Melanie Chisholm is used to posing for album covers but, says the former Spice Girl, there’s something special about Sweat. “The big difference now is that I’m very proud of my body,” says Chisholm, 52. “That’s taken me a really long time but 50 is such an incredible milestone, how many less f***s you give is so empowering … You’re like, I’m going to document this before it’s too late.”
In the artwork for ninth solo album, Chisholm looks more Strong Spice than Sporty Spice in a skintight leotard and gladiator belt, showcasing toned limbs and herculean muscles. It’s something she’s incredibly proud of: “Fitness is a huge part of who I am. I always wanted to be strong.”
She does three weightlifting sessions in the gym per week and some cardio, usually in the form of spin classes or cycling on her Peloton. She aims to run once per week, but not long distances: “I’m building back up to 5km. I don’t do huge distances anymore because my joints are the thing that make me feel like my age. I try to be careful in that respect.”
Chisholm grew up in Widnes, Cheshire, where, as a child, she was an avid participant in gymnastics and dance. She was 20 when the Spice Girls formed in 1994 and “was very much that cardio girl, on the treadmill for an hour every day.” Geri Horner, her bandmate, was her gym partner. “When we were young, some people would roll over and go back to sleep when Geri and I were off to the gym. There were definitely Spice Girls who disliked exercise but have embraced it as they’ve gotten older.” She lifted weights, but “I wasn’t lifting heavy”, she says. “I think we were all nervous about getting bulky back then, the aesthetic we were going for was very slim.”
Chisholm has talked about her struggles during the band’s heyday, saying that she was labelled as “the plain one at the back” so “I tried to make myself perfect.” In her 2022 memoir, she spoke of restrictive eating and having “an obsession with exercise” as a result of needing control. Now, with the help of therapy and experience, she’s much easier on herself. “It’s another thing that comes with age, you take better care because you’re not as resilient as you were when you were younger,” she says. “I absolutely battered my body and my nutrition was poor but I could bounce back. Now, if I’m not healthy, I won’t bounce back.”
This shift in perspective has given her a newfound appreciation for active recovery. “In the past, I was an all or nothing kind of girl. I used to think things like going for a long walk were boring… now I realise that can be as beneficial as going hard in the gym.” The same is true of warm-ups and stretching. “When I was in my twenties, I’d jump on the treadmill and just go. Now I’ll have a little warm up and stretch before I do anything.”
The result is that now, in her fifties, she is happier with her body than she’s ever been. “I love that we celebrate strength training now and realise how good it is for us as we get older… Not only does lifting make us physically stronger, it’s so good for us mentally too. It gives you an ‘I can do anything’ attitude.”
GRAHAM CRUZ/LISA FULGINITI
Charles DenningtonBefore the album shoot, she amped things up and spent a fortnight “really dialling in those macros” (counting, to the gram, her protein, carbs and fats) and when time allowed, doing two training sessions in a day — “a cardio session in the morning and a strength session in the afternoon.” She acknowledges that for most people, this isn’t realistic. “Who’s got the time?” she laughs. “I was doing something very specific and made that my priority. I don’t look like that 24/7.”
Chisholm is relieved that her 17-year-old daughter, Scarlet, has a healthy relationship with food and exercise: “She tries to eat healthily but doesn’t deprive herself if she wants to go and get some fast food with her friends. I think that’s very healthy at that age.” Scarlet’s father is the property developer Thomas Starr, whom Chisholm dated for ten years before they split in 2012 and, for the past two years, she has been in a relationship with the Australian model Chris Dingwall, whom she met on the celebrity dating app Raya.
This autumn, Chisholm will embark on a world tour. She also has a busy DJ career, playing everywhere from Australia to Ibiza. When the Spice Girls were touring, “not all hotels would have a gym, it wasn’t that easy to find one. Now they’re everywhere”, so she carries resistance bands and a skipping rope, allowing her to do body weight training wherever she goes. A pre-gig workout is “part of the ritual. My go-to if I’m short on time and I’ve got to perform is to get in the gym, have a good stretch and just lift some heavy weights”.
In December, Chisholm tried her first Hyrox with her sister, Emma. The indoor fitness racing competition combines 8km of running with eight functional workout stations; even Sporty Spice found it “quite daunting. I was a little bit intimidated going into it because if you look at things on Instagram, all the people you see are like beasts, but when you get there, it’s not like that at all,” she says. “It was such a great sense of achievement.”
Her advice to any women who want to start weightlifting is to “just go for it”. She has friends who are intimated by the gym but says that “actually, everybody’s so concerned with themselves that they’re not really looking at you”. She recommends doing a taster session with a personal trainer. “I couldn’t preach more about the value of strength training, it just gives you that feeling of ‘I can do it. I can accomplish and achieve things’,” she says. “I feel very grateful that it’s part of who I am. It’s helped me through lots of difficulties.”
