Hiking Health Benefits

[ridgewalker777]

Was curious whether any hikers have seen a problem health condition made markedly better through hiking. Also, whether hikers can say a thru hike or significant section hike had a marked effect on "the blues".

[minnesotasmith]

Lots of thru-hikers seem to get seriously depressed at various points along the Trail. As far as the health part goes, borderline diabetic condition can be reversed by sufficient loss of body fat, so if someone's thru-hike resulted in the latter, it could well qualify for what you're asking about, I suppose.

[Pencil Pusher]

I suppose this is in line with minnesotasmith's reasoning, Rick the Lone Wolf reported not having to take any insulin shots for the trip and that he lost close to 100 pounds.

[minnesotasmith]

Do you know of a link to any detailed info on that guy's hike?

[Pencil Pusher]

http://www.hikerdirectory.com/directory.cfm?letter=R&year=2003&trail=Appalachian%20Trail&sort=trailname

[minnesotasmith]

That guy took 6 1/2 months for a successful NOBO thru-hike. Do you know his age or height/initial weight, out of curiosity?

[Noggin]

Was curious whether any hikers have seen a problem health condition made markedly better through hiking. Also, whether hikers can say a thru hike or significant section hike had a marked effect on "the blues".
Hiking increases the endorphin levels produced by the brain, which hightens one's moods. Many hikers report a strong case of the blues after finishing their thru-hikes, which may be in part due to the drop in endorphin levels after leaving the trail.

Also in Earl Shaffer's book Calling Me Back To The Hills, about his 50th Anniversery thru-hike in 1998, he tells of a lung condition clearing up apparently due to excercise.

[MedicineMan]

If he lost 100 pounds then obviously he was far beyond his ideal body weight to begin with. In todays society, if you are greater than 30% beyond IBW you are begging for adult onset diabetes (DM). Further,many studies have shown that gross obesity is a setting ground for many carcinomas, and if that's not enough, if you are 30%>IBW then we will see you in the cath lab for a dose of Reopro or Integrilin at $3000/dose. So by his weight loss he has reduced his chance of DM and cancer, hypertension, and others.
Conversely rapid weight loss has tremendously detrimental effects on the kidneys (we see this with the Adkins folks who are often walking around in a suspended keto acidosis), high-school wrestlers who are eating nothing but pure lean meat to make the next lowest weight class. How rapid is rapid? Much debate on that one but what the RDA recommends is 10-15pounds/year...compare that to Adkins loss rates and for interest in what thru-hikers loose. It becomes a benefit/loss ratio, and for someone 5'5" and 350lbs the result is often stomach bypass surgery with its own risks (we see 30% re-admission for serious complications and a certain percentage resulting in death).
The next thing we see in my business is yo-yo weight loss and gain, and from a biochemical standpoint most practitioneers consider yo-yoing in weight to be more serious than either rapid weight loss or simply carrying too much weight (as long as the patient is less than 20% over IBW and after the weight loss it is mainatained).....
So the concern for thru-hikers is not so much the weight loss over the 6 months of hiking (assuming they can even maintain Ideal Body Weight) but the weight gain post hike, and if like most people their concern over how much in shape they got into on the hike, the current state of regained weight and then another effort to loose the weight yet again yielding the dangerous yo-yo.
Another sport we see this in is swimming.....high-school and college swimmers put out more calories than thru-hikers (hard to believe but remember they are putting in 5 water miles before most people wake up and doing it again after school) but after 4-8 years of competitive swimming after graduation many (of course not all) will shy away from a pool (so how many thru-hikers complete the big hike to never hike again?) and then gain weight to levels detrimental. Or better asked-look at former thru-hikers several years post the big hike and note their weight.
If any can be gleened from all of this it is the promotion of life hiking--and that is hiking 4-5 days a week (sub swimming,biking, plain walking, etc.). Not as a goal to complete a major trail system but as a goal to maintain body weight over the course of a lifetime.


anyway, my 0.02 contribution

[Noggin]

Find out your ideal body weight and how you stack up:

http://www.intmed.mcw.edu/clincalc/body.html

http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm

[Pencil Pusher]

I don't know his height nor weight, but there is a photo of him in my photo gallery. He looks like he's 6'3" and about 270, definitely a big guy then. I got that photo while perusing trailjournals.com. Sorry, I don't remember the person's name that had it. I think RTLW hiked this last year. Just search his name on here for a thread where others recalled some of the hilarious equipment he carried and some of his antics.

