Newsflash! Hiking is good for you!

[TJ aka Teej]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/01/07/exercise.ups.downs.ap/index.html

A novel study of hikers in the Alps made the intriguing discovery that different types of exercise had different effects on fats and sugars in the blood.

Going uphill cleared fats from the blood faster, going downhill reduced blood sugar more, and hiking either way lowered bad cholesterol.

Both types of hiking are beneficial, but one may help diabetics more than the other, said Dr. Heinz Drexel of the Academic Teaching Hospital of Feldkirch, Austria, who reported the research at a recent American Heart Association conference in New Orleans.

His was a most unusual study, involving steep mountains and lifts at a ski resort.

"If you think about this in practical terms, it's pretty hard to imagine how any human being could just go one way and get back to where they started unless they happen to live near a cable car, which was used in this study," said Dr. Raymond Gibbons, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, who had no role in the research.

Still, Dr. Gerald Fletcher, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, said the findings could be applied in the real world: People who work in office buildings, for example, could take the stairs one way and the elevator the other, depending on what their exercise goals were.

Hiking uphill is concentric exercise, where muscles are shortened, which happens when you bend your arm or step upward. Going downhill is eccentric muscle work, such as extending your arm or actively resisting stretching, which happens when you step down.

(More on this fascinating news from the CNN.com link above)

[max patch]

Reading about TJ bashing WF, Weary, and RnR is annoying.

[TJ aka Teej]

Max Patch, on your User CP there is a hyperlink to a buddy/ignore list. If a Whiteblaze member annoys you, please consider adding that user to your ignore list.

[TakeABreak]

This does not surprise me, it only confirms what I have thought for a while. I hike a lot and always have, my cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar are all great. I am sure my diet has something to do with it also, although I eat a lot of red meat and pork, I also cook it in olive oil and rinse the meat thoroughly in water then reheat before eating it. removing a lot of the fat. I also eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains daily. with oatmeal being my breakfast of choice.

[steve hiker]

That should be no surprise to hikers. I've always felt incredibly better after just a few days on the trail, and have always attributed it to the marked increase in oxygen. With all that oxygen flowing through your bloodstream, you can't help but feel good. I can only image how thruhikers feel after a few weeks, and the rarified state of health attained after a few months on the trail.

[foggy-bottom]

Man if this is true... I quit!!