes your biology in the same direction as real in-person connection. The brain does not fully distinguish between experiencing connection and genuinely orienting toward others.

The clinical data backs this up. A randomized controlled trial tested just five minutes of this intentional mental practice per day over 28 days. Results: significant reduction in inflammatory markers, more robust immune response to the flu vaccine, measurable microbiome changes—with effects that persisted at a six-month follow-up. No additional workout time. Just a deliberate shift in mental orientation during the minutes you're already training.

The Four Pillars of Flourishing

Davidson spent decades distilling the neuroscience of well-being into four trainable skills he calls the pillars of flourishing. They map directly onto what happens inside Stark's ecosystem:

How to Apply This Starting Tomorrow

Before your next training session, before the warmup, spend 60 seconds on one question: Who benefits when I'm healthy? Who needs me to be sharp, recovered, and alive?

Not as a performance. As an anchor. Then go train.

That's contemplative aerobics. Neuroplasticity plus a wholesome mental state. The combination Davidson says produces the kind of brain change that actually matters—not just a more plastic brain, but a more flourishing one.

One note of preparation: when people begin paying deliberate attention to their own mental state, anxiety often increases for the first week. This is not a sign that something is wrong. It means your mind is chaotic and you're finally noticing. By week two, anxiety drops below baseline and continues to fall. Stay with it.

Your mind is trainable exactly the way your body is. The same principles apply: consistency, progressive challenge, patience, measurement. Health is a skill—and this is one most high performers have been leaving on the table.

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Medical Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider before making any changes to your health, nutrition, or supplement regimen. Stark Health programs are supervised by licensed medical professionals.