It is well documented in the scientific literature that acute and chronic exercise positively affects cognitive function and brain health in humans. It has also been shown more recently that acute aerobic exercise can improve the acquisition and retention of motor skills. While this has interesting implications for different settings, including rehabilitation, schools and sports, it is currently unclear to what extent the parameters within exercise itself differentially affect the consolidation process of motor skill learning. The aim of this thesis was, therefore, to investigate the variables of exercise intensity, timing and type on the consolidation of visuomotor skill learning, to obtain further understanding of the behavioral effects and underlying mechanisms. Study I focused on the role of exercise intensity and included a low (EX45: 45% Wmax) and high (EX90: 90% Wmax) intensity aerobic exercise bout on a cycle ergometer 20min after motor skill acquisition. These two exercise groups were compared to a resting control group (CON). Changes in performance in the motor task were measured 1 day and 7 days following acquisition. Electrophysiological measures with TMS were collected throughout acquisition and retention. Thirty-six subjects participated and were equally divided between the three groups. EX90 showed a higher level of skill retention at 1 and 7 days compared to EX45 and CON. Results strongly indicated a dose-response relationship between exercise intensity and changes in performance scores. Study II focused on the role of exercise timing and included the CON and EX90 groups from study I. Two additional high intensity exercise groups were included performing the cycling bout at 1h (EX90+1) and 2h (EX90+2) post motor skill acquisition. Results showed that the positive effect of the exercise bout on skill retention diminished as temporal proximity to acquisition increased. Acute exercise in close temporal proximity (EX90) to acquisition produced the greatest gains in performance compared to CON and EX90+2. Changes in corticospinal excitability observed in Stduy I & II following skill acquisition and exercise intervention were not related to changes in motor performance. Study III aimed to investigate whether the type of acute exercise employed immediately post motor skill acquisition differentially affected motor skill consolidation and retention. Forty subjects were divided between four groups, a resting control group (CON), a strength training group (STR), a circuit training group (CT) and a hockey group (HOC). Retention of the motor skill task was tested at 1 hour and 1 day post-acquisition. All exercise groups improved performance scores at the 1 day retention test compared to post-acquisition level and CON. There were no between-group differences 1 day for the exercise groups. Exercise type did not differentially affect the consolidation and retention of the visuomotor skill learning. Conclusions: Acute exercise modulates the consolidation of newly acquired motor skills in humans and improves retention when the physiological stimulus of a high intensity (~90% Wmax) exercise bout is coupled with close temporal proximity (< 1 h). If the physiological stimulus of exercise itself is large enough, then consolidation is enhanced.