What if the problem with brain training isn't the training?
What if it's the sitting still?
Studies show that combining physical movement with cognitive challenges improves working memory in ways that screen-based puzzles never could.
Why Brain Games Don't Improve Working Memory
Brain training apps promised to make us sharper.
Billions of downloads later, the research tells a different story.
A 2016 study in the Journal of Neuroscience found that brain game improvements don't transfer to real-world cognitive skills.
You get better at the game.
That's it.
The problem is isolation.
Your brain didn't evolve to solve puzzles while sitting on a couch.
It evolved to think while moving, reacting, and adapting.
What Actually Improves Working Memory
Working memory is your brain's mental workspace.
It's what lets you hold a phone number while you dial, follow a conversation, or do mental math.
Research shows three things reliably improve it:
1. Dual task training
Doing two things at once forces your brain to manage competing demands.
This directly trains the central executive, the command center of working memory.
2. Physical and cognitive load combined
A 2019 meta-analysis found that motor-cognitive training improves working memory more than cognitive training alone.
Movement activates the brain differently than sitting still.
3. Progressive difficulty
Working memory grows when you challenge it just past your current ability.
Too easy and nothing changes.
Too hard and you just get frustrated.
How Dual Task Training Works
Dual task training is simple: do a mental task and a physical task at the same time.
Examples include:
- Tracing a pattern with one hand while counting backwards
- Following a rhythm while reciting a sequence
- Tracking two moving objects at once
This isn't multitasking.
It's training your brain to allocate attention under load.
The science comes from Baddeley's model of working memory.
The model describes a central executive that coordinates information across different systems.
Dual task training strengthens that coordinator.
Neuroplasticity and Working Memory
Your brain can change at any age.
This is neuroplasticity.
Working memory isn't fixed.
It responds to training like a muscle responds to exercise.
But here's the catch: the training has to be hard enough to matter.
Researchers call this desirable difficulty.
If it feels easy, it's not working.
A Simple Way to Start
You don't need equipment or a gym.
Try this: trace a figure-eight pattern with your finger while counting backwards from 100 by 7s.
It's harder than it sounds.
That difficulty is the point.
Do it for 30 seconds.
Rest.
Repeat.
If you want structured progression, look for apps that combine motor and cognitive challenges with tracking to measure improvement over time.
The Takeaway
Brain games failed because they ignored the body.
Working memory improves when you train your brain and body together.
The research is clear: dual task training, progressive difficulty, and physical movement are what actually work.
Your brain didn't evolve to stare at a screen.
Train it the way it was built to learn.
BounceIQ provides dual task exercises designed to train working memory through coordinated physical and cognitive challenges, with tracking to measure your progress over time.