[foodbag]

In 1999 when I was out there I started with BP of 155/105 (thanks to a very stressful job) and two months/610 miles later I was at 105/75. Beats the heck out of blood pressure medicine....

[Connie]

I am a heart patient.

I feel GREAT at altitude, about 5,000 to 7,000 feet. I haven't been at higher altitude, in many years, so I can not comment on higher altitude.

My breathing is easier. I have more energy. I feel healthy.

I feel like nothing ever injured my heart.

So, it's endorphrines ?

Endorphrines are also why I feel kinda depressed, when I get back to town ?

I thought it was I am just not a town-person :) .

[Connie]

I am a heart patient.

I feel GREAT at altitude, about 5,000 to 7,000 feet. I haven't been at higher altitude, in many years, so I can not comment on higher altitude.

My breathing is easier. I have more energy. I feel healthy.

I feel like nothing ever injured my heart.

So, it's endorphrines ?

Endorphrines are also why I feel kinda depressed, when I get back to town ?

I thought it was I am just not a town-person :) . I thought I got into hiking and the big wide outdoors, and, I just don't want to go back: I love the mountains.

So, it isn't increased oxygen-uptake ? So, it isn't walking is the most healthy movement for the heart ?

[U-BOLT]

I feel GREAT at altitude, about 5,000 to 7,000 feet. I haven't been at higher altitude, in many years, so I can not comment on higher altitude.

My breathing is easier. I have more energy. I feel healthy.

I feel like nothing ever injured my heart.

So, it's endorphrines ?

Endorphrines are also why I feel kinda depressed, when I get back to town ?

I thought it was I am just not a town-person :) . I thought I got into hiking and the big wide outdoors, and, I just don't want to go back: I love the mountains.

So, it isn't increased oxygen-uptake ? So, it isn't walking is the most healthy movement for the heart ?
It's all of the above. And more endorphines. Ya just can't lose when you go hiking. :)

[MedicineMan]

during the week i work i can range up to 155 systolic, and then a wonderful thing happens when my rotation ends, suddenly i'm back in the 130s or lower...for me its simple; when hiking i focus on each step and when i stop its a complete melding with the trees,vistas, creeks around me. It leaves no mental time for the stresses of work.

[MOWGLI]

I'm currently 6' tall and 240 pounds. If I didn't hike, I'd be a really fat bastard, instead of just a fat bastard. :o

If you are interested in a fact sheet on the health benefits of hiking, you can find one at the following link;

http://www.americanhiking.org/news/pdfs/health_ben.pdf

You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to view this file.

Jeffrey Hunter

[MedicineMan]

Just continuing the thread, how much did you weigh when you finished your thru-hike???

[Spirit Walker]

For some people who regularly experience depression in their ordinary life, hiking is the best cure. I know several long distance hikers who hike because that is where they experience their greatest happiness and serenity. For me, if I hike, I'm happy. If I don't I'm not. We get out almost every weekend because I'm miserable if I don't spend time in the woods. I'm lucky enough to have a partner who indulges me in that.

On a long hike, I can be in pain, suffering from the weather, hunger and thirst, puffing and panting as I climb up a hill or agonizing over a steep descent - and I'm at peace. There is no place I'd rather be. My sister in law read my journal from a two week hike in Colorado. It rained every day. I got hypothermia. My husband had serious altitude sickness. I had problems with my boots. She said, "I'm sorry you had such a terrible time." I laughed. I had a terrific hike. It was difficult, but it was beautiful -- and best of all I was hiking. What more did I need?

