25 Reasons To Join A Hike Challenge
Hiking is great for the body and mind, for so many reasons. Stepping beyond the obvious (pun intended) health benefits of getting exercise, here is a list of 25 reasons you should join sign up for a hike challenge and join the movement today.
Make yourself a priority. Get outdoors.
1. So Many Trails… Never Enough Time
There are so many trails to explore. Nature trails around town, trails leading to waterfalls, hikes near old settlements, hikes up to the showy summits... the possibilities are endless as long as you have an explorational heart and gas in your tank.
No matter how fit or unfit you are, hiking is for you. Hiking is low-impact, meaning it won't strain your joints. Moreover, there are plenty of trails that are accessible to those with special circumstances such as being wheelchair-bound or are sensitive to altitude gain.
2. Hiking Buddies Are The Best Buddies
Grab a friend and get outside! Catch up with what is new in your lives while hiking. Not only will talking while hiking up a hill boost your cardiovascular stamina, but it also helps activate the “Happy Hormone” (aka dopamine).
Sharing hobbies strengthens relationships. Share what you love with the people you love.
Make new friends. Find others who like to hike. Ask your coworkers what they like to do in their free time. You can also find local hiking groups and events by searching Facebook or Instagram. Check to see if REI and/or the Sierra Club have local hiking groups or events in your area.
Have young children? Hike It Baby, WildKind Inc, and Kids Who Explore, just to name a few, may have a local hiking group near you.
3. Lose Fat. Get Toned.
Walking is one of the most underrated forms of exercise. Arguably better for you than high-impact exercises (like jogging, running, or cross-fit training), walking is low impact and incorporates your whole body. That means less pain and injuries to recover from and more time moving your body!
Steady weight loss. Hiking will burn tons of calories, making it seem as if those pounds just slid right off.
4. Create Space For Good Habits
Making good choices leads to making more good choices. Exercising helps motivate you to make healthy food choices.
5. Leave Bad Habits Behind
Ditch the cigarettes, marijuana, or vape. Do you enjoy the occasional cigarette? Do you vape or smoke recreationally? After trying to walk up a steep hill, you will question those decisions and may find the motivation to finally quit.
Skip late night snacking. Do you find yourself falling onto the couch every day after work only to binge watch hours of your favorite television show or scroll through videos on your phone, all while indulging in ice cream drizzled in your favorite topping? Hiking can leave you questioning if you want to spoil those efforts. Instead, you may find yourself choosing to dish up a healthier late night snack like celery smothered in ooey gooey cashew butter.
6. Say Goodbye To Brittle Bones
Decrease your risk of osteoporosis. That backpack full of essentials (or a baby!) and your own body weight will help you build bone density as you hike across hilly terrain and navigate over streams. Higher-impact movements like walking down steep inclines, hopping across river rocks, or light trail running are also known to increase your bone density.
Sunshine helps your body make Vitamin D. Short bursts of sun exposure can provide your body, naturally, with all the Vitamin D it needs for the day! Vitamin D is just one of the vital vitamins that your body needs to help keep you strong.
7. Strengthen Your Muscles
Vitamin D helps strengthen more than just your bones. It strengthens your muscles too.
Walking is a full body workout. If you put the leg work (pun intended) in, you will be working out your lower muscles (like glutes, quads, hamstrings, calves, and the tiny muscles in your ankles and feet), your core, back, shoulders, and arms.
Get your arms involved. Take trekking poles on your next hike, pump those arms, or use your hands and arms to help scramble up rocky inclines and to navigate down tricky declines.
Bring along the kid(s). Whether they are in your pack or just need a break from walking, you are sure to get a workout when you front- or back-carry them.
Looking to make an even bigger impact? Engage your muscles by concentrating on tightening and then loosening specific muscles. You can try this with your glutes, abs, biceps, calves, or other. You'll feel the burn when you do.
8. Improve Your Balance
Strengthen your stabilizing muscles. Uneven footing, slanted paths, rocky terrain, wobbly log bridges that cross streams... any and all of those can cause you a little or a lot of anxiety. But by pushing yourself a little out of your comfort zone, you can become more comfortable doing those things.
Increase your body's awareness. When you walk across uneven terrain and alter your gait (how fast you walk and the distance between your steps), you increase your body's awareness of your position, and its movements, in relation to your surroundings. Pair this with barefoot shoes and you'll (almost) never twist an ankle again!
9. Boost Your Immunity
Stress weakens your immunity. Time spent outside helps counteract the toll that stress takes on your body.
