Fun Exercise Ideas: Day Hiking
Imagine yourself walking through the great outdoors with stunning scenery, fresh air, away from everyday worries and you get some great exercise in the process! All this can point to one thing: Day Hiking.
Why Day Hiking?
- Firstly, hiking is an excellent exercise and it can be as challenging as you’d like it to be. You can start with a brief 2 mile hike and, if you enjoy the experience, you can graduate to something a lot more strenuous.
- It’s an excellent way to explore nature. You get to see some of the most stunning scenery from beaches to mountains.
- Easy to get started. If you know how to walk, you know hiking!
- Great way to spend time with family and friends and relieve stress from work.
- It can be a year long activity - you can do it in any weather.
Getting Started:
What we recommend is you try a small 1 to 1.5 hours - 2 mile hike to start with. Simply find the easiest and closest hiking trail and check it out. See if hiking is something you’d like to do on a regular basis.
Finding Hiking Sites In Your Local Area:
Check out LocalHikes - this excellent website provides information on local hiking opportunities near large and small metropolitan areas in the United States. They also rate individual hikes by: Scenery, Difficulty and Distance. An excellent resource.
Equipment Needed To Get Started:
A Good Pair of Hiking Boots, like these:
A Backpack:
Day Hiking Tips:
- Get your doctor’s clearance (apart from the usual checkup, could you have a possible allergy to an insect bite?)
- Start with the easiest hike (anything around 2 miles is great)
- Always carry sufficient supply of water
- Never hike alone, always go with a friend
- Pace yourself so that you don’t get tired too quickly
- Keep your backpack as light as possible
- Enjoy the view and bring your camera along to take pictures
- You can take your dog along for hiking. LocalHikes also lists Dogs-Allowed hikes.
Further Reading:
- Hiking Basics - Getting Started With Hiking (Article)
- Backpacker’s Start-Up: A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking & Backpacking (Paperback)
Calorie Burning Potential:
We haven’t forgotten about the calorie burning potential and it is clearly phenomenal. Let’s say you gradually build up to 5 hours on the trail every weekend. Even if we put a conservative estimate on this - with the backpack, up and down trails etc. - you’ll be burning 400-600 calories an hour. Takeout 500 calories for anything extra you eat on the trail to replenish your energy and the balance is still fantastic:
5 Hours x 400 Calories/Hour = 2,000 Calories - 500 in extra food = 1,500 for the day.
Do it 50 weeks a year (1 day/week) = 1500 x 50 = 75,000 Calories or 21 Pounds (10 Kilograms) lost.
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