Brain Gyms For Boomers
Our brains resemble our muscles in one key respect: don’t exercise them, and they’re likely to lose strength. Conversely, many experts now believe that brains stimulated in a healthy manner can better resist debilitating mental conditions such as Alzheimer’s. Which begs the question: how to keep brains in top shape?
The solution offered by vibrantBrains, a San Francisco start-up, is to create a workout centre for the brain, patterned after a health club. Instead of exercising muscle groups via a series of circuit-training machines, vibrantBrains members hone their mental skills using a variety of computer software programs and other tools, for a monthly membership fee.
vibrantBrain’s health-club-for-the-mind approach should appeal to the millions of baby boomers who’ve spent their adult lives regularly visiting gyms. As they approach retirement age, they’ll want to maintain their mental agility, too, as attested by sales of Nintendo’s Brain Age, which sold 10 million copies, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
No doubt we’ll see plenty of additional products and services aimed at enhancing baby boomers’ brain power, joining a long list of companies already selling everything from vitamins to training seminars. Still, vibrantBrain’s model is unique.
And from a business standpoint, it has a couple of profit-enhancing advantages over the traditional gyms that it’s based on. Space requirements are minimal compared to health clubs, and entrepreneurs won’t have to lease or buy an expensive array of exercise machines.
Photo by Springwise.
Franchise Whale on April 30th, 2008 12:47 pm
Really enjoyed it, I wanted to click out and
you kept pulling me back in! Many thanks
and keep up the great work!
Melanie D. on May 1st, 2008 5:33 am
Though i love the idea of keeping the brain in shape- not just our body- through brain gyms, i don’t think it’s necessary.
For me, maintaining good mental performance has a lot to do with reading, writing, and a healthy lifestyle.
Surely i don’t need to pay anyone just so they could train my brain. It’s my brain and i can definitely do the training myself. I think Brain gym is more suitable to people who need to wake some brain cells before it completely deteriorates.
curt on May 1st, 2008 9:30 am
A very nice example of a niche market business opportunity in real world, not only virtual as Nintendo’s Brain Age. I hope it is going to be successful, especially in bigger cities.
Andy Guevarra on May 2nd, 2008 7:34 am
I guess braingym will work for me since i’m having memory lapses . I want a trainer who will force me to exercise my brain everyday.
Joahn on May 31st, 2008 9:19 pm
Brain Gym? sounds cool, I love to try this and see if it really works or not.
Good luck and congrats to the people behind on this.
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