Hiking gets your lymphatic system up and moving. Your lymphatic system is in charge of shipping toxins and viruses through and out of the body. If you are more sedentary, it has to work harder to do its job.
Plants make more than oxygen. Did you know that plants release substances into the air that boost your immunity? Wicked, we know!
Rub some dirt on it! Well, maybe don't. But being exposed to a more diverse environment of bacteria and microorganisms can contribute to a stronger microbiome in your body and gut. This helps your body understand and better fight off bad bacteria and microorganisms.
Sunlight helps you fight infections. It energizes your T cells, also known as fighter cells, so that you get better faster.
10. Improve Your Cardiovascular Health
Improve your aerobic fitness and endurance. Feeling short of breath? Is your skin itching? Maybe your legs feel a little tight and noodly. Similar to a Stairmaster or treadmill (only better!), hiking can improve your heart and respiratory health.
Stack the benefits. Aerobic exercise also lowers your blood pressure and cholesterol while stabilizing your blood sugar levels. That’s a lot of bang for your buck!
11. Age Gracefully
Stay young in mind and body. Hiking regularly has been shown to increase mobility, improve sleep, decrease aches and pains, and decrease episodes of urinary incontinence in people over 70 years of age, according to a study in the Journal of Aging and Health.
12. Reduce Your Risk Of Cancer
10,000 steps a day keeps cancer away. Studies have shown that taking 10,000 steps a day will lower your risk of most cancers and other chronic diseases. And the benefits don't end there! The more steps you take on average, the lower your chances are that cancer will ail you.
13. Lower Your Risk Of Dementia
Keep your brain in shape. Getting outside and taking a walk can introduce you to new things and experiences.
Stay forever curious. Listen to your curiosity and let it guide you. Whether it’s gear, animals, plants, photography, or the weather, it's fun to learn new things. Being a lifetime learner can help prevent age-related memory loss like dementia.
14. Get Amazing Sleep
You've never slept better. Fresh air and exercise will calm (and tire!) the mind and body, putting you in the perfect state for some awesome zzzzzs! The first thing you will want to do after an amazing hike is nap, trust us!
Get your internal clock working right. Early morning light, in particular, is great for your eyes. Your eyes, through some crazy science, are in charge of fine tuning your internal clock. By getting outdoors, you can reset your clock. This means you will fall asleep easier when it gets dark and stay asleep.
15. Say Goodbye To Stress & Anxiety
Avoid endorphin deficiency. To quote Legally Blonde, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy." When you have an endorphin deficiency, it can lead to serious health conditions like depression or Fibromyalgia.
Keep your serotonin levels up. Sunlight positively impacts your serotonin levels. Serotinin boosts your energy levels while leveling out your mood, keeping you calm, positive, and focused.
16. Take Back Your Life
Boost your norepinephrine levels. This hormone and neurotransmitter increases your alertness and focus. It also helps build memory pathways, enhancing memory formation and recall. It’s even been shown to help lower symptoms of ADHD.
Airplane mode isn't just for flight travel. Set your phone on airplane mode when you head out. You will still be able to use your phone's GPS and camera. But your battery will last way longer! Your phone's notifications - the emails, text messages, and social media updates - will still be there when you finish.
Don't get caught unaware. It's a lot easier to hear approaching people or wildlife if you aren't distracted.
Enjoy the present. Give yourself a break from life’s daily distractions and running to do list. Relax, refocus, and enjoy the moment.
17. Boost Your Confidence
Improve your self-esteem. Studies have shown that just 5 minutes a day spent outdoors can improve the way you think about yourself and your life.
You can do things hard things. Cross a stream by navigating across precarious rocks, walk farther than you've ever walked before, push yourself up on top of a large boulder for an epic view, or summit a 14er. If you believe, then you can achieve. As cheesy as it sounds, it truly is as simple as that.
18. Give Your Partner In Crime A Break
Absence can make the heart grow fonder. Time away from your significant other can give you both the space you need to reset and feel like an individual again. Doing everything together, every day, isn't healthy.
It's simple math. If you never take time away from each other, how can either of you be excited about your reunion?
Single-parenting moments. Strengthen your bonds with your kiddo(s) by taking them out for some one-on-one time. Give your partner a break, and their ears a reprieve, so they can enjoy some adult-only time in peace and quiet. When you return, they will be so grateful that they will want to return the kindness.
