How to Recover From a Long Day of Hiking
August 19, 2010 by Hikerama
Filed under hiking trails
If you are planning on going on a hiking trip then you need to know how to help your body recover from a long day of hiking. If you are going to go on a hike one day, you need to help your body recover properly if you are planning on going on a hike the next day. Most hikers don’t worry about helping their body recover which is a big mistake. As a result their bodies’ are completely drained after a day or two of hiking. If you take the proper steps to help your body recover properly then you can hike everyday for a week without having to take a break!
Hiking is one of the most physically demanding activities that you can participate in. One of the major tolls that hiking has on the body is loss of water through sweat. After a long day of hiking you should drink tons of water to rehydrate your body for the next day. This is the single most important aspect of helping your body recover for your next day of hiking. Without water, your body will struggle and you will have almost no energy. Even if you are not thirsty, you should still drink tons of water to make sure your body is completely hydrated.
Another important part of helping your body recover is stretching at night after a long day of hiking. Your muscles are put under tons of pressure during a hike which can result in them tightening up afterwards. Hiking with stiff muscles is dangerous because you risk pulling a muscle or getting a permanent injury. The best way to prevent this is by completely stretching each one of your muscles the night after a hike. Below are some of the most helpful things you can do to help your body recover from a hike:
- Drink water to rehydrate your body after a hike
- Completely stretch each muscle group
- Get plenty of sleep the night after a long hike
Aside from water, sleep is another one of the most helpful things you can do to help your body recover after a long hike. Sometimes, getting a restful sleep can be difficult, but there are things you can do to help yourself. Milatonin is the natural hormone in the body that helps with sleep, but sometimes the body fails to produce it at night. If you want to help yourself get a better sleep you could take some melatonin that’s bought from any drug store. It is a completely natural substance and it will help you go into a deeper sleep. Studies have shown that people who get deeper sleeps recover faster from physical activity. By taking all of these steps to help your body recover you will be able to hike for days on end!
