Since we moved back to the UK from Spain a year ago now, we have mostly been Hiking in the area of the Derwent Walk. We have done some enjoyablewalking but I have always had it in my head to go a little further afield and go hiking in the North Pennines. I was fully aware that the North Pennines are only a short drive away from where we currently live in Whickham, so today, after a little internet research, we packed up out hiking gear and headed for Blanchland.
Where are the North Pennines?
The North Pennines is an area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) and it is also named as a Global Geopark by UNESCO.
The North Pennines is situated several miles to the West of Newcastle Upon Tyne, beginning just outside of Consett and covers an area Westwards all the way across to the Eden Valley. It also goes Southwards as far as the Yorkshire Dales.
If we want to burn body fat hiking efficiently, we have to learn something about what is going on with our bodies, so that we can flick the right switches and keep our bodies in the state we want it to be in for maximum fat burning.
The good news is, yes, we can burn body fat hiking, providing we do a few simple things on our hikes. Firstly we’ll look at how and why we burn body fat when we are on a hike.
How Do We Go From Burning Carbs To Burning Fat?
When we go on a hike, our bodies will initially start off by burning off the carbs stored in our Muscles and Liver for the additional energy demands it is encountering. However, those stored carbs, in the form of Glycogen will run out in a short period of time. Read more...
Have you ever wondered what Hikers carry in their backpacks? If you’re new to hiking, backpacking, hill walking or camping you might just be wondering what other hikers actually carry. If this applies to you, good, you are about to find out.
What Essential Equipment Should Hikers Carry in their Backpacks?
There are certain Groups of Equipment that all hikers should take with them. They differ whether you are going on a Day Hike or a Multi Day Hike. You obviously have the ability to chop and change from these guidelines as the demands of your particular hike differ from the norm, they are just a minimum basic starting point.
The following groups of items would be considered essentials for overnight hikes:
Why not try a bit of cold weatherhiking? After all, we all love getting outside and enjoying the beauty of nature, no matter what time year it is. Those of us with a bit of drive and enthusiasm will be out there playing in the hills one way or another, and in order for us to enjoy the outdoors all year round we need to make sure we dress appropriately for the climate.
If there’s one thing most Hikers do agree on, it’s that as long as you are properly prepared, you can go out at anytime of the year and in any weather conditions.
Stay Dry
It’s important to stay dry and also that you don’t overheat, even in the cold. So your target when outdoors should be to stay dry and cool but not cold.
Below are a few suggestions for what to wear in order to stay warm and dry without overheating when Hiking or Camping in cold weather environments:
Does anyone specialise in tattoos for hikers? I have a few tattoos myself that I have picked up over the years, four to be precise. Each one brings back fond memories of things I’ve done, people I’ve spent the time with and the wonderful places I’ve visited. Thinking back to some of the momentous hikes I’ve taken part in in the past, I was wondering if having a tattoo of some sort as a memory of them would be a good idea.
The last tattoo I got was in Thailand. It is made from a photograph that I loved of my wife dancing on a beach in Ochos Rios in Cosumel, a Mexican Island that we stopped off at for the day on a Caribbean Cruise where two of our friends got married to each other by the ship’s Captain. There were 27 of us, all friends who cruised, partied and had a great time for 10 days.
Here is the the tattoo I got made from a photo. I love the tattoo, I call it little Wendy, and it brings back great memories every time I catch a glance of it.
Does Your Body Burn Fat Or Muscle First When Fasting?
Have you ever wondered if we Burn Fat or Muscle first when Fasting?
We have been doing some recent experiments with fasted hiking and the results have been good so far. However, one area that I am a little concerned about is that I don’t want to lose too much muscle mass.
I haven’t shown any concrete signs of muscle loss to date, but maybe that is too be expected with only completing a couple of fasted hikes. I have noticed that my hiking friends that have been fasting for a long time have a lot less muscle than me. Is there a correlation because of the fact that they fast here, or is their lack of muscle mass just a coincidence? Let’s dig a bit deeper to find out.
When Fasting for over 12 Hours, which is Burned First, Fat or Muscle?
