Mel B likes an exercise that lets you ‘add in your own spice, so to speak.’ Well, of course she does. The former Spice Girl is speaking to GH because she has finally found one. And luckily for her, most estimates place it among Britain’s favourite fitness classes, with thousands of sessions held across the UK each week.

‘I was first introduced to Zumba properly a few years ago when I worked with them on a couple of videos,’ she says. ‘I absolutely loved it and got completely hooked. We had such a laugh. The first instructor I worked with, Gina Wonder, has remained a friend until this day.’

If you don’t already know (have you been living under a rock?), Zumba is a dance-fitness program combining high-energy Latin and international music with upbeat aerobic choreography. Alternating between fast and slow tempos, it turns dance into interval training and a traditional workout into a party – exercise in disguise, in other words.

It’s this sense of fun that attracted Mel. ‘To be really honest it was just the whole spirit of Zumba,’ she says. ‘There’s something so free and liberating about it. You can do the moves but you can add in your own spice, so to speak. There’s something really fun about dancing with a group of other people, all making the same moves (as much as possible) and creating this energy together – it’s totally infectious.’

There are several different types to choose from. Zumba Toning classes focus on strength training, Zumba Step is a combination of Zumba and step aerobics and Zumba Gold is slower-paced, designed for older adults or those with limited mobility, and focuses on balance, coordination and flexibility.

Whichever one you choose, Zumba’s a good fitness pick for women as we age, says Mel. For a start: ‘It’s not in any way precious. There’s no posing or special equipment but they do have some great outfits if you happen to want to wear them – basically anything goes.’ All that means she’s likely to break into a little bit of Zumba whenever the mood takes her: ‘I do Zumba whenever I get the chance. I know the moves and I’ll just sometimes break into a little routine – I just like to keep moving.’

Second: ‘As we get older, we need to keep moving,’ she adds, ‘and it’s not hard but it does get your blood pumping – and you’ll definitely notice the difference in your fitness levels in a matter of weeks.’

Finally: ‘Zumba isn’t just an exercise class, it’s a community. If you come because you want to dance, great. If you come because you want to get fit, great.’ In fact, she says, it was this aspect that really got her hooked: ‘One hundred percent, it was the people . There’s definitely something about a Zumba dancer. I think it’s a sense of fun and a devil-may-care attitude that really suits me and makes you keep coming back. You’re not dreading it at all thinking: “Oh no, I haven’t been to the gym. I need to go…” You’re thinking: “Great! I’m going to see my ladies tonight!”’

Perhaps for that reason, it’s proved a mood-booster for her. ‘Zumba makes you happy because you can’t help laughing, especially if you make a wrong move,’ says Mel. ‘It definitely ups your heart rate, tones you up and it’s great for flexibility, which we all need. In terms of mental health, it floods your body with endorphins and that makes you feel great.’

We can’t let her go without asking one final question: what’s on your exercise playlist, Mel? ‘Anything and everything,’ she says. ‘I like old-school reggae funk, but to be honest, Zumba always has great music, so I like to be surprised!’ Sounds good to us. Are you ready to spice up your workout?

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During the pandemic, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission recorded a 48% spike in at-home exercise injuries. You might think that the culprit was bad equipment, but it was bad form. People had no coach around to correct it.  

Researchers at Drexel University and Michigan State University have built a prototype that addresses exactly that problem, in real time, using your phone camera, and there’s real potential for it to become a legitimate fitness app in future (via Tech Xplore).

What is the system called and how does it work?

The system, called BioCoach, was presented at the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition in June 2026. It uses AI and live video (via a camera) to watch you exercise, analyze your body mechanics, and deliver specific, biomechanics-based corrections. 

To do this, the system processes video through two parallel streams: first uses a 3D convolutional neural network to capture your visual appearance and body movement patterns, while the second reconstructs your skeleton in three dimensions, analyzing your joint angles, range of motion, and the phase of the movement you’re in. 

Before offering you feedback, BioCoach identifies which joints are most involved in the exercise you’re performing. For instance, if you’re performing push ups, it will specifically monitor your shoulders, elbows, and wrists, offering personalized corrections. 

And I’m not talking about the generic “keep your back straight” comments that most fitness apps offer. The prototype goes above and beyond, offering anatomically precise guidance like “increase elbow flexion to 90 degrees at the bottom.” 

How did it perform against the competition?

The research team has trained BioCoach on Qualcomm’s Exercise Video Dataset, with over 200 re-annotated videos and over 2,400 new notes, to teach BioCoach to explain not just what to fix, but why it matters.

BioCoach has already been tested against similar programs from Nvidia, ByteDance, Alibaba, Salesforce, OpenAI, and MIT, among others. It outperformed Stream-VLM, which is a program from MIT and Nvidia, on text quality and judged correctness. It showed improvements in anatomy-specific feedback accuracy as well.

For now, the system is still a prototype, but the team is working on adding the ability to estimate joint reaction forces and muscle activation patterns, all from a video feed. 

The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, and this is why I strongly believe that BioCoach could be developed in a revolutionary smartphone app, which offers personalized corrective measures and encourages the right form and posture, preventing painful injuries and sustainable workout programs for people, which works both indoors and outdoors.

BioCoach is more advanced than most AI-based fitness coaches available

To give you some context, both Apple Fitness+ and Mirror offer video-based workout programs, but the feedback is pre-recorded and not dynamic like what BioCoach offers.

Peloton’s hardware offers a Movement-Tracking Camera that counts reps and flags issues, but it requires dedicated equipment like Bike+, Tread+, or Row+, and doesn’t explain the reasoning behind the form corrections and how they can benefit you.

Similarly, Google’s Health Coach and Samsung Health analyze biometric signals like heart rate and activity cadence to suggest certain improvements, but they can’t see you moving, and therefore, don’t provide any guidance for your form.

BioCoach, in contrast, is the first system to combine 3D skeletal reconstruction with a language model that explains the mechanical consequence of each correction. If it ever reaches your phone as a consumer app, which I truly hope it does, it could make genuinely expert coaching accessible to anyone with a camera.

It’s not the first exercise you’d think of for fitness or muscle tone. But playing table tennis, or ping pong, has a plethora of hidden health and fitness benefits – and the US actor Susan Sarandon is such a fan, she even co-founded a popular US chain of ping pong social clubs called ‘SPiN’.

Not only does table tennis tone arms, work up a sweat and improve overall fitness – it also boosts brain health, says Susan. Most importantly, it’s open to everyone. ‘Ping pong cuts across all body types and gender – everything, really – because little girls can beat big muscly guys,’ she says. ‘You don’t get hurt; it is not expensive; it is really good for your mind. It is one of the few sports that you can play until you die.’

New research published in the journal Nature backs this up: a team of researchers tracked a group of healthy adults aged 55-65, all beginners in the sport. Regular table tennis training for 12 weeks led to a significant improvement in physical fitness, improved reaction time, better hand-grip strength and reduced visceral fat. Not bad for a fun, low-cost hobby…

‘Table tennis offers moderate-intensity activity, which is good for your heart, along with lots of other benefits,’ says the British Heart Foundation. ‘Your arms, core and shoulders get a workout as you swipe for and direct the ball. In a fast-paced game, you’ll work your legs and ankles as you dash between the corners.’

Susan says she started playing ping pong because it was fun, but also because she wanted to encourage wider participation in the sport by making it more accessible. Over the years, she’s donated professional-grade ping pong tables to under-funded schools in New York City and regularly hosts high-profile, star-studded ping-pong tournaments and charity balls.

Inspired? Find a club near you by visiting tabletennisengland.co.uk.