Hiking is known to be an awesome way of keeping fit. But few realise just how an hour long hike through fields, hillsides, valleys or countryside pastures actually benefits our health.
Hiking is an exercise which forces the body to use many muscle groups including Cardio. Hiking strengthens muscles, prevents osteoporosis, burns fat and counts as a cardio-vascular activity… which just means you are doing something good for your heart and lungs.
All of this can of course be achieved on a treadmill down at the local gym, but hikers have some distinct advantages over treadmill workouts, some of which are not as obvious as you might think.
For example – you can get Vitamin D even on a cloudy day, the sun’s rays are penetrating through the atmosphere and giving a good dose of vitamin D to our skin. Hiking in the Rain is good clearing the brain and the changing of the landscape is good for opening up your heart and actually connecting with Mother Earth. An other examples you are actually connecting to nature via sight sound smell and touch, that in itself is healing!
Hikers, on the other hand, do not need to daydream. On any given day a hiker and Nature enthusiast can see an awesome vista, challenging hillside, valley or a green meadow, all of which are wondrous natural features that do help keep us alive and living.
