How to boost your IQ in 7 days

Skills that constitute your IQ—like abstract reasoning, language skills, and identifying patterns and relationships—can all be developed with training. Some people may be able to build those skills faster and with less effort, but we all have the ability to improve our basic intelligence. 

In fact, Men's Health shows that you can raise your IQ by almost 20 points in just 7 days. Think you can't get smarter? Think again. It'll just take a week to increase your IQ score. Here's how:

Sunday

Activity: Play games and solve puzzles

Why: Fluid intelligence is a major part of every IQ test, and relates to your working memory. Dr Susanne Jäggi at the University of Michigan used Dual N-Back games, where the player is asked to remember a sequence of geometric shapes and sounds, to boost this factor. Her research discovered 25 minutes every day will raise your IQ by an impressive 4 points.

How long: 25 minutes per day

IQ points added: 4

Monday

Activity: Take creatine supplements (but not too much)

Why: Ingesting 5g of creatine a day can get your IQ stacked by no less than 15 points over a six-week period. Researchers gave volunteers this dose, testing their ability to spot missing items in grid patterns. "Creatine gave a significant boost to brain power," says study leader Caroline Rae. It raises the energy levels available for computation in your brain.

How much: No more than 5 grams per day (unless you're also trying to bulk up)

IQ points added: 2

Tuesday

Activity: Put down the steak

Why: Meat eaters look away now. "A number of studies have linked higher IQ with a vegetarian diet," says Leitner. "Both the lifestyle and nutritional choices of vegetarians are associated with strong intellectual functioning and a slower cognitive decline." Fixing your diet now could bring back 10 years of your IQ age.

How long: 10 minutes to prepare a healthy dish

IQ points added: 1

Wednesday

Activity: Play a social game like Words with Friends

Why: When it comes to improving your brain power, Scrabble or Words with Friends is your friend. "Activities which involve a diverse range of skills plus social interaction, are excellent options if you're aiming to enhance your IQ," says MENSA's consultant psychologist Maria Leitner. You can get all the interaction by playing the Scrabble app and playing head to head with a friend every day.

How long: A complete game takes about 50 minutes

IQ points added: 1

Thursday

Activity: Try yourself

Why: Retaking IQ tests can actually raise your score by as many as two points. The 'practice effect' is a proven technique that arms you with the skills to comprehend the next test. "If the interval is very short – for example, a few hours – then examinees are likely to recall the strategies that proved most successful," says educational psychologist Professor Alan S. Kaufman.

How long: 30 minutes

IQ points added: 2 points

Friday

Activity: Exercise

Why: Drop those weights and hit the treadmill if you want to be smarter. A Swedish study proved cardiovascular fitness can raise your verbal intelligence by 50%. "Increased cardiovascular fitness was associated with better cognitive scores," says Maria Aberg, who led the study. "In contrast, muscular strength was only weakly associated with intelligence."

How long: 20-30 minutes per day

IQ points added: 5

Saturday

Activity: Pick up the controller

Why: A recent study at the University of Rochester, US, confirmed a link between first-person video games and enhanced visual awareness in the 'real' world – a crucial building block for IQ. When having your IQ tested, the ability to take in visual cues accurately at speed is invaluable, explains clinical psychologist Dr Anita Abrams. Yes, playing Call of Duty 4 is good for you.

How long: 60 minutes a day

IQ points added: 2 points

Total points added in 1 week: 17