Coach Adam’s Favorite Brain-Boosting Activities
Coach Adam Ortman knows that brain health isn’t just something to focus on within the facility walls. Beyond his professional role, Adam seeks out everyday activities that keep his mind sharp, agile, and curious. Here, he shares some of his favorite routines—and why each is great for brain health.
At the top of Adam’s list is Pips, the new daily domino logic puzzle game from The New York Times. In Pips, players arrange dominoes on a board to satisfy the unique mathematical and logic-based conditions given for various colored regions. For example, the game may require all the pips (dots) in a zone to add up to a specific number, for the domino halves in a region to be equal, or all different, or for sums to fall above or below given targets. Unlike traditional dominoes, adjacent halves don’t need to match—only the unique region rules matter. This visual logic challenge strengthens problem-solving, pattern recognition, and flexibility, skills critical to healthy cognitive aging.
Adam also loves word and puzzle games like Wordle and Connections. These daily challenges exercise the brain’s language center and logical reasoning abilities by encouraging pattern recognition and creative thinking. Wordle, for example, asks players to guess a five-letter word in six tries, while Connections challenges players to group words based on abstract relationships. Regularly tackling word puzzles helps keep vocabulary fresh, boosts short-term memory, and polishes attention to detail.
Staying curious is another mantra for Adam, so he enjoys learning languages on Babbel. Language learning is among the best ways to keep the brain adaptable and engaged because it challenges memory, perception, and cultural understanding all at once. Research shows that activities like language study can even delay cognitive decline as we age.
Finally, Adam finds that walking with his dogs in new environments is a great way to stimulate the brain. Exploring novel areas activates spatial memory and creativity, and the physical movement itself supports blood flow and neural health. Time spent outdoors with his dogs also brings important social and emotional benefits—laughter, companionship, and stress relief.
Coach Adam’s commitment to brain wellness highlights how variety in mental exercise—whether language learning, puzzles, or adventurous walks—can spark cognitive growth and resilience at any stage of life.
