{"id":799325,"date":"2026-10-11T17:10:34","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T17:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/799325\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T17:10:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T17:10:34","slug":"i-trust-my-body-again-at-53-miranda-hart-swapped-power-walks-for-one-slower-daily-habit-heres-why-it-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/799325\/","title":{"rendered":"“I trust my body again”: At 53, Miranda Hart swapped power walks for one slower daily habit \u2013 here\u2019s why it works"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to get your steps in, the Traitors castle is the place to be. The interior alone of Ardross Castle spans 22,000 square-feet, and the grounds add another 100 acres to the total.<\/p>\n

It’s good news for Miranda Hart. The comedian and Celebrity Traitors star \u2013 who detailed her decade-long battle with ME in her memoir, I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest With You<\/a> \u2013 says walking helped to rebuild her physical and mental health. But she won’t be power-walking between challenges. In fact, she swears by a slower and \u2013 whisper it \u2013 easier form of exercise.<\/p>\n

Speaking to BBC Woman’s Hour, Miranda said she does 20-minute, ‘very slow’ walks around a field instead of brisk ‘power walks’. These walks, she says, have been instrumental in rebuilding a ‘mind-body connection’ and helping her ‘trust her body again’ \u2013 and the science is on her side.<\/p>\n

Slow walking benefits for beginners<\/p>\n

First, the bad news. Slow walking is considered light-intensity exercise, meaning it doesn’t count towards the 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity exercise the NHS recommends<\/a> for adults. But don’t despair.<\/p>\n

‘If you’ve been ill, injured or simply away from exercise for a while, or if you’re navigating the menopause and your energy isn’t what it was, a gentle daily walk rebuilds the habit and the confidence before you ever worry about intensity,’ says women’s fitness expert Kate Rowe-Ham. ‘You can’t build on a foundation you haven’t laid.’<\/p>\n

Slow walking for burning fat<\/p>\n

In fact, it may have its own unique benefits. One 2022 study<\/a> found that women over 50 burned more fat when walking slowly, compared to those who upped their pace. Why? I could be that, since walking fast can leave you breathless, your body is more likely to use blood sugar (aka glucose) for energy. At a more leisurely pace, you may be more likely to burn fat instead.<\/p>\n

Slow walking for mental health<\/p>\n

‘It’s the slower pace that really calms my mind,’ Miranda has said, ‘I look up more and I look around.’<\/p>\n

Slow walking, Kate agrees, ‘is amazing for your mental health’. When you slow down and get outside, your breathing settles, and your mind stops racing, she suggests: ‘walking at a relaxed pace is one of the most reliable mood-lifters there is, and it’s free.<\/p>\n

Slow walking for better sleep<\/p>\n

In 2022, a randomised controlled study found that sleep quality among university students improved measurably after just one week of mindful walks. The benefits held even when the walk took place in an urban environment. That said\u2026<\/p>\n

Slow walking in nature<\/p>\n

A 1980s Japanese study showed that two hours of mindful exploration in a forest setting not only lowered stress (as measured by cortisol levels) but also reduced blood pressure while boosting concentration and memory.<\/p>\n

When slow walking isn’t enough<\/p>\n

Slow walking keeps you moving, but if you want to change your fitness, heart health and body composition, you will have to up intensity eventually, says Kate. ‘Your body adapts to whatever you ask of it, so if your walks have stopped feeling like anything, they’ve stopped doing much. That’s your cue,’ she explains.<\/p>\n

Even then, you may not need to speed walk. Kate suggests adding a weighted vest or lifting the pace for short blocks: brisk for a few minutes, easy for a few, repeat. ‘Those faster stretches are what train your heart and lungs,’ she says.<\/p>\n

How do you know if you’ve raised the intensity of your walk enough to count toward your weekly activity target? Use the talk test, Kate suggests: ‘If you can chat comfortably, you’re in your easy zone; if you can talk but not sing, you’ve hit that brisk, moderate sweet spot, roughly three miles an hour, about 100 steps a minute. If you’re too breathless to speak, ease back.’<\/p>\n

Slow walking for consistency<\/p>\n

‘One of the things I say to almost every client is the best exercise is the one you’ll actually do again tomorrow,’ says Kate. Slow walking is often dismissed because it isn’t sufficiently punishing, she says, but that misses the point. ‘Consistency changes your body and mind over time, and slow walking is the kind of movement people can genuinely sustain. It’s low-impact, it needs no kit and no recovery day, and it keeps the joints moving, the circulation going and the muscles switched on without hammering your body.’<\/p>\n

Forgive the pun, but it’s one form of exercise you might just stay faithful to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you want to get your steps in, the Traitors castle is the place to be. The interior…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-799325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}