The clear answer here is Fat. It appears that it is almost impossible to find any evidence that your body will start to burn any muscle whatsoever if you are intermittent fasting. Certainly not if you are only fasting for somewhere between 12 and 16 hours at a time.
The whole reason that your body stores fat, is so that it has an “on demand” store of energy to call upon when your Glycogen is depleted. Why would it burn muscle and potentially damage the structure and integrity of our body if it wasn’t in a life or death, survival situation, which intermittent fasting for short periods of time is not.
However, at around the 12 hour mark of fasting, if we haven’t been exercising (sooner if we have), our body will begin to burn fat as our Glycogen will be depleted. Read more...
Does Weight Lifting Burn Fat? – Hiking Alternatives
It’s winter here in Newcastle, it seems that being back in the UK from 8 years living in Spain has it’s drawbacks, the weather being one of them. The weather has been awful for weeks now with strong winds and driving rain not really making me too enthusiastic about hikes, although I have still done a few.
I’ve always been a multi activity type of guy. I Hike, Trail Run, Backpack, Camp, Swim, Go to the Gym, Kettlebell Train, do Circuits at Home and do stretching and Yoga (but I’m laughable at it).
Lately I’ve been doing some heavy weights in the gym to manage my weight and I have been seeing some excellent results, so I thought I’d do a bit more research on the effects of weight lifting on Fat Burning.
So, Does Weight Lifting Burn Fat or Not?
Yes, weight lifting burns fat. But before we get too deep into this, we need to clarify what kind of weight lifting I am talking about here.
What am I talking about when I say I’m going Weight Lifting instead of taking a hike due to the weather. Well there are a few different ways to lift weights, but the way that I like to do it is to lift as heavy a weight as I can manage comfortably and safely for 8-10 reps and in 4-5 sets with 2 minute rests between. This would generally be defined as Strength Training.
You can lift lighter weights for more reps and sets and this would come under the heading of Cardio or Definition Training. Or you could go all out and lift unbearably heavy weights for 4-6 reps and 2-3 sets and go for Bodybuilding.
Does Hiking Burn Fat? The good news is the answer is yes, if you love to hike as I and many of my friends do, you are in luck, as hiking is a great way to burn fat, tone up, lose weight and look great. In this post we’ll have a look at some of the common questions regarding Hiking and Fat Burning to see if we can clear up any grey areas.
Does Hiking Burn Fat Faster Than Urban Walking?
Hiking will almost certainly burn more fat than urban walking, or walking around town if you’d rather use that phrase. There are a few reasons for this.
Hiking is usually, but not always carried out in the great outdoors. Due to this, the terrain we will be hiking over will be uneven, containing uphills, downhills, rocks to negotiate, uneven tracks, rivers, mud and many other obstacles that will put greater demand for energy on our bodies than walking in town.
This greater demand for energy will have to be supplied quickly and it will have to come from somewhere. Firstly we will use up our fast release Carbs which are stored in our Liver and Muscles as easy to access Glycogen.
Once our Glycogen supply has been depleted, we will burn off the fatty acids in our blood streams floating around from recent meals, and lastly we will hit the sweet spot at around the 45 minute point where we will begin to release and use up some of our stored fat into our blood stream as fatty acids to be burned off next. This fat burning zone is where we would like to stay for as long as possible.
Does Hiking Burn Belly Fat?
Yes, hiking will burn belly fat, but not exclusively belly fat. Unfortunately we can’t spot target fat burning, so our bodies will release fat from whichever fat deposit it decides upon. Some of that body fat will be released from the deposits around our waist and some from other areas. The good news is, we will be burning off excess fat from somewhere when we hike. Read more...
The process of building muscle mass at the same time as we are burning off excess stored body fat is often referred to a Body Recomposition. Body Recomposition requires us to Burn Fat Stores to provide the required energy.
When we make a conscious decision to to tone up our flabby bodies by Hiking, TrailRunning, Walking, Backpacking or even going to the Gym we set off some several processes in reaction to this new stimulus. One of those processes being burning some of our fat deposits.
Why Do We Burn More Fat When Our Muscles Get Bigger?
Why does building muscle burn fat? There are a few processes at work that will burn off our fat deposits here.
