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Hiking Research News:
How It Affects You

By Diane Spicer

If you're searching for hiking research news, heads up:

There are many medical journals specializing in health and fitness related topics, but not specifically labelled for hikers.

So it may be tough to find pertinent breaking news if you're on the prowl for the latest and greatest research findings for hikers.

And I'm guessing that the latest hiking research news in medical and scientific journals may not be high on your list of "must reads".

But hey!

There are gold nuggets about hiking nutrition, injury prevention and biomechanics buried in that pile of jargon and statistics which might interest you.

One example of
hiking research news

The latest research has a lot to say about what a hiker should be eating and drinking on the trail.

As a human being, your cells are dependent on fuel biomolecules found in your food and beverages.

But there are so many variables to consider when selecting the right nutrients for your hiking body: 

1. gender,
   
2. age,
   
3. body mass,
   
4. level of exertion,
   
5. terrain,
   
6. ambient temperature,
   
7. nutrient absorption, and
   
8. cardiovascular health,
   

to name a few.

So not every research finding will apply to you and your particular hiking style.

Or will it?

It just depends on the bottom line findings.

And to get to those, you might need to wade through a lot of jargon and statistics.

• Which can be even harder than wading through a rushing icy cold creek in your hiking boots!

A hiking research
example

Here's an interesting research question:

How much exercise does a woman need to be "healthy"?

And how should a woman begin to walk every day or go hiking after a long period of inactivity?

This study suggests how sedentary women can gain cardiovascular fitness with brief bouts of exercise, like short hikes.

Hiking helps job satisfaction?

Have you ever wondered about the effect of outdoor time (specifically trail time) on job satisfaction?

Seriously!

Check out this study on the restorative benefits of hiking, and see if the results apply to your own life.

• That link gives you a free PDF download of the study: An Exploratory Study of The Restorative Benefits of Hiking in Wilderness Solitude & the Relationship to Job Satisfaction by Dr. Mark Ellison
  

Let me find the best hiking research news for you!

As you can see, there's a lot of information out there.

It's just a matter of:

1. Having access to it.

• I happen to live near some fabulous libraries, and have all sorts of Internet search strategies up my sleeve.

2. Understanding medical lingo and statistics.

• I also happen to have a background in that sort of thing.

3. Wanting to share it with other hikers - which is what this website it all about!

My goal is to scour health and medical research results for anything that might help you to:

• burn fuel more efficiently,
  
• recover faster from strenuous hiking,
  
• hike smarter, not harder,
  
• prevent injury, or
  
• speed healing in case of an injury.

And then to capsulize the research findings in a fast, easy summary.

Interesting research topics

I like to break up the summaries by major topics of interest to hikers:

hiking nutrition;

fitness and strength;

hiking related injuries & healing;

hiker self care strategies that work;

and any other topics you might care to suggest.

Contact me to suggest a topic, and I'll get to work on it right away.

Questions about anything you read in the popular press are also welcome!

• It's fun to ferret out the solid research (or lack thereof) behind these types of articles.

How to keep current on
all hiking related news

To stay on top of my explorations into the latest hiking gear and information sources, please consider trying my monthly Happy Trails Newsletter.

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Hiking Research News