I tried the viral Taylor Swift treadmill challenge. Here's how long I lasted
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I love to sing. I love to dance. I hate running.
But over the past few weeks I have seen the Taylor Swift “Eras Tour" treadmill challenge all over social media and it piqued my interest. I am a personal trainer who enjoys trying new workouts and I am a big fan of Swift’s music — so it seemed right up my alley as a fun challenge.
What is the Taylor Swift treadmill challenge?
The internet started buzzing after Swift shared the workout she used to prepare for the "Era’s Tour" in an article in Time’s Person of the Year issue. She explained that as a part of her training to physically prepare for the show she ran on the treadmill every day while singing the concert’s entire 3-hour setlist. She set the speed “fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs,” Swift told Time. While we don’t know the exact speed Taylor ran or walked, Runner’s World used the beats per minute of each song to estimate she logged about 16 miles during her workouts.
Thus, the Taylor Swift “Eras Tour" treadmill challenge was born. The challenge requires you to attempt to run through the entire 3-hour setlist while lip syncing the songs (or quietly singing them aloud).
So … fun, but extremely challenging.
Admittedly, the only cardio exercise I get besides walking is running for five minutes at a time on the treadmill and playing tennis 3-4 times a week. So this was definitely outside of my comfort zone. And to be honest, when the time came to actually hop on the treadmill, I was dreading it.
The videos on social media feature people donning sparkly attire, makeup and other fun accessories to really channel their inner Taylor. I thought they may be on to something and was looking for something to help psych me up for the physical feat.
I procrastinated heading to the gym for over an hour. So, in an attempt to motivate myself to get moving I decided to give a costume a try and opted for understated (but totally outside of my comfort zone) red lipstick. It did the job and I headed for the gym.
I tried it: The Taylor Swift treadmill challenge
I strategically timed my attempt during non-busy gym hours (after the early morning rush) as to not annoy people or embarrass myself.
(A note to all my Swifties: My Spotify shuffled the playlist, so the songs are not in the exact order as the tour setlist!)
I used the beats per minute of the music to inform my speed and started walking at a 3.7 pace to the first song, “You Need to Calm Down.” For me, this is a fast walk. The next song was “Love Story,” which got me running. I cranked up the speed to a jogging pace of 5.0 and jacked it up to a 6.3 for the chorus.
Around the five-minute mark of this workout, I started getting in my head, since that is usually the time I hop off the treadmill. (I use five-minute runs as part of my HIIT workouts, alternating from running to strength training and back again.)
Jamming out to “Love Story” shifted my attention back to the task at hand. I was having fun, but also starting to feel really winded. The next song was “You Belong With Me” and at some points I was sprinting at 8.0. I was so tempted to call it quits, but instead slowed down to a jog and even a walk during some of the verses. I was determined to keep going!
Around this time my WiFi went out, which froze my playlist on Spotify. So I turned to my library of Taylor Swift songs that I had downloaded on my phone. The first one was one of my personal favorites, “Out of the Woods” (which isn’t a part of the "Era’s Tour" setlist). This song always motivates me to get out of the everyday minutiae that can sometimes drag me down. I started off walking at 3.7 and then cranked it up to around 7. I surprised myself by finding a good stride — but I also started visibly sweating during this song. (I’m talking rolling droplets down my face.)
At the end of the song, I had pushed past the 15-minute mark and I was shocked I had made it this far. I lowered the speed to 3.8 and “Style” was the next song that began to play. Sticking with the beat required me to increase the speed to a 7.0 run. This is where I started feeling a shin splint in my left leg, but I was having so much fun that I had to keep going until the end of the song. “Bad Blood” came on next and I started off with a walk and then a sprint, which did me in! I noticed I was getting close to 2 miles in distance and 20 minutes in time, which motivated me to keep going until I hit both.
What I liked about the Taylor Swift treadmill challenge
I liked that this workout set the pace for me and there was nothing I had to count or think about besides the beat of the music. I easily moved my speed up and down on the treadmill based on each song. It was fun to challenge myself and lip sync along to some songs I’ve been listening to for years! I could put my mind on autopilot and just let my body and the beat guide me. And jamming out to the songs did distract me from the speed — to a point — and motivated me to go further than I would have otherwise.
I am shocked to admit it, but this workout challenge would encourage me to run again — maybe not for five songs at a time, but definitely for a little bit longer than my usual five minutes!
What I didn’t like about the Taylor Swift treadmill challenge
Yes, I had some fun with the music, but I still don’t enjoy running. So my biggest complaint about the workout challenge is that it forced me to run. Anyone who knows me knows that I am all about finding forms of exercise that you enjoy, and I never recommend that my clients force themselves to do things they don’t enjoy.
I also knew going into it that I wouldn’t be able to run for 3 hours and “succeed” at the challenge, so I didn’t like knowing that I was already going to come up short before I even started. This made it difficult for me to even try, and I had to really get my head in the game before starting and shift my goal from completing the challenge to simply seeing how far I could get and having fun with it (so I didn’t feel like I failed!). I practiced what I preach: