As a hiker, you are probably aware that your hike is not only fun, but also comes with some great health benefits. Usually, those benefits go unnoticed since your purpose of the hike was to see nature’s beauty. This article will help you understand the specific health benefits that hiking provides you.
It helps you burn calories
The first, and most obvious benefit is that hiking will help you burn calories. This results in either losing weight and/or keeping your weight under control. If you feel like burning a few calories and don’t want to hit the gym, hiking will give you the same benefits while letting you see nature at the same time.
If you are just a beginning hiker, start off with a quick one hour hike. According to Kathryn Meiningers article on Livestrong, you can burn up to 240 calories per hour if you weigh about 150 pounds. This will happen if you hike at a slow pace of two miles per hour
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Controlling and Preventing Diabetes
Hiking helps with lowering your blood sugar levels and preventing diabetes. When you go on a hike, your muscles become active, which translates to needing for more energy. Glucose will then move to your bloodstream and give you the energy you need.
By being a regular hiker, you can control the risk of diabetes since hiking will regulate your blood sugar levels. While this may seem like a long shot for the younger hikers, it is wise to fight this early on in life so you don’t struggle with it later on.
Helps in lowering risk of cardiovascular diseases
Hiking will help you reduce your triglyceride levels and increase your lipoprotein levels. What does this mean exactly? Hiking keeps your cardiovascular system in good shape, which helps reduce your chance of contracting heart diseases, a stroke, and high blood pressure.
Increasing bone density
When you take a hike, you exert pressure on your bones, leading to a strong bone structure. This also helps you reduce your chances of suffering from osteoporosis.
Hiking is also highly recommended to people suffering from arthritis. While this may seem contradictory, hiking for 150 minutes every week will keep your joints flexible and getting rid of stiffness on your joints according to research.
Helping with your insomnia
Hiking is a natural solution for those who are not able to sleep easily at night. It is common knowledge that exercising will not only get you tired, but will cause you to sleep heavier. In addition, exercise, in this case hiking, will give you more energy throughout the day.
So, if you are not able to sleep too well at night or don’t have the energy to get through the day, go on a hike. Regular hiking, especially a more difficult hike, will help reduce your insomnia thus earning you a good night sleep.
By building a consistent pattern of hiking, your body will also start to get used to hiking and you will hopefully get some sleep back that you have lost in the past.
A daily dose of Vitamin D
We all need Vitamin D to keep our muscles and bones strong. The best source of this Vitamin is from the sun. When you get an adequate amount of Vitamin D, you are not only promoting calcium absorption, but you are also preventing joint discomfort.
Hike to increase your energy levels
Have you ever wondered why you yawn? Yawns are essentially the bodies way of taking in oxygen to give you more energy.
When you go on hikes, you naturally start to breathe heavier and deeper. This breathing allows you to inhale more oxygen, giving you more energy for the remainder of the day. Additionally, this extra boost strengthens your muscles and lungs, which leads to an increased level of endurance, energy level, and alertness.
Summary
Apart from giving you a chance to view a beautiful scenery, hiking has numerous health benefits. A good hike not only helps you get in better shape, but also prevents future sickness or diseases.
Furthermore, if you struggle to sleep at night, a good hike has been proven to increase your tiredness. The regular exercise, partnered with the extra amount of Vitamin D, will give you the energy to make it through your day without getting nearly as tired.
There are many health benefits that hiking provides. All you need to do now is to get your hiking
