Kelly Rowland Is Lifting Heavier Than She Ever Has Before—Here’s Why

2 min readKelly Rowland is a singer, actress, entrepreneur, and Women’s Health cover star, having graced the November 2020 issue while pregnant with her second son, Noah. She admits a lot has changed in the intervening years, as she chats with executive editor Abigail Cuffey on the latest episode of The Huddle, the podcast where we talk sports, sweat, and everything in between.Becoming a mom of two—and during a global pandemic, no less!—forced the 45-year-old to prioritize her mental health like never before. “I remember having meditation time. I remember praying a lot,” she says. She also was intentional about having honest check-ins with herself. “Something as simple as telling yourself, ‘You tired, girl. You should go put your feet up,’ is really important,” she says.Kelly’s carried that intentional approach forward by ensuring she has “me time” in the morning before her sons (Noah, now 5, and Titan, 11) get up. “When I wake up before them, I'm not rushing into everything,” she says. “They get a clearer version of me, a strategized version of me.” She makes good use of that time by meditating and praying, yes, but also by squeezing in a workout. And here too, she’s shifted her routine to prioritize her current goals.“I'm lifting heavier now,” says Kelly, who’s partnering with Lysol and their Lysol HERE for Healthy Schools: Quality Time Off Grant program, which supports in-school experiences for families.In addition to weight-training, Kelly relies on a mix of HIIT, Pilates, boxing, and stretching to keep her feeling strong. “In my 20s, I thought strength was cute,” Kelly says. “In my 30s, I said I want to be strong. That's when I became a mother, and I wanted to be able to have him and do all kinds of things.”Now Kelly’s focus is on evolving (not aging) with grace and strength.“I want to be able to stand upright and not have poor posture, and [complain that] my this hurts or my that hurts,” she says.Ultimately, Kelly explains, our bodies are something to treasure. “It's just having a reverence and respect for it,” she says.They don’t call the body a temple for nothing...To hear more from Kelly on her health habits—in addition to this week’s “Wellness Curious,” in which we dive into what exactly body recomp is and why it can be so hard to achieve—click play on the latest episode of The Huddle above.Video Executive Producer Dorenna NewtonVideo Producer Janie BoothDirector of Photography Derrick Saint PierreEditor Will Klein