We all realise that an active lifestyle is better for you rather being sedentary, but here are a few of the benefits that hiking stores up for you according to research from around the world.

According to the Stroke Association a brisk walk lasting for up to half an hour can aid the control of high blood pressure and prevent it in the first place, so reducing your risk of a stroke by nearly 30%. It has also been shown to reduce levels of cholesterol.

The biggest disease facing us at present is the rise of diabetes, and a recent study in the British Medical Journal showed that those taking more steps every day can help to reduce this threat, with regular walking reducing the risk by as much as 60%. 

Another benefit of regular walking as an activity is that it’s a great but simple way of losing weight. Research has shown that you need to use up 600 calories more than you take in, in order to start to lose weight. For example someone who weighs 205lbs uses186 calories walking at under 2 miles an hour, but this increases to 307 calories at 3 miles an hour. That’s six Jaffa cakes or two jam doughnuts. Walking also increases both muscle mass and tone, and the more muscle you have the faster your metabolism.

Dementia now affects one in 14 people over the age of 65 in the UK, and this rises to one in six over the age of 80. However according to Age UK older people who walk more than six miles a week could reduce the risk by as much as 40%

Walking is now considered a “weight-bearing” activity and as such it has been found to stimulate and strengthen bones, so increasing their density, which is important, especially for mature women. It has also been found to maintain healthy joints so helping to restrict arthritis conditions.

When you are walking outside you are actually having a positive effect on your body’s levels of Vitamin D, a nutrient that is difficult to get from food, which we can synthesise naturally from exposure to sunlight. Research has found that many people in the UK are deficient in this particular vitamin (no real surprise there then!), but it plays a major role in major body processes including the immunity system.

So hiking stores up lots of health benefits for you now and for later in life, so check out the website, get yourself kitted out and get active.