19. Find Your Creativity
Your 9-5 killed your creativity. Running on autopilot? Feel like a routine zombie? Getting outdoors can spark that side of you that needs igniting. Feel alive and inspired again!
Quiet the distractions. You are surrounded by constant noise in your everyday life. Media from all directions demands your attention. It does this through billboards, podcasts, music, television shows, ads, and social media. Get outdoors and unplug. You'll be surprised how good it feels to hear your own thoughts.
20. See & Hear Wildlife
Lions, tigers, bears... Oh my! If you are willing to get up early for hikes or prefer to hike in the late afternoon hours, you may find yourself glimpsing large wildlife on the move (like elk or moose). You may even spy an elusive friend like a marmot!
If you hike during peak hours, look for small wildlife. In high traffic areas you will likely see a friendly chipmunk, squirrel, or local variety of bird. Just don't feed them or get too close. Small animals can carry nasty diseases like plague. Yes, like THE black plague.
21. Introspection
Meditate. Where better to find some calm than in nature? Everyone could use some Forest Bathing in their life.
Journal. It's a great way to document what you saw, a memory from the hike, and more. If you like journaling or think you would like to start, our Hiking Journal may be just what you are looking for.
Art. Whether it's plein air painting, line drawing, embroidery, or some other form, the outdoors can be a beautiful muse.
22. Humble Yourself
Get out of your head. Reconnect with nature. The world is so much bigger than you. And that is VERY apparent when you are on top of the highest peak for miles around.
23. Gain Perspective
"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." [Unknown]
Leave it better than you found it. See trash? Pick it up and dispose of it in a trash receptacle at the trailhead or at home.
Become more eco-centric. When you spend more time in natural areas, preserving those sanctuaries becomes more important to you. This can lead to all sorts of great things like shopping more ethically.
Leave No Trace. Follow the guidance set by LNT to minimize your impact to natural areas so that generations to come can enjoy them in equal splendor.
Become a nature conservationist. Nature conservation is work to protect lands and waters that support wildlife and native plants. Participate in trail clean ups, volunteer with trail maintenance and improvement projects, and/or give to nature foundations that work to conserve lands and their ecosystems.
A few conservationist groups you may enjoy sponsoring (who doesn’t love a good tax write?):
Audubon protects birds and the places they rely on.
Trust for Public Land works to preserve natural areas in cities and communities where people live. They believe the outdoors belongs to everyone, no matter their circumstance or where they live.
Defenders of Wildlife are dedicated to protect all native animals and plants in their native habitats.
National Park Foundation promotes programs and projects that protects treasured landscapes, ecosystems, historical sites, and places of cultural significance for future generations to enjoy.
National Parks Conservation Association protects and preserves our national parks for present and future generations.
Always do your research of nonprofit and for profit charities using a third party like Charity Navigator, GuideStar, and/or CharityWatch before donating.
24. Capture Great Memories
Elevate your selfie game. If you don’t snap a picture and post it on social media, did you really go hiking?
Bragging rights. You are a total badass for crushing those miles and the world should know it. Go ahead and brag a little.
Make sure you have enough camera storage. Your fingers will soon be itching with the need to catch nature's beauty within your frame. Beware, this snapping craze could lead to you expanding your cloud storage or external storage devices.
Documented for life. A picture is worth a thousand words. Never forget a solo adventure or one with friends and/or family. Strolling down memory lane will have you smiling from ear to ear and maybe even busting a gut. Hey, we don't know what company you keep or what sort of crazy antics you are capable of.
25. Achieve Your Goals
Commit to yourself! Setting a single goal and focusing on it is a powerful thing. The most important person you will ever make promises to is yourself. So get your body moving regularly and feel great about committing to yourself.
Commit to your National Parks. By participating in one or more of our Journey Series Hike Challenges, you will also be contributing to The National Park Foundation. When you finish a challenge, 5% of the proceeds from your purchase is donated to a National Park Foundation, on your behalf.
Create and protect public lands. When you participate in one of our 12 Hikes Series Hike Challenges, you will be contributing to The Trust for Public Land. When you finish a challenge, 5% of the proceeds from your purchase is donated to a National Park Foundation, on your behalf.
Follow-through in one area of life gives you forward momentum in other areas of life. You've proven to yourself that when you set your sights on a goal, you can and will achieve it. That is some superpower mindspeak shit. So go ahead and crush your next goal. You already know that you are fully capable of finishing and fulfilling your dreams. What are you waiting for?
Join now. Find a hike challenge that fits YOU.
