Hiking gives us amazing experiences and memories. However, there are a lot of additional hiking benefits. We basically receive all these benefits while we simply enjoy ourselves. This article will go into detail about the best benefits of hiking.
Hiking will give you a great physique
Gaining a great physique is one of the many benefits of hiking. Walking can be a great exercise for your legs and but. Especially your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and the muscles in your hips and lower legs. However, when you go hiking you will encounter a large amount of rocks, steep inclines, you will carry a bag, etc. You will get a full body workout. As long as you eat healthy you will gain muscles and shape your body. Hiking really works miracles for your body core.
Not only will you gain muscle, you will also lose fat. Hiking for an hour can burn up to 700 calories. This means you can burn a lot of calories when you are hiking an entire day. You can eat a lot of food and still be at a calorie deficit at the end of the day.
Gain an increased fitness level
Hiking helps with increasing your fitness level. Every day you are hiking equals a very serious workout. The more you hike the better your fitness level will become. You will probably gain endurance fast.
When you are almost at the top of the mountain and you are making your last climb, hiking starts to feel like a high intensity sport. Sometimes you will have to push yourself. These are the moments you grow.
Hiking will reduce health risks
You will gain a hiker’s hearth by hiking a lot. Having one of these means you will reduce a lot of potential health risks. Let’s go over some of these benefits.
Reduced risk of getting a heart disease or a stroke.
Simply walking a couple of minutes every day will reduce the risk of getting a heart disease or a stroke. When you are on a multi-day hike, you will obviously do a lot of walking, which is beneficial for your heart. However, be careful not to push yourself too hard either. You don’t have to climb the mount Everest, simple mild walks will already help to reduce the risk of getting a heart disease or a stroke.
You will have a lower risk of high blood pressure and suffering from high cholesterol
Apparently hiking downhill is one the most effective ways at removing blood sugars and improving glucose tolerance. Going uphill or walking on a plain surface will also be beneficial for your blood pressure.
You will have a lower risk of cancer
Various studies have shown that walking on a regular basis can decrease the risk of cancer. Even when you only walk a mile a day can cut the risk by 40%. Breast cancer sufferers can also decrease the risk of this disease recurring if they consistently go for that walk.
You will have a reduced risk of memory loss
Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory and thinking skill. This is another good example of a hiking benefit. You can read more about this benefit in this article.
These are just a couple of benefits. I am sure there are plenty more examples of how hiking benefits your health.
Increased lifespan
Because hiking provides all these health benefits I assume it doesn’t surprise you that hiking also reduces the risks of early deaths. If you are active for approximately sevenhours a week, your risk of dying early is around 40% lower than someone who is active for less than 30 minutes a week.
Maintain a healthy mind
Another hiking benefit is that it can stop negative thinking and obsessive thoughts. Getting away from your stressful lives and reconnecting with nature definitely has its benefits for your mental health. There was even a scientific study done on this topic.
“To conduct this study, researchers compared the reported rumination of participants who hiked through either an urban or a natural environment. They found that those who walked for 90 minutes in a natural environment reported lower levels of rumination and they also had reduced neural activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain related to mental illness. Those who walked through the urban environment, however, did not report decreased rumination.”
The researchers even stated that increased urbanization correlates with increased cases of depressions and mental illnesses. Humans weren’t designed to live in between four walls for most of their lives. This could explain the increased cases of depression and other mental illnesses. Going outside and exercising definitely helps, but the real magic happens when you combine that with a natural environment. Preferably for multiple days.
People tend to use medicine or even alcohol and drugs whenever they feel down. However, these substances will not have a lasting benefit on your mental health and will even harm you in the long run. The next time you feel down, put on your boots, go to the closest natural environment and start hiking. It is a better cure than any medication.
Increased appreciation for the little things
A terrible cup of coffee could make you really unhappy on a Sunday morning at home. However, when you are on the trail that same cup of coffee could taste like heaven. Every time I go hiking I appreciate the little things a little bit more. Simply the abundance of food is something we started to take for granted a long time ago. The same goes for warm clothes, drinkable water, shelter, etc.
