You might still picture her jumping out of helicopters and racing around. But these days, Anneka Rice has a far simpler approach to staying active: she walks every day.
Speaking to Clare Balding on BBC Radio 4's Ramblings, the 67-year-old presenter shared that she walks daily. And not just for fitness. Without walking, she explained, she starts to feel ‘out of sorts'.
Long walks let her connect with her surroundings and find a sense of belonging, she explained. It's a bonus that upping your step count also comes with major physical benefits.
Anneka Rice’s tip for increasing your step count
In an older interview, Rice shared a trick for making regular walks more fun, especially in the company of children. ‘We do this thing where we write right and left on pieces of paper, pick them out of a box, randomly and then follow the directions on a walk,’ she shared. ‘We get seriously away from our home and end up having to get buses back. It's just such a great game to play with kids.’
Benefits of walking
Walking is one of the easiest ways to stay active. For a start, it’s totally free. You can tailor it to your present fitness levels without fuss - just slow down or speed up, add or remove a hill, or - if you're feeling fancy - try some basic equipment like ankle weights.
Don't let the simplicity fool you, though. Research shows that regularly getting out for a stroll can support cardio health, boost mood, reduce risk of diabetes, improve sleep and even increase longevity.
Benefits of walking as you age
As we age, these benefits multiply. Getting out regularly, whether for a stroll or a hike, helps maintain your mobility by keeping you moving through a range of motion, which keeps you independent in daily life. Since walking is also a weight-bearing activity, it also supports your bone health by placing stress on your skeleton and encouraging them to stay strong (though if building bone strength is your goal, resistance training is essential). Plus, it counteracts natural age-related loss of muscle, by working the muscles in your lower body and core.
Walking for mental health
As Anneka suggests, the benefits aren’t exclusively physical, either. A walk can provide an oasis of calm in the midst of a busy day, and there's scientific evidence that it helps us manage stress. In a randomised controlled trial involving 74 adults, researchers found that those who completed a four-week mindful-walking programme experienced a significantly greater reduction in perceived stress than those who didn't take part. The programme combined regular walking with mindfulness exercises and group discussion, suggesting that making time for a purposeful walk could be a useful way to unwind.
Walking has also linked to better cognitive health in later life, including memory and thinking skills.
In a study published in the journal PNAS, researchers followed 120 adults aged between 55 and 80, comparing those who undertook regular walking exercise with those who did stretching and toning exercises.
After a year, the walking group had experienced an increase of approximately 2% in the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain involved in learning and memory. By contrast, the hippocampus had shrunk by around 1.4% in the stretching group.
The researchers also found that increases in hippocampal size were associated with improvements in spatial memory.
We'll take your challenge, Anneka.