Recently I sat down with Jason Bayus to discuss his work as a fitness professional and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) researcher. Bayus is known for his fun, innovative workouts that blend elements of yoga, pilates and dance, promoting a more holistic approach to fitness.
When Bayus is not supporting research studies at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, he trains clients privately and teaches at international retreats and workshops. He can also be found teaching at ALO Yoga, Lululemon, and Yogaworks in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where I have been taking his classes for years.
With a warm smile and poised posture Bayus discussed finding an equilibrium between his work in research, a demanding teaching schedule, and his social and family life, “I think it’s something every New Yorker struggles with but is so vital to our physical and mental well-being.” Bayus admitted it helps when two of his passions, the creation of movement in the fitness studio and research in neurological disorders, overlap. He finds as perspectives develop in one field, it can offer exciting insight into the other. In fact, one of the clinical trials he’s currently working on is looking at the efficacy of cardiovascular exercise in slowing the progression of memory loss caused by AD and dementia.
The connection between fitness and maintaining well-being has held great importance to Bayus since he was a child. He described himself growing up as surprisingly, “frail, uncoordinated, and a total nerd.” Due to his asthma and weakened immune system, he was often the “last one picked” in school athletics. This ultimately fueled his determination to build stamina and resilience by experimenting with movement and exercise. Starting with indoor activities, like roller skating, he eventually found he had an aptitude for music and dance, which later led to his music performance studies at Oberlin and Julliard. Bayus credits movement with giving his body the strength to persevere and to this day he finds his focus, mood, and stamina decrease if inactive for only a few days.
Bayus grew interested in AD research during his Premedical Studies at Columbia. Most recently, it became deeply personal when he lost his father in 2018 to AD and Lewy body disease, a similar neurological disorder that attacks both cognitive and motor skills. Both AD and Lewy body disease are terminal conditions that cause severe memory loss affecting language, behavior, the ability to carry out daily activities and self care. In AD, a buildup of amyloid plaque and tangles are thought to be responsible for the nerve cell damage. Eventually, the brain begins to shrink and its ability to carry out the most basic life functions, like swallowing, are forgotten. This suspected plaque can form approximately ten to fifteen years prior to the disease’s first noticeable symptoms, such as memory trouble and confusion, making research in prevention a potentially life-saving endeavor. Currently there are an estimated 5.7 million Americans living with AD, a number that could grow to 14 million by 2050.
A viable solution to this complicated neurological disorder has been so elusive and costly that pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer began pulling back funding in 2018. Looking at prevention, or how to slow the disease’s progression in its early stages, is the current, most promising priority amongst researchers. To lower risk factors, and potentially delay the onset of AD and other forms of dementia, Bayus described “six areas” people can focus on to improve their brain health.
1. Control your stress
Bayus said, “Prolonged, high stress levels can negatively impact the brain and raise the risk of developing AD. Learning to breath right and improve respiratory function through exercise increases the oxygen levels in the brain and helps reduce stress.” Bayus also spoke about the influence exercise has on our hormones as it “reduces the stress associated ones, like cortisol and adrenaline, and induces the ‘feel good’ kind, known as endorphins.” He noted that music can also have a similar effect on our stress hormones, which is why his carefully curated playlists are an integral part of his work.
2. Engage in a community
Humans are social beings and research confirms isolation can jeopardize our brain health. Bayus said, “Evidence shows the stronger our network of friends, family and commitment to regular social interaction, the better we tend to perform on memory and thinking tests, thus potentially reducing risk of neurological decline.” An exercise studio is a great place to foster this strong community and people also may perform better in a group setting. Bayus elaborated, “There are varying levels of vulnerability and resistance that everyone in the group is working to overcome together. For those with a consistent practice, students can often see the same smiling, sweaty faces 4-5 times a week! That’s more than I see most of my best friends in a year!”