[MOWGLI]

Just continuing the thread, how much did you weigh when you finished your thru-hike???

I lost 60-65 pounds on my thru-hike. I was 180 pounds when I reached Katahdin. There is a photo of me on Katahdin in My Gallery on this site. There are also current photos of me. Unfortunately, I put most of the weight back on. I am now struggling (at my doctors & wifes urging) to lose about 30-40 pounds. Bad habits are darn hard to break.

[max patch]

In 1999 when I was out there I started with BP of 155/105 (thanks to a very stressful job) and two months/610 miles later I was at 105/75. Beats the heck out of blood pressure medicine....

Was the decrease in BP permanent?

[foodbag]

Well, it's now five years later and it is much lower but not as low as when I was out there. A lot has happened in that period (divorce, relocation, much better job) and I am at 115/90, give or take a few points.

Any hikers who go regularly care to weigh in on the subject of BP?

[Jaybird]

Was curious whether any hikers have seen a problem health condition made markedly better through hiking. Also, whether hikers can say a thru hike or significant section hike had a marked effect on "the blues".


for me...its noticable weight-loss during my hikes!

on a 2 week section hike...i usually lose approx 10-15lbs.


next year..i plan a 3 week section-hike....WOW! maybe i need to
call Weight Watchers & let them in on this amazing plan!
hehehehehehe :D

[bailyrosco]

This brings up an interesting question for me. I am currently 6'6" and 280 I carry my weight well. I hope to lose about 20 or 30 pounds prior to my 2006 thru-hike. My last phyiscal show I am obviously out of shape but not really as bad as I thought fo a 40 year old big guy. If I complete my hike say in 5 months what would I expect to lose weight wise? My goal was to get to 200 pounds, is that possible? I want to do the AT for many reasons and the weight lose really is not one of them but it would be a nice added bonus especially if I could keep it off. Does eating in town or eating on the trail really have much bearing the weight loss. This might not be the best thread for this but I thought I would chime in anyway:clap .

[Jersey Bob]

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[Brushy Sage]

Bob, it sounds as if something else might be going on in your life; that is not for me to say, and I am not probing. When I go too long between hikes and it gets difficult to start again, I find that I can get energized and motivated again by walking wherever I can -- like places I might normally drive. Across town, and the like. Usually I see something interesting that I have never noticed before. An old church is being restored. A tunnel was opened the year my parents got married. There are birds in the city, and trees, and flowers, and a stream or two. I once saw a red fox and her pups in a small wooded area circumscribed by three city streets.

[Spirit Walker]

When I had been training seriously for the JMT and then did my hike, I found it very hard to go back to hiking regularly for a while afterwards because there seemed to be no point - I wasn't training for anything. My AT hike was done, the JMT was done, I didn't feel ready for the PCT yet. So why hike? Never mind that I really enjoy hiking for its own sake, it just didn't seem to matter. Part of that was real let down because a much awaited vacation was over and I had no plans for future hikes. (I didn't know I'd be leaving for the AT in less than two years.) Part of it was just burn out because I trained so hard for the JMT. For about two months, I didn't want to hike. It scared me because my identity was, "I am a thruhiker." And now that wasn't enough. Then a friend invited me on a weekend backpack trip in the Sierras - and all was healed. I remembered why I hike, how happy I was in nature, and was able to go back to it on a regular basis.

My suggestion - find someplace you really want to go to, and do it. Don't push too hard, just go out and enjoy yourself. Remind yourself of how good it feels to spend time in the woods. Make a plan and stick to it even if it seems like too much effort right now.

If you can, find some long term plan to dream about and work towards. So you hate your job and your life - can you get a better one? Why not? If not, where are you going for vacation this year, next year? What do you have coming up to look forward to? The Gathering? The Ruck? the Billville Winter Warmer? Can you save enough money to go do a long hike in a year or three?

Depression is a hard one to beat, but it is possible. If all else fails - go talk to a doctor about it. (My last resort - maybe it should be your first resort?)

[Jersey Bob]

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