Exercise Exploration
Have you ever been more excited for a new year? It seems like so many of us were not just excited for a new year to start, but more so happy that 2020 was ending. Even though it was the most hectic first week of January that I have ever experienced in my life, 2020 is over and it is time for a new year. I don't know about you but last year had some of the most trying moments that I have ever experienced in my life. To be honest, I am just glad that I made it out and for some odd reason I feel a little stronger than I did before. How about you? This newfound strength helps me realize that if I can make it out of a pandemic, I am ready for most of life's challenges. I also found new ways of coping with this life that allow me to shift from a state of hectic stress to hopeful excitement. One of those things is hiking or what I know as a blend of exercise and exploration.
I believe that as humans we can really relate to stories that are truly raw and describe how difficult life can be. To be honest, we have moments where we crush our goals and love our lives. I think we have all been there, but then sometimes one thing changes and you might feel like the world is crumbling. So we relate to stories of struggle and hardship because that is just reality. One of my favorite stories is a story about the prophet Elijah.
Fresh off his greatest victory of his life where he defeated 300 false prophets that worshipped another god. He felt like he was on top of the world until he was threatened by the queen Jezebel who said she was going to take his life. The mighty man Elijah ran for his life. He ditched his servant and ran under a bush and prayed that he would die. An angel fed him and he went off on a journey for 40 days and 40 nights to climb a mountain. God met him on top, but only in a whisper.
I don't think I will ever take a 40 day journey, since I have a car and there are a billion ways that I can make better use of my time. But when I was reading this story I started thinking about what Elijah was experiencing instead of just the words that I was reading. He climbed a mountain that was over 7,000 ft above sea level. I imagined that Elijah kept climbing and every time he looked back things were getting smaller and smaller. He was getting further and further away from the village that he left. And his perspective must have changed. After reading this, I knew that when my life got hard and my problems seemed to only be getting bigger I would need to find ways to change my perspective. So I did not go to a mountain in Jerusalem, but I would start going to a mountain in the bay area (shoutout to Mt Tam for being a beautiful place). The higher I went up, the smaller my problems started to seem. Everything in life is about perspective and a change in perspective is sometimes the most important shift that we need to make. But it turns out, a change of perspective is not the only benefit from some exercise exploration and here are some of the reasons why I recommend that my clients do a long walk or hike at least once a week.
HOPE MOLECULES
In San Francisco, we have many versions of ways to get high. The running way is probably the healthiest version. People talk about hitting a point on a run where they get a euphoric sensation and feel like they can just keep going for miles. We have all heard of the runner's high, but one term that I just recently learned about is "hope molecules". I read about these molecules in a book called "The Joy of Movement" by Kelly McGonigal. Check out what she said is this video of her interview with Rich Roll.
"Our muscles are like an endocrine organ. And that when you contract your muscles in any type of movement they are secreting chemicals into your bloodstream that are really good for every system of your body... a big part of the proteins, these chemicals, that are getting released by your muscles that are called myokines. They have profound effects on the brain. So when you go on a walk, or a run, or when you lift weights your muscles contract and they secrete these proteins into your bloodstream. They travel to your brain. They go past the blood brain barrier and in your brain they can act as an antidepressant... they can make your brain more resilient to stress. They can help you learn from your experience. And the only way that you get these is by using your muscles."
Kelly McGonigal
When you use your muscles, your body is releasing these myokines that are changing your mood, elevating your mind, and helping you get through life. So when you are out on a hike you are literally changing your brain chemistry. I know that in the Bay area we could all benefit from using a little escape away from school, work, riots at the capital, or anything else that might be stressing us out. Hiking can change your mind to fight stress and give you hope for a brighter future.
FAT CATABOLISM
As a trainer and health coach, my goal is to make my clients happy with reaching whatever they want to accomplish. Many of my clients want to lose weight, but some of them struggle to see a difference at first. I remember one of my clients, Vini, was really disheartened when she could not get her numbers to drop. So we made two key changes with her program. She started doing intermittent fasting and went on a long fasted walk every weekend. Finally, her numbers started to drop.
You can find out more about fasting on these blogs:
https://www.holistichero.life/blog-1/why-fasting
https://www.holistichero.life/blog-1/probably-maybe-why-it-works
When you go about 12 hours without food your body looks to other places for energy, which can be fat storage and cholesterol. So fasting in itself is one of the best tools that I have used for my clients that want to change their body composition, but on top of that when you are doing a long hike you are utilizing even more fat. Your body has two main sources of energy at all times, glucose or fat. Your glucose is used for higher intensity exercise like lifting weights, sprinting, or other forms of higher intensity exercise. However, your body is burning more fat storage when the intensity is lower. Check out this simple graph here
You can see as the intensity increases you begin using less fat and more carbohydrate, but at the lowest intensity you are primarily burning fat. Fasted low intensity exercise is a great way to see the numbers change on the scale without putting your body at risk.
SHIRIN-YOKU
The japanese word just sounds so much better because what Shirin-Yoku means is "forest bathing". Shirin-Yoku is a form of eco therapy. You can find out more about forest bathing through this article by Dr. Qing Li. In his scholarly reviewed study on forest bathing vs urban area walking here, they discovered:
"The forest bathing program significantly reduced pulse rate and significantly increased the score for vigor and decreased the scores for depression, fatigue, anxiety, and confusion."
There is just something about nature that helps you slow down and really absorb the moment. This practice seems fake because it is as simple as just being in the forest, but it offers some real physiologically changing results. I can use anything that will increase my vigor in life because I want to give life everything that I have, if that takes a few hours in the forest once a week then I am in. Trees are not just good for smoking, but also for-rest 😉 .
Valeria Flores
Check her out on IG
Tips on Exercising Exploration
Find a plan on www.alltrails.com. They have loads of locations with a list and description of the trails that you can take
Find a partner, I was so grateful to go hiking with Valeria over at Castle Rock. As fun as it is to go on your own, it is so much better when you are with good company. There are also meet-up groups available that should list their Covid-safety protocols.
Find the time. No one wants to rush their time in nature, so make sure that you set enough cushion for you to still enjoy yourself when you go out.
Find the inspiration. Find people on instagram that post up different hikes that you feel like you would like to go on.