You might think that skiing is just pushing off the top of the hill and gliding the rest of the way down the slope…well, if you haven’t been working out keeping your muscles in shape for the winter during off-season…you will find out very quickly that you should have and that skiing uses muscles you weren’t aware of.

But what kind of exercise should you engage in that will compliment the exercise that skiing gave you during the winter?

Now, although hiking is great for exercise and fitness…it involves a little more than walking leisurely down a country path. The best way to go in life is up, and the same can be said about hiking.

This means that your walk/hike will have to have hills. Also, plan your hikes to become gradually harder. You can actually go directly to the ski resorts to hike because on off-season they are often open for hiking and mountain biking. Some areas run some ski-lifts to bring hikers to higher levels for more rugged terrain or to bring hikers down after a long hike up (how convenient!!).

The rule of thumb is one foot in front of the other…keep moving….rest when you have to….drink water and then get moving again. Hiking is a good fitness activity not just to keep fit for another sport but even to lose weight on it’s own. Hiking burns about 500-600 calories per hour, tones muscles and reduces
stress.

How does hiking help reduce stress? Besides the fact that hiking is an aerobic activity which anyway helps with stress the fact that you are doing the activity outside as opposed to a workout studio for example, increases it’s ability to help reduce stress.
The muscles that are used when hiking up and down hills are the quadriceps (upper legs), calve and tibialis (lower legs) and ankles. It is recommended to add some upper body exercises, ankle rotation and stretching during the week.

Obviously the harder the terrain, the better the workout. Scrambling over rocks and logs is a good caloric burner but also improves agility, flexibility and balance. Remember…. the heavier the pack carried, the harder the workout and therefore all the more exercise benefit. So strap on the pack and get hiking….Yodele heehoo!!