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What Are the Health Benefits of Hiking?
Outside Magazine • • science
Key Points:
- A study published in Scientific Reports found that hiking twice a week for three months improved body composition, aerobic capacity, and immune markers in previously sedentary older adults, including increased interleukin-12 which activates cancer-fighting cells.
- Hiking enhances oxygen intake by increasing capillary density in muscles and strengthening respiratory muscles, which improves aerobic capacity and VO₂ max over time.
- Regular aerobic exercise like hiking leads to a larger, more efficient heart that pumps more oxygenated blood per beat, reducing heart rate at a given workload and improving overall cardiovascular health.
- Hiking promotes muscle growth through overload, especially in inactive individuals, and can be made more challenging by adding weight, incline, or elevation to continue building strength.
- Outdoor hiking stimulates brain health by increasing blood flow, exposing individuals to new stimuli that enhance neuroplasticity, and potentially reducing inflammation through inhalation of phytoncides released by trees.
