Many people take up hiking as a way to lessen their daily stress and get some physical activity. When you look at both physical and mental benefits, it isn’t hard to comprehend why hiking is recommended by so many physicians. In this article, you’ll learn about some of the physical and mental benefits.
We’ll divide the article into two parts. The first part will discuss the physical benefits, and the second the mental benefits of hiking.
Physical Benefits of Hiking
Hiking is a great leisure activity. And one of the reasons is it offers many physical benefits. Therefore, if you're looking to improve your physical health, do consider taking up hiking as a hobby. Some of the benefits are mentioned below.
Full Lower body workout
Hiking involves going through terrains, foot trails, broadways, nature trails, inclines, slopes, uneven, and rugged slopes. All of these would require different leg muscles. For foot trails and broadways, you'll normally be walking. But for slopes, you'd have to use your thigh muscles at one time and calf muscles at the other.
That’s why hiking in a mountain is considered the best. This is because you’re going to find different types of trails to trek on. Athletes often take up hiking to improve their lower body muscles.
Burn calories
Trekking is an exhausting exercise to undertake. Irrespective of the distance or the slopes, you're going to burn calories as you trek through. By burning calories, you lose weight. So trekking is inherently a great work for shedding some weight.
Many people take up trekking just to get some physical activity and lose weight. But proper planning is necessary to succeed. Just how many calories you burn depends on how long you trek, how often you trek, and on what slopes. The more intense the trekking activity is, the more calorie you're going to burn.
Build your endurance
Trekking regularly has an important benefit to offer. And that is to build endurance. As you trek on a regular basis, your body gets acquainted with the workout and calorie burn. Over time, you'll realize that you're able to trek farther than you use to at the beginning.
This enhancement in endurance will be reflected in other aspects of your life. For example, you'd be able to engage in any regular physical activity for a longer duration without getting exhausted. It'll also help fight fatigue.
By increasing endurance, you also reduce the risk of injury and lead a healthier lifestyle.
Improve heart health
By trekking, you work multiple muscles throughout your body. Each and every muscle requires oxygen to function. This oxygen is supplied by the heart. It pumps oxygen all day long.
As you trek harder for a longer duration, the demand for oxygen increases. This forces your heart to pump oxygen faster, which in turn increases heart rate. Gradually, your cardiovascular health improves just like your endurance level.
If you're suffering from any cardiovascular disease, then you should trek at a moderate level. After several hiking sessions, you'll see a reduction in bad cholesterol.
Improve body balance
Body balancing is something a lot of people struggle with. While this may not affect your everyday life, athletes and regular gym goers will benefit a lot from proper balance.
Trekking forces you to balance your body on a variety of terrain. To successfully trek through, you’d have to stabilize yourself. As you do it regularly, you improve your balance and stability.
An improved body balance is said to prevent injury while enhancing performance.
Mental Benefits of Hiking
Hiking differs from other types of outdoor activities in that there are a few mental benefits on offer. That’s the reason why many doctors recommend going on a hiking trip. Below are some of the mental benefits associated with hiking.
Reduce Rumination
Rumination is the primary cause of anxiety and depressions. Those who think about negative events and consequences all the time are prone to rumination. This can possibly impact your everyday life, both personal and social.
To combat rumination, you can go on a trekking trip and explore the terrains. These will keep you away from negative thoughts.
Multiple studies have shown that by walking or trekking regularly, your brain induces positive thinking. By having a positive mindset, you can explore possibilities, take risks, get things done, and live life to the fullest.
So next time you see someone depressed or overthinking, then advise him to go on a trekking trip.
Hiking connects you to nature
In this tech-driven world, we're always connected to our screens. This makes us dull and uninformed of the world around us. A trekking trip allows you to reconnect with nature experience the marvelous creation of God.
This connection can have a positive influence on your brain. Also, it can improve your cognitive functions. Technology is an attention-grabbing machine designed to distract us from focusing. This is taxing our cognitive functions, which leads to stress. A trekking trip into the woods or mountains can help you relax your brain and rejuvenate it.
You’ll notice that after you return from the trek, you’re better able to focus at work.
Improve your self-esteem and morale
The importance of boosting morale and self-esteem is well-known in the world of sports. A player with full confidence outperforms his opponents at will.
Continuous successful treks will just do the exact same thing to you. They’ll boost your confidence and allow you to work as efficiently as possible.
You don’t have to trek an entire mountain for this. A regular 5 minutes of outdoor exercise is more than enough to feel more confident in yourself.
Improve sleep
Trekking is physically demanding. At the end of your trek, you’d be essentially exhausted. This can improve your quality of sleep at night.
When you trek or engage in any physical activity, your brain release endorphins. These keep you active and awake. But as soon as they start depleting, you feel sleepy. Also, during trekking, your core body temperature rises.
All of these factors aid sleepiness at night. As you sleep, your muscles repair, and you're fresh and ready for the next day. This cycle continues, and you get better at both sleeping well at night and active during the day.
Increase social interaction
In this modern society, isolation is a big, growing problem. People are feeling less connected to other people around them. This leads to mental fatigue, loneliness, and depression.
But at trekking sessions, you're surely going to meet like-minded people. They are passionate about the same thing you are. Thus, you can strike up a meaningful conversation and make some friends. This will increase your social circle, and you'll no longer have to face social isolation.
It’s best to go on a trekking trip with a friend or group to improve socializing.
To Sum up
Trekking is a round-the-year activity. You can go on a warm afternoon or on a chilly evening. It’s up to you. With both physical and mental health benefits on offer, you should try to take up hiking as a hobby.
