From “spice up your life” to “if you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,” advice from the Spice Girls has continued to ring true for the last two and a half–plus decades since Emma, Gerri, Mel B, Mel C, and Victoria took the world by storm in the ‘90s.
Time passing hasn’t made the phenoms any less wise. But now, in addition to dispensing girl power and dating wisdom, as part of a confidence-building campaign with lingerie and activewear brand Pour Moi, Spice Girl Melanie Brown aka Mel B (aka “Scary Spice”) is also sharing her observations, experiences, and badass outlook on growing older and maintaining fitness in your forties.
Please, do not let this sentiment depress you by falling into the “I’m so old” trap! It is a gift that the women millennials looked to as girls in the ‘90s can still help bring positivity and power to the next vital stages of our lives.
It is a gift that the women millennials looked to as girls in the ‘90s can still help bring positivity and power to the next vital stages of our lives.
So, now 48, how has Mel B kept life spicy? From a habits and outlook perspective, she’s made movement, as well as self-compassion about what that movement looks like, a part of her daily existence.
“Expectation-wise I think you have to be a lot kinder to yourself,” Brown shares through Pour Moi. “Do what feels right and is sustainable for you—whether that’s 10 to 15 minutes a day or a couple of hours a week. And walk more. Don’t always take the car for short trips. Walk, use the stairs, not the lift—it’s amazing how that can increase your general fitness.”
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In terms of fitness modalities, Brown has been active throughout her life (yes, we all remember those dance moves). But she says, for fitness in your forties, it’s even more important to strength train in particular.
“Definitely add more weights because you need to maintain your bones and your muscle tone,” Brown says. She’s right—strength training is beneficial at any age, but the benefits to your longevity, cardiovascular, bone, and functional health “become more relevant and important as you age,” Sharon Gam, PhD, CSCS, an exercise physiologist and certified strength and conditioning specialist, previously told Well+Good about the strength training while growing older.
Knowing you might want to ramp up your strength training, and finding the motivation and safe space to do it, are two different things. Brown advises you to take on the challenge with a sense of levity, self-love, and the unique confidence that comes with maturity.
“The good thing about getting older is you care less what people think so embrace that,” Brown says. “Just go for it, make the most of it and enjoy it. It can be intimidating for lots of people to walk into a gym for the first time but remember people are there to help you not to judge you. Just focus on what you want to do and what you want to achieve.”
That encouragement just means more when it’s coming from a Spice Girl, ya know? Viva forever.
