It’s summer, why not try your hand at hiking? Are you hesitating? This activity has benefits that you do not suspect for your body and your head.
Hiking is a hobby suitable for hobbyists like seasoned walkers! “VS’is a fairly simple physical activity to achieve, which does not require any particular technique” emphasizes sports doctor Denys Barrault. It can be practiced by everyone and everywhere in France (or elsewhere). It is both a good way to discover nature in a different light, but also a practice that is good for body and mind.
1. Hiking firms abs and glutes
“It is mainly the muscles (of the lower body, editor’s note) that allow walking, calves, thighs, buttocks and developing lower back muscles“, underlines Denys Barrault sports doctor. But that’s not all, hiking tones the abdominal muscles. Moreover, the hike “improves the use of glycogen to form glucose, essential for the production of muscle energy“, continues our interlocutor.
2. It improves balance
Hiking engages a chain of muscles, especially the contradictory muscles, and allows better coordination between them. That’s why “we always offer walking to people who suffer from neurological diseases with balance problems“, explains the sports doctor.
3. Hiking Improves Heart Rate
A vital muscular organ also benefits from the benefits of hiking: the heart (or myocardial muscle). By regularly practicing hiking, the heart becomes “bigger, more toned, and slower, especially at rest“, explains Denys Barrault. thus improves circulatory flow, heart rate and blood pressure (helps reduce hypertension). “By extension, the kidney function is also improvedbecause it is directly dependent on the cardiovascular circulation“, says our expert. Hiking is an endurance sport that can be recommended during the rehabilitation of people who have had a myocardial infarction or those who suffer from heart failure. This endurance sport is generally recommended to them.
4. Hiking clears your head
Don’t we say “a healthy mind in a healthy body”? The hike would have soothing virtues and allows a moment of introspection, in the heart of nature. “When you hikeyou do not think about your little daily worries And you evolve in a beautiful placewhich changes from your usual frame“, boasts Dr. Barrault. The whole thing is to listen to each other and not to push yourself too much, to take full advantage of your sporty walk and come back invigorated.
5. It strengthens bones and joints
Hiking would stimulate the formation of bone tissue and increase bone densitywhich would reduce the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. She also has positive effects on the joints : it nourishes the cartilage which is around the joints of the hip or the knee for example.
Precautions before hiking
► Take your comfortable shoes suitable for hiking as well as a well-adjusted backpack depending on your morphology: it must not be overloaded and the load must be well distributed. Do not hesitate to seek advice from specialist salespeople in hiking equipment shops.
► Consider take sticks to relieve your knees and help you on the ascents and descents.
► People in fragile health should rather favor routes without steep or prolonged hillsavoiding walking against strong winds, in very cold weather or in very hot weather.
► The ideal is walk three times a week, at least 30 minutes.