This month, we have 3 words for you: Take a hike! June is Great Outdoors Month, a perfect time to take your exercise regime on the road. As you know by now, we’re big fans of walking as an easy, inexpensive way to get your recommended 150 minutes of exercise a week and to improve your overall health. You can do it alone, you can do it with others, inside, outside, all around town. But with long, sunny days, we can’t think of a better way to get a walk in than by taking a hike. Spending time in nature is a great way to reduce stress. Hiking alone can really help you to focus and relax. But hiking is also a fun activity to engage in with friends and family.

If it’s part of a weight loss or weight maintenance plan, you may want to track your calories. How many calories you burn will depend on a few things: your age, height and weight; how far you walk, and at what pace. You can track your calorie burn with most fitness apps or use this interactive calorie counter to get an idea. (Members of TotalCare Wellness can login to the Pedometer Center.) With hiking,  the calorie burn will also be affected by trail difficulty – some trails present a more rigorous workout than others, particularly if there are a lot of inclines.

You can research hiking trails near you at American Trails, which allows you to search over 1,100 National Recreation Trails. Find National Historic Trails, Scenic Trails and learn more about the National Trails System.

To get you started, check out this great article and infographic on hiking from the folks at Fix.com. They offer great advice, including a safe hiking checklist, an overview of health benefits, and a trail difficulty rating system.


Source: Fix.com Blog

 

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