Explore Western Colorado On Foot: The Health Benefits Of Hiking
By Kim Fuller
Imagine stumbling upon a breath-taking landscape of scenic Colorado trails while surfing the web — you can’t help but hope to one day go on the hike. Following COVID-19, many adventure-seekers have taken to trail hiking as a favorite pastime. Apart from offering a safe, less-expensive and moderate-intensity workout, hiking is a perfect escape route from the adverse effects of lockdown restrictions. As much as many hikers love walking long distances for pleasure, very few understand its health-related benefits. If you belong to the latter, knowing how hiking benefits your body and mind can help you develop a health-conscious approach to it. Before going on your next hike this spring, let’s see some of the activity’s classic health benefits.
Improves Cardiovascular Health
Heart disease remains the number one cause of death for all gender and racio-ethnic groups in the United States. According to the University of Michigan Health System (UHMS), the best way to prevent a heart attack is by engaging in physical activity. The heart is a blood-pumping muscle and the best way to strengthen it is by exercising it. Hiking strengthens the heart muscle by making it pump more blood to the lungs and the rest of the body. This keeps the heart fit.
Besides, hiking reduces the bad cholesterol responsible for heart problems and increases the good cholesterol which is good for the body. With as little as hiking for 60 minutes a week — patients with high cholesterol can have their cholesterol levels reduced.
Normalizes Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Levels
Hiking for 45 minutes, five times a week can lower blood pressure up to 10 points. Hiking achieves this by opening up thick blood vessels for improved blood flow. It offers a drug-free ultimate cardio approach to lowering high blood pressure. For people living with diabetes, exploring the trail is an excellent way to normalize their blood glucose level because as the hike-active muscles contract, glucose stored up in them gets used up. These muscular contractions reduce high blood sugar and normalizes insulin levels. Although your vital signs show significant improvement after hiking, the benefit lasts as long as you continue to exercise.
Builds Muscular Strength
While hiking on even trails builds stamina, uneven ones build muscle tone. Since hiking mostly involves walking up on uneven terrains across the country or in the woods, it helps you gain stability. As you hike regularly, there is a constant breaking down and repairing of muscle fibers. This burns fat, increases muscle mass and builds strength in the hike-active gluteal, hamstring, quadriceps and hip muscles. Hiking is also a joint-friendly exercise for persons living with arthritis.
Boosts Mental Health
Whenever you try to navigate unchartered trails, your brain takes in every bit of information to adjust you to the new area. This process improves the part of your brain that helps you retain memory and navigate through life. Studies further suggest that hiking can turn back the hands of the degenerative clock in adults who experience mild cognitive impairment because their brain gets constantly nourished with an adequate amount of oxygen-rich blood. Beyond these, hiking improves mood, boosts the quality of life and leads to the production of new brain cells.
If you have any medical condition, discuss with your medical practitioner before going on a hike. Now that you’ve learned some health benefits of hiking, what’s stopping you from grabbing a map, water bottle, backpack and your best buddy to head out on the trail?