This is a very good answer. Even walking on a treadmill requires cognition you typically take for granted. There are other exercises that are more obviously related to cognition such as mental math and crosswords, but physical exercise is likely in the same league.

Yep. I find climbing 100% mentally absorbing, and the problems and solutions are so far from my day job’s domain that I believe it helps with mental adaptability.

Running doesn't require much cognition (imho), my body is on auto pilot and I forget time has passed - but I still feel like I get the beneficial effects from doing it.

In my experience, the cognitive load depends on the speed at which you're running.

Jogging at a leisurely pace, I don't need to consciously think about the jogging process at all and my mind is free to think about the books I have been reading lately, or to listen to an information-dense podcast, or to plan out the rest of my week.

But that all changes if I switch to running at near my maximum speed for the distance I'm going to run. Then understanding a podcast becomes nearly impossible and/or it interferes with the running. Indeed, having any internal, verbal 'train of thought' is difficult, other than my internal voice metronomically saying 'left, right, left, right' in time with my leg movements.

> because it requires COGNITION

FWIW, one set of snippets from Joe Rogan on YT included this statement: I believe academics underestimate just how mental it is to get through a hard workout.