News from drench®

Beef up your brain at the drench® Brain Gym

The UK’s first ever gym designed to enhance mental fitness

- 16th-18th July, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London -

It is time to jump off the treadmill and drop the weights, as today sees the launch of the drench® Brain Gym – the UK’s first ever gym designed entirely to give the brain a work-out and enhance mental fitness.

In today's fast-paced world, maintaining physical fitness is no longer enough – being mentally fit is also imperative to achieving peak performance at work and in day-to-day life. Without the extortionate monthly direct debits, sweaty poseurs, or spandex so common to regular gyms, the drench® Brain Gym is the ideal place to join the newest gym class around – ‘Brainaerobics’ – where participants can learn the techniques needed to improve mental fitness.

To launch the drench® Brain Gym, drench® spring water has enlisted the help of Dr Jack Lewis (PHD), a Brain Trainer and neuroscientist who has devised the ‘Brainaerobics’ sessions to improve alertness, concentration and short term memory.

“Throughout life your brain responds to the challenges you put it through and the more you do, the more your brain improves,” said Dr Jack Lewis. “These physical changes occur in your brain by strengthening regularly used pathways and cutting back the rarely used ones. So by regularly making your brain jump through certain mental hoops you can ensure that pathways for useful brain functions are maintained. Quite simply, brain training ensures that by challenging your mind with a variety of novel, thought-provoking puzzles and problems, you make a habit of using important brain pathways. This makes them work better, by physically reinforcing the lines of communication.”

Dr Jack’s Top Tips on Maintaining a Healthy Brain

Brains are high maintenance

There’s no room for storage in your brain – no energy stores, no spare building blocks, so everything your brain needs must be in constant supply.

Keep your brain hydrated

Your brain is 75% water. A plentiful supply of water is vital for your body and brain to perform properly. Even mild dehydration leads to cognitive impairment – where your brain cannot work at its full potential.

Moving makes you happy

- Physical exercise makes you breathe faster, as you have more oxygen coming in and more toxic waste going out.

- It improves the supply of nutrients, removal of toxins and encourages growth of new brain cells.

- When your heart pumps faster the oxygen-rich blood moves more quickly around the body and brain.

- It also induces release of hormones and brain chemicals that make you feel bright and alert.

Stretch your brain a little every day

- Just 20 minutes of brain training per day slows brain aging by strengthening brain connections.

- Brain training comes in many shapes and sizes: Picture puzzles, word games, number puzzles, logic problems, riddles, reading books.

Keep your brain energised (avoid the sugar rollercoaster)

- Limit intake of sweets & cakes, as your blood sugar will shoot up too high, then drop down too low

- Oats, jacket potatoes and wholemeal all contain slow-release sugars that give the brain the steady energy supply it loves

Only the very best

Brains need top notch building materials to work properly many of which must be eaten:

- Slow down brain aging by eating anthocyanins (powerful anti-oxidants) that can be found in blueberries and strawberries

- Regulate your mood by eating tryptophan that can be found in poultry, milk products and bananas

- Achieve better brain cell function by eating fish, seeds and omega olis

Use that dead time

Always be thinking. Think ahead and make a plan for the next few steps of your day

Dr Jack added: “Every single biological process in your body is dependent on a delicate balance between many different chemicals, which must each be at just the right concentration. This is critically dependent on water, as dehydration means that all these chemicals become more concentrated and severely disrupt the brain’s normal function. A plentiful supply of water reduces chemical stress on the brain ensuring it can work to the best of its potential.”


The drench® Brainaerobics sessions

Brains behind the Brains

Visitors will have a chance to experience a lesson with Anthony Trahern, the legendary dancer behind the recent drench® ad, which featured the iconic character Brains from Thunderbirds dancing around a stage to SNAP’s ‘Rhythm is a Dancer’. Observing, memorising and imitating challenging dance moves helps to improve sequence learning, recall, balance and co-ordination. It also tunes up the “mirror neuron” system, which is responsible for observing movements in another person’s demonstration and then reproducing them with your own body.

The Conveyor Belt

Well known from The Generation Game TV show, people will be asked to remember as many items as possible that pass before them on the conveyor belt. Dr Jack will teach techniques to dramatically improve working memory capacity, which is crucial for day-to-day tasks such as remembering to-do lists, important dates, phone numbers and even putting names to faces .

Mirror Maze

After looking at a map, visitors will be asked to drive a remote control car through a maze using a series of mirrors to help navigate round corners. This activity will test mental flexibility, improve visuospatial imagery / rotation and develop hand eye co-ordination.

Giant Buzz Wire

Visitors will be asked to navigate their way along a length of wire using a hoop (without actually touching the wire!) and complete the course in the fastest possible time. This will help to improve vigilance, concentration, sustained attention, concentration and manual dexterity.

For more information visit www.staydrenched.co.uk

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For further information please contact Hannah Jones or Sarah Henderson on 0207 693 6999 or email hannahjones@frankpr.it / sarahhenderson@frankpr.it