We lower our standards on the trail, but this does not make us less happy. This is because we appreciate the things we have more. If more people would be able to appreciate the little things, and fewer people would constantly expect too much, the world would definitely be a slightly better place.
Boost your creativity
The increased in creativity when reconnecting with nature and disconnecting with technology is another scientifically proven fact.
“A study conducted by psychologists Ruth Ann Atchley and David L. Strayer found that creative problem solving can be drastically improved by both disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with nature. Participants in this study went backpacking through nature for about four days, during which time they were not allowed to use any technology whatsoever. They were asked to perform tasks requiring creative thinking and complex problem solving, and researchers found that performance on problem solving tasks improved by 50% for those who took part in this tech-free hiking excursion.
They also noted that both technology and urban noise are incredibly disruptive, constantly demanding our attention and preventing us from focusing, all of which can be taxing to our cognitive functions. A nice long hike, sans technology, can reduce mental fatigue, soothe the mind, and boost creative thinking.”
Improve your sleeping quality
This hiking benefit is probably my personal favorite. I have had sleeping issues since I was a kid and these never went away completely. No approach or no medication seemed to be able to really help me with my condition. Even exercising a lot did not help. However, once I go on a multiday hike, my sleep pattern shifts almost immediately. I get tired in the evening and fall asleep easily. The next day I wake up early and feel extremely energized. This never happens to me at home when I’m in my daily routine.
This seems to be another confirmation that we tend to live in a way that is not beneficial for out mental health. Which affects our sleeping pattern.
Collect priceless memories
This benefit kind of explains itself. Soon after I went on my first hiking trip for only a week, I realized that I collected so many amazing memories that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I felt like I was wasting my life away, sitting inside almost every day of my life. Needless to say I was hooked after that first trip. I decided to go on a lot more hiking trips, see at least a part of the world and collect as many priceless memories as I can.
You might even collect some of these memories with your camera.
Don’t break the bank
If you are planning your first trip you might disagree with this hiking benefit. You have a relatively big initial cost because you have to buy a lot of gear for your first trip. However, on your second hike you will not have to buy a lot of gear because you already have everything. If you want to, hiking can be really cheap. Especially if you compare it with certain other vacation alternatives. The trick is to find high quality items that are relatively cheap. You don’t want to go too cheap, because your gear wont last too long. Additionally, broken or low quality gear can really ruin your adventure.
As long as you buy decent quality gear, most of your equipment will be a one time investment. You just want to try and find the cheapest transport possible because this will often be your biggest cost. You will sleep in your tent or in a cheap cabin, eat your own food and you don’t need to pay for entertainment, those mountains are free to climb. Okay, maybe not all mountains are free to climb, but almost all of them are. If you are on a budget, surely you can pick a free to climb mountain.
Conclusion
The combination of being outside, doing exercise and reconnecting with nature is really healthy for our mind and body. The benefits of hiking are remarkable to say the least. I am sure that there are a lot more benefits, more than I could cover in a simple blog post.
Mental issues are increasing all over the world while people live in better circumstances than they used to. I think we should learn something from this. The way we live today is not how we are supposed to live our lives. I am not saying that everybody should go live in the jungle and become the next Tarzan. However, a lot of people have never seen the views you get as a reward after climbing a mountain. They have never experienced a night in the wilderness. They have never been isolated in a natural environment. They spend their entire life living in between four walls. That is a plausible explanation for a lot of the issues we encounter today.
It is not only the mental health that can be improved by hiking but also the physical health. Needless today that our current lifestyle is the cause of a lot of obesity. A lot of people go to the gym everyday and don’t even come close to results you can achieve by hiking. The main reason is because you are hiking on a rough terrain with steep inclines/declines and a lot of elevation. This is a killer exercise for your body. Also, unlike a one hour gym visit, you work out an entire day.
I definitely did not cover all the benefits of hiking. I would have to write a book instead of a blog post if I wanted to cover everything. These were simply some of the most beneficial hiking benefits in my opinion. I hope you enjoyed it.