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Go Take a Hike!
One of Mom's Best Fitness Strategies
By Phyllis Ring
"A co-worker changed my view of exercise when I noticed her beautiful calves one day," says Gale Kramer of Scottsdale, Ariz. "While I'd been dragging to the gym with unimpressive results, she was seeing great sites – and getting great legs – while hiking every weekend."
Like walking, hiking's proven benefits include weight loss, enhanced muscle tone, better joint flexibility and decreased risk of coronary artery disease, hypertension, colon cancer and diabetes. A Harvard study shows that women who walk briskly three times a week for a total of three hours reduce their risk of heart attack and stroke by 30 to 40 percent. More than any other form of exercise, it also strengthens bones and is vital for preventing osteoporosis.
Hiking's benefits for mind and spirit are "almost too numerous to mention," says Karen Collins of Sonoma, Calif., former deputy director of California State Parks and owner of Going Places!, which provides hiking-based tours for women to many different parts of the United States and the world.
Simply being out in nature changes us, usually for the better. "Women see so much more this way," Collins says. "Plus they get an up-close view of themselves and the role physical activity can play in enhancing vitality." In fact, a University of Illinois study of previously sedentary adults who walked briskly three times a week also revealed that their mental functioning improved by more than 15 percent after six months.
Hiking has the advantage of being an activity you can do with others, which helps women stick with it as a form of regular exercise, Collins says. Its versatility means you can hike within walking distance of home, in some far-flung destination or with everything you need for an extended hike strapped on your back.