How Many Calories Do You Burn In One Hour Of Hiking? | Hikers University

When you talk about the number of calories that you burn when you hike for 60 minutes, the answer differs according to your body weight.

If you weigh more,  you are bound to lose more calories than a person who weighs lesser than you. While you are walking for 60  minutes, you may keep thinking if you have burnt a good amount of calories or not? A person can have a precious day while hiking and burn calories so that it can be a win-win situation for all!

If you take an example of a person who weighs around 150 pounds, that person is going to burn around 420-440 calories after they are done with an hour-long hiking trip. If you take the example of a person who weighs around 200 pounds, that person is going to burn up to 55- calories in the same amount of time.

While the weight of the body is a huge factor when it comes to the burning of calories during an hour of hiking, there are many more factors that contribute to it as well. If you can keep track of the number of calories you are shedding during the hike, it would serve you better and aid in your progress towards the weight loss strategies, or strength training, whatever suits you best!

Keeping track of your burning calories can even be a guide for you to pack your backpack accordingly. You can put snacks that would be sufficient for your trial, and that would work perfectly for you. You do not want to lose your head or go through a low-sugar attack when hiking alone on the trails.  

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What Are The Factors That Have An Effect On The Burning Of Calories During Hiking?

Other than body weight, there are a couple of factors that affect the burning of calories during your hour-long hike.

1. The Speed That You Walk At

The number of calories you burn is parallel to the speed of your hiking. If you are prone to hiking at a faster pace, the workout in your body will be better. This fast speed of your hiking will give a boost to the burning of calories and will end up burning more calories.

If you walk at a slower pace, and your strides are dragged and lagging, you will consequently cut back on a lower number of calories. If you are walking faster with powerful strides, this will result in more distance being covered in an hour. This will aid in burning more calories. If your pace is slow, you are bound to cover a lesser distance in that specific time, and hence you will lose lesser weight comparatively.

If you hike vigorously and intensely, your metabolism will be elevated and the food you eat will break down faster; this will help you to burn calories even when you are actually done with the process.

You can also use trekking poles whenever you hike; they help in increasing your speed, muscular efforts, and intensity - this all leads to more calories being burned.  

2. The Weight You Are Carrying

The weight that you are carrying also acts as a factor when it comes to burning calories. If you are carrying more weight, it will ultimately result in more calories being burned. If you carry a lesser amount of weight, you will lose lesser calories comparatively.

If you are carrying a lightweight backpack, it will denote an added loss of around 10-15 calories - when you are hiking for an hour.

If you are carrying a heavier backpack that weighs more, you will end up losing around 200 calories in that one hour.

3. The Level Of The Fitness Of Your Body

Another very important factor is that the burning of calories depends on the level of fitness of your body. If you are a person who regularly exercises, you may notice that there are certain times when you hit a plateau of weight loss. You may be following your diet plans and even working out on a regular basis. This situation means that your body has fully adapted to your workout routine and has become efficient in it.

While this works as a relief from the pain and stress, the pain reduction denotes the fact that your body has gone through a certain fitness adaptation. The struggling period is now something that your body is used to and does not go through tremendous pain to do it.

For instance, if you run for 6 miles at a specific pace for a day, your muscles will feel sore. If you run the same miles at the same specific pace for five to six weeks, you will notice that it will get much easier with time. Your muscles will efficiently extract oxygen from the blood, the neuromuscular coordination will be synchronized, and the muscles, heart, and lungs will eventually get stronger and better.

This will increase the levels of your fitness. The fitter that your body is, the lesser calories will get burned during the hiking. The difference is not so significant, and hence you don’t have to be afraid to take a hike on a regular basis.

4. The  Natural Terrain

When you are using the cardio machines, you can access many things, but one feature is still not there - the terrain of the hiking path. The ascends and downhills that you have crossed in order to complete the hike.

If you are hiking through challenging terrains, it will be composed of steep inclines and rocky pathways, this will require an intensive muscular workout, and hence it will aid in losing more weight. The harder the path is, the more weight you can lose.

Instead of taking a walk across the park, turn your attention toward hiking through mountainous areas that will help in burning your calories. 

EndNote

You can check the calories that you are burning by hiking quite easily. Get your calories burning with hiking now!

 

About THE AUTHOR

Peter Brooks

Peter Brooks

I’m a hiker, backpacker, and general outdoor enthusiast. I started hiking out of college while working for the National Forest Service, and have been hiking ever since. I’ve been solo hiking and leading hiking groups for two decades and have completed hundreds of small hikes and some majorones such as the Appalachian Train and the Pacific Crest Trail, and hiked on four continents. I’d love to share some of my insight with you.

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