Tips for Recovering from a Hike

Supported by Dakota Jones

Most of the activities involved in the hike are vigorous. Such activities may include mountain climb, trail run and backpacking trip.

During the hike activities, the body may react differently because in most case the body was not prepared for such vigorous activities. You may experience this especially when it is your first time or you don’t perform the activities on regular basis. In most cases you would experience pain in your body.

Recovering after a hike

You need a recovery plan to bring your body to its normal state. In this article, we highlight top tips for recovering from the vigorous hike.

Wear compression clothing

Compression clothing may include compression socks, arm sleeves. Tights and shorts. Every hike activity require appropriate dressing to give the best experience out of it. You need something that will make your body comfortable while performing the activities.

To accelerate the recovery process, wearing compression clothing will help a lot. Such clothes have several benefits to your body when you are out on such activities. They will fit tightly on your body since they stretch and compress after wearing them. That makes them suitable for squeezing those parts of your body where you feel the pain. That enhances blood and oxygen circulation within the body.

There different things that may cause pain to any part of your body. It could be because of lack of oxygen from reaching that body part or because of improper blood circulation in that part of the body. When these two problems are fixed, the pain will be relieved. That can be ensued by wearing the compression clothes.

Rehydrate and fuel up

We all know that water is very important for our body function and its well-being. When you are out on any vigorous activity, your body uses water and release some in form of sweat. That leaves your body dehydrated and you will feel tired.

Our body cannot function properly without enough water. To help the body recover and go back to its normal active state, you need to rehydrate it by consuming the required amount of water.

Most of the people usually assume that when they are tired, the only thing they need is to rest and maybe take some food. However, you also need to recharge your body by consuming water and get it back to its active state. Also, your muscles require nutrients and water to repair themselves and therefore taking the water will help relieve you the pain you experience after hard hike.

Stretch

Many people may underrate this trick as something that is not helpful to the body. You may also feel tired after the hike and may not have to spare sometime for the stretch. But in real sense, this exercise is very essential for the recovery of the body after a hard hike. It does not even require much time and effort. Ensure you pick up the habit and you will realize how fast you recover after a hard hike.

Stretching helps in relaxing your muscles and the whole body. You may feel some pain in your joints after the hike. Stretching them will ensure proper blood circulation that is one way of relieving the pain.

Apply cold

Apply cold to your skin especially after vigorous activity helps enhance blood circulation in the body. That is why you feel good after taking a cold shower. That also helps in proper oxygen circulation in the muscles where you feel the pain.

In most cases, what causes pain in the joints is lack of proper oxygen and blood circulation. When there is blood circulation in the joints, nutrients are also supplied to the areas. That makes them to carry out their normal activities hence relieving the pain. Some of the nutrients that can be supplied to the joints include magnesium which also enhances their growth.

Eat a meal

Sometimes you may come from a vigorous hike feeling tired and therefore not bother to take food but take a nap. That is miserable for your body and may worsen the pain. You need to take a nutritious food after the hike to supply your body with nutrients for its function.

Use the right gear

Prevention is always better than cure. During the activities, wearing poorly fitted boots can increases the pain especially in large muscles. And even your back and shoulders. That may cause a lot of pain to your feet. It is important that when you go for such activities, you have a footwear that fits your body well and the type of movement you are going to make.

Every hike activity involve different movement styles and not all footwear will be suitable for the style. Wearing very tight boots will squeeze your leg into the available space and that will cause a lot of pain. Wearing large boots on the other hand will make you uncomfortable while moving.

Conclusion

After coming from a hard hike, the best thing to do to help you relieve the pain in any part of your body is to use the right equipment. Our leg may have swollen after the activity. Proper recovery equipment and practice will ensure good blood circulation and make you feel better.

Recovery after hike helps bring your body to its normal state. Above are some of the tips you can consider for the recovery after vigorous hike.