Hiking and Health: How Getting Out into Nature Can Improve Your Overall Wellness
Hiking is more than just a casual walk in the woods. It is a wonderful way to build strength, improve fitness, and cultivate mental health. Research shows that your body performs in very distinct ways while hiking in comparison to going out for, say, a stroll around the neighborhood. Hiking, particularly for retirees, can help combat a sedentary lifestyle with a safe but effective form of exercise, while also offering unique mental health benefits through immersion in nature.
Physical Health Benefits
- Cardiovascular health: Exerting yourself while hiking is a low-impact weight-bearing exercise that improves cardiovascular and respiratory systems. This can help to reduce incidence of diabetes, work to reduce your risk of hypertension, (or high blood pressure) and improve blood sugar levels.
- Improves strength and balance: Hiking is effective for weight loss, strengthening muscle and improving bone density. Hiking works your core; it stabilizes muscles which in turn improves your balance and stability.
- Weight management: An average hiker can burn between 200-500 calories per hour, with more strenuous trails providing greater gains.
- Longevity: Research suggests that hiking regularly, as with brisk walking, can increase the likelihood of a longer, healthier life by reducing instances of chronic illnesses.
Mental Health Benefits
- Reducing stress: Getting out into nature helps release accumulated adrenaline and reduces muscle tension. The physical activity and tranquility of natural surroundings can help to lower stress levels.
- Encourages presence: Generally, there isn’t access to the typical forms of technology which encourages hikers to detach from digital screen activities and focus on nature and being present in the moment.
- Improves sleep: If you struggle with sleep, getting out on the trail, being out in the sun, and having exposure to Vitamin D can help regulate your sleep patterns and make you feel more rested.[i]
- Reduction in anxiety: The University of California Davis found that being out in nature and hiking can help to lower your anxiety and depression levels and reduce both stress and feelings of anger.[ii]
- Lowers negative reflection: A study done at Stanford University found that people who hiked in a natural setting for at least 90 minutes didn’t dwell on negative thoughts as much. [iii]
Tips for Maximizing Health Benefits
When trying to get the most out of the physical and mental benefits of hiking, they key is consistency and variety. Hikers can pursue shorter and steeper trails to improve their strength and longer, flatter trails for endurance.Taking a long weekend trip or longer vacation to go hiking
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned hiker, the U.S. has numerous areas that offer sensational hiking experiences including:- Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Over 800 miles and 150 trails of “pure nature.”[iv] The Smokies have averaged nearly 12.2 million recreational visitors per year over the past decade.[v]
- Appalachian Trail: The longest hiking-only footpath in the world. 2,197.9 miles traversing 14 states with 16.9 million annual recreational visitors.
- Yellowstone National Park: Over 1,100 miles of hiking trails in three states with an estimated 4.8 million recreational visitors each year.[vi]
- Local trails and greenways: You don’t have to travel far to enjoy the great outdoors. Be sure to check your area for local trails and greenways. Many offer yearly memberships or free trails to explore. Even just taking a short walk around your neighborhood or local park a few times a week can offer significant benefits to mind and body.