Is hiking a good cardio workout?

In this article I will answer two very common questions about hiking, “Is hiking cardio?” and “Is hiking a good workout?”. The short answer: yes hiking is cardio and yes hiking is a good workout!

 

Is hiking cardio?

Let’s start with the first question, “Is hiking cardio?”. If you are interested in the definition of cardio, you can always check out this article: Definition of Cardio Exercise.

Hiking is definitely cardio, even regular walking can be considered cardio in most cases, this is what livestrong has to say about walking as a cardio exercise:

Walking can be cardio exercise if it provides moderate to vigorous exercise that gives your heart, lungs and blood vessels a workout, making them stronger as a result of your efforts. People who engage in cardio exercise, such as brisk walking, have lower rates of heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure than those who don’t exercise in this way. Those who exercise beyond the minimum gain additional benefits, such as a lower risk of colon and breast cancer.

Source: https://www.livestrong.com/article/308153-is-walking-cardio-exercise/

They also mention that walking is not a cardio exercise when walking is used in the context of walking in a grocery store.

When we take a look at hiking, we can definitely say that hiking provides at least moderate exercise that gives your heart, lungs and blood vessels a workout. This means we can conclude that hiking is cardio.

 

Is hiking a good workout?

Next question, “Is hiking a good workout?”, the quick answer, yes hiking is a good workout, but there are many factors that come into play.

Some of the factors that will determine how good of a workout hiking actually is:

• Weight of your backpack
• Difficulty of the trail
• Elevation gain
• Weather conditions
• Hiking speed

Hiking can also burn a lot of calories per hour. A very rough estimation would be that hiking burns 500 calories per hour. However, this obviously depends on all of the factors that I mentioned + your own body weight. For more information about burning calories while hiking, check out this article: How many calories does hiking burn?.

If you are hiking an easy trail with a lightweight backpack, your workout will not be that good. In this case, it’s almost as if you are on a regular walk.

However, when you are hiking with a heavy backpack on a difficult trail, with a lot of elevation gain, your getting an excellent workout. Not only will you burn a lot of calories, you are also working a lot of your muscles. You might think that you only work your legs when hiking. However, you actually use a lot of different muscles on a hiking trip.

 

What muscles are used when hiking?

Let’s go over some of the muscles we use while hiking:

• Quadriceps: Responsible for the forward motion and straightening the knee. This group of muscles is constantly engaged while hiking.
• Hamstrings: Responsible for straightening the knee. Just like the quadriceps, the hamstrings are constantly engaged while hiking.
• Calves: Mainly used when walking uphill and are less stressed when walking on flat terrain.
• Glutes: Responsible for supporting the torso. The glutes will be given a much more intensive workout when the hiker is carrying a heavy backpack and walking uphill.
• Hip muscles: Responsible for extending the thigh at the hip, they also help with supporting the lower back and the glutes.
• Abdominal: Often referred to as “the core”. These muscles will help keeping your body straight while hiking with a heavy backpack.

Hiking might not be the optimal way to build muscle, but it can definitely lead to some muscle growth. Also, it does a great job at toning muscles.

For more information about building and toning muscles while hiking, check out this article: Can you build muscles while hiking?.

 

Conclusion

The purpose of this article was to tackle following questions: “Is hiking cardio?” and “Is hiking a good workout?”.

The answer on the question “Is hiking cardio?” is a simple yes. Hiking is always a cardiovascular activity. That said, there are multiple factors that can influence the intensity of the cardio exercise.

The answer on the second question: “Is hiking a good workout?” is a little bit more complicated. All things considered, I would say that hiking is a good workout. However, there are many factors that come into play. There is a big difference between hiking on an easy trail with a light backpack and hiking on a difficult trail with a heavy backpack. All the mentioned factors will influence the overall quality of the workout.

Combining these two answers, we can conclude that hiking is also a good cardio workout.