3. Sleep
Bayus said, “Deep sleep is essential for brain health, memory and thinking abilities.” He explained that recent studies have shown an association between poor sleep and amyloid plaque build up. Bayus noted that it’s not only important to get 7-8 hours of sleep, but to achieve a “slow wave sleep level.” This refers to the stage of deep sleep marked by low heart and respiratory rates, lack of muscle or eye movement, and slower brain waves (activity). Bayus said, “Exercise has been proven to help deepen sleep as well as create a relaxing bedtime ritual.” He recommended keeping your sleep schedule consistent and turning off digital screens 20-30 minutes before bed because, “blue LED lights can suppress the amount of melatonin the brain produces, a hormone which helps induce sleep.”
4. Eat a nutrient rich diet
Bayus said, “Exercise and diet often go hand in hand. By encouraging students to exercise regularly we often get what experts call ‘The Transfer Effect’ where improving one area of your life impacts another.“ As you begin to move consistently, healthy foods and portion sizes may become more appealing. Eating a healthy, nutrient dense diet, such as a Mediterranean diet, has been shown to impact brain health by slowing the development of beta-amyloid deposits.
5. Exercise regularly
Exercise has an effect on each of the areas listed above and vice versa. Importantly, Bayus said, “Exercise should be varied, challenging, and done on a consistent basis.” He also mentioned the saying, “healthy heart, healthy brain.” Exercise helps maintain cardiovascular health which in turn helps lower the risk of dementia and AD because there are links between hypertension and cognitive impairment. Bayus said, ”It’s suggested to strive for 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week. Research suggests including strength training several times a week could reduce the risk of developing AD by 50%.” In addition, Bayus noted that developing strong balance skills through exercise is vital as we age because any type of head trauma from a fall can either increase brain disorder risk factors or drastically progress pre-existing ones, which he witnessed first hand with his father.
6. Challenge your brain
Bayus said, “Each time you challenge the brain by learning or trying something different, new neural pathways are built, thus creating a stronger, more agile, and resilient brain.” This is why experts advise people to keep learning new skills, languages, or to simply walk a different way home from time to time. Applied to exercise, Bayus emphasized that we need to switch up our routines, sequences of action, and levels of resistance. New, unfamiliar movement patterns may feel clumsy or ill-coordinated at first, but he encourages students to keep at it because the reward—building new neural pathways—is worth it.
Mental engagement is a key component to the workouts Bayus designs. By creating a comprehensive series of exercises utilizing a variety of equipment, rhythmic patterns, and innovative movements, he engages and strengthens the entire body and mind. As described above, in order to build new neural pathways, you need to challenge the brain, so following the same workout routine can actually prevent the mind from developing varied and divergent pathways. To address this, Bayus changes his series every two weeks and incorporates both familiar and less conventional movement patterns to build a stronger functional fitness base. For example, in one of his series, there was a sequence that required students to roll on the ground, from push-ups to abdominal pikes. In the first week, many struggled and were flailing around while trying this seemingly easy exercise. When asked why, Bayus said, “At one point, when they were young I’m sure they did that movement all the time!
But our brain loses the ability to recall old connections, and if we don’t revisit and stimulate them from time to time they can fade.” By the second week, the class was rolling on their sides gracefully like it was second nature, and once mastered, some even added weights to keep it engaging.
In a class lead by Bayus there is an inspiring atmosphere that flows and fills the room. Perhaps this comes from the carefully articulated playlist he creates, or more organically, the positive energy might simply be rooted in his passion to teach. Bayus said, “Helping people is extremely gratifying. When they’re in class, smiling and reaching their goals, I can see their lives improving.”
One tenet of Bayus’ philosophy is to focus on the long term goals and effects of one’s workout and less on short term, more immediate fixes. He said, “Instead of concentrating solely on what one wants to look like this summer, also consider aging gracefully in the process. Building core strength, lean muscle tone and a functional range of motion without over stressing our joints will allow us to move better and do what we love for decades to come.” Bayus noticed that when his clients utilized this mindset, their short term goals were often reached more naturally, and with less stress. This idea draws deeper into the overall purpose of Bayus’ teachings, to build strength that will serve one not only in the present, but in the future. In Bayus’ future he hopes to continue to help better educate the public on how to live more mindfully, and through movement and practice, take control of one's health.
