Health Benefits of Hiking!

Hiking is a great way to get outdoors and enjoy some fresh air. It's also a terrific workout for your body and mind. Research has shown that regular exercise can improve our overall health and fitness, as well as lengthen and improve the quality of our lives. So get out there and hit the trails!

Here are a few ways that hiking can reduce the risk of various health issues

Obesity and overweight

Hiking aids weight loss, improves body composition and reduces fat mass. In fact, walking is an ideal exercise for weight loss, since it does not require a large time commitment. As little as five hours of walking a week can help you lose weight and keep it off

Hiking is a great way to get in shape. It’s easy on the joints and muscles, but it’s also challenging enough to make your heart rate go up and your breathing become deeper. This makes hiking a great activity for everyone, regardless of age or physical condition.

Hiking builds strong legs and improves muscle tone. Whatever your fitness level, hiking steep trails will certainly help you to improve balance and coordination.

STRESS

Reduces Stress Reduces Depression Lowers Blood Pressure Burns Fat Strengthens Bones Improves Lung Function Improves Heart Function Reduces Osteoporosis Improves Axial Alignment Increases Cardiac Output Reduces Obesity Lowers Anxiety Helps with Seasonal Affective Disorder

Hiking is an excellent source of Vitamin D, the "sunshine vitamin." This form of vitamin D is produced in response to sun exposure.

Weight Control

Because hiking uses more muscle mass than other exercises, it is less effective for weight loss than many other exercises. However, because it takes more effort than other forms of exercise, and because there is a caloric cost in getting to the trailhead and back, hiking does burn more calories per unit of time than many other exercises.

The American College of Sports Medicine reports that walking at a pace of 3 to 4 miles per hour burns about 100 calories per mile.

 I have read that hiking at a pace of 3 miles per hour burns about 80 calories per mile, whereas hiking at 4 miles per hour burns about 125 calories per mile. Hikers tend to carry a good deal of weight in their packs, which can affect their caloric needs.

Calories Burned Calculator

Calories Burned Calculators are available on the Internet and in fitness magazines. They can be useful ways to compare exercise types. 

A similar pace on a mountain trail would burn more calories, because the grade is greater, and there is more muscle mass involved. Hiking at a pace of about 3 miles per hour for about 1,000 vertical feet can burn about 400 calories in an hour.

A man of average weight, hiking at 3 miles per hour and climbing 500 vertical feet in an hour will burn about 204 calories.

Hiking at this pace can burn 300-400 calories per mile. They further estimate that walking at a pace of 2 miles per hour burns about 80 calories per hour, and hiking at this pace for an hour burns about 400 calories.

A person weighing 150 pounds could burn about 7,500 calories per week of hiking, if he or she hiked for 6 hours a day and walked at a pace of 2 miles per hour.

There is so many benefits!  Even Mindfulness which i will be talking about on the Next Blog!