The initial building up of the muscle requires an influx of additional energy. This energy will initially be provided from your Glycogen stores, these are stores of carbs obtained from your muscles and liver.
However, once these Glycogen stores are used up, your body will have to switch to burning fat for the energy required. Firstly this energy will be provided from the fatty acids floating around in your blood stream from recent meals, and secondly, if the demand for energy continues, as it will, your body will be forced to convert fat from your fat reserves (think Beer Belly and Chins) and convert them to the energy required. Read more...
Let’s face it, ever pastime can be dangerous if you aren’t careful. But, Hiking, due to the extremely large number of rapidly changing factors involved can be a dangerous pastime for the unprepared.
In the following paragraphs we’ll highlight the main risks involved in hiking so that you can be better prepared for them, or better still, so that you can avoid them altogether.
What are the Risks of Hiking?
Safer than Hiking Apparently
The risks of hiking cover as broad a spectrum of risks as we could possibly imagine. I’ll list a few so that you can begin to picture them, then we’ll have a look at some of the more common questions about hiking dangers and see how we can mitigate the risks.
The Risks of Hiking:
Mud Slides
Avalanches
Freezing Injuries
Drowning
Heat Exhaustion
Animal Attacks
Muggings
Breaking Bones
Tearing a Muscle
Getting Lost
Falls
The list is as depressing as it is long, but one thing jumps out at me when I read it. Everything on the list can be avoided with a bit of knowledge and preparation.
How Common are Hiking Deaths?
Well, it appears that Hiking Deaths are not very common at all, which is surely a good thing. The National Center (Centre) for Health Statistics in the USA state that the chances of the average person dying on a hike is in the region of 15,700 to 1, which are pretty good odds in my opinion. That is a 0.006% chance of dying on a hike if you prefer to see your own mortality risk in percentages.
Rather disappointingly, not many hikers in the report were killed by bears, wolves and snake bites. The most common causes of death were put down to:
Lack of Knowledge
Poor Judgement
Inexperience
Do you, like me, see a pattern forming here. Like, if you don’t want to die on your hike, get educated…
Novice Hiker Dangers
Taking into account the reasons hikers die from above, then surely the group of hikers in the most danger are going to be the novices. Let’s take a look at the top novice hiker dangers next:
Being unprepared for the weather conditions
Not knowing how to deal with wildlife, snakes, bears, cows etc
Hiking on Terrain that is too difficult for Novices
Really, I could go on and on, but these are some of the most common factors that put novice hikers in danger. Undergoing some form of training such as taking part on DofE Expeditions, joining a Hiking Club or the Ramblers will take care of the majority of the list above, a bit of common sense will take care of the rest.
When we go Hiking on an empty stomach, does being hungry burn fat or is something else going on? Several people I know have been training on an empty stomach with positive results. Some of them because they are on the tail end of their Intermittent Fasting when training time comes around, and others just as a “Hungry Hiking” experiment as they have been calling it.
As I’m always on the lookout for tips and hacks to keep my weight under control with father time catching up with my metabolism, I thought I’d investigate the claim that being hungry when you hike burns more fat.
Why is Hungry Hiking Controversial?
I suppose, like anything new that comes along, Hiking on an Empty Stomach will have to break through years of ingrained Tradition and Folklore. Sayings like “An Army Marches on it’s Stomach” and “Breakfast is the Most Important Meal of the Day” have been kicking about my whole life, you’d think there was some substance in their origins.
But, then again, so many contrarian stories of amazing athletic feats that fly in the face of convention have been reported lately that surely “Hungry Hiking” as we have been calling it is worth at least a closer look.
One such Contrarian Story to shock the World has been the reporting of the incredibly successful and unbelievably strong Vegan Powerlifter.
The world’s strongest vegan, Patrik Baboumian, shows that plants are the perfect fuel—even for record-breaking powerlifters like him. Baboumian is well known for his appearance in the smash hit documentary “The Game Changers” aired on Netflix
Who’d had thought that it was possible for a vegan to even go to the gym and hold his own a few years ago? All power lifters, especially the good ones, used to be fuelled by sides of beef and massive steaks in my youth.
