Sweat So You Don’t Forget: Exercise Breaks During a University Lecture Increase On-Task Attention and Learning

We examined the impact of taking exercise breaks, non-exercise breaks, or no breaks on learning among first year Introductory Psychology students. Three 5-minute breaks were equally distributed throughout a 50-minute computer-based video lecture. The exercise breaks group performed a series of callisthenic exercises; the non-exercise breaks group played a computer game; the no breaks group watched the lecture without breaks. Mind-wandering questions measured attention during the lecture. Exercise breaks promoted attention throughout the lecture compared to no breaks and non-exercise breaks, and resulted in superior learning when assessed on immediate and delayed tests. The exercise breaks group also endorsed higher ratings for narrator clarity and perceived understanding than the other two groups. This is the first study to show that exercise breaks promote attention during lecture and improve learning in university students.