The Ultimate Brain Workout Program

Either I've just wasted a perfectly good hour or I've had a life changing experience. I've been working out in a mental gymnasium called MyBrainTrainer.com. The MyBrainTrainer program is the brainchild of Josh Reynolds, who is also the inventor of the Mood Ring, the Thigh Master, and the negative ion generator. The man definitely knows a trend when he sees one!

The idea behind MyBrainPower is to speed up your reflexes and give different parts of your brain a workout. In that way it's similar to Nintendo's popular Brain Age, which has captured the imagination (and brains) of a huge audience of all ages.

Where MyBrainTrainer differs is in the copious amounts of data it generates about your performance. A statistical analysis showed me that what little knack I have probably comes more from a fast reaction time than the ability to concentrate for long periods of time, for example.

More fun still, you can look at the statistics across the program. Based on their stated jobs, it was easy to see that actors, athletes, and computer programmers were some of the best performers on the decision making exercises. Drivers, flight attendants, and pilots (be afraid, be very afraid) did not fare as well.

Better still, if you stick with the program and keep a brain diary (what you ate, how tired you were, what time of day it was) as you do the exercises, you'll learn even more. Maybe you should make your important decisions before breakfast? Only on sunny days?

Is there science behind this? There's lots of work being done to show that the brain is a trainable muscle. Is it just for people like me—50-somethings worried about not being able to keep up? You have to figure that everyone from kids taking standardized tests to somebody driving their car can benefit from a little brain calisthenics.

Two things bother me about the program. The first is that there's so much text to pour though that you'll probably need a speed reading program along with it. Second, almost every exercise in MyBrainPower.com has to do with speeding things up—seeing things faster, reacting faster, and differentiating faster. You have to wonder whether we all wouldn't get a brain boost from slowing things down.

Me, right after the morning abs and the upper body, I think I'm headed back for more to see if I can't increase my paltry score. For $9.95 for a four month subscription, even if it winds up next to my old Thigh Master, I'll feel a bit better that I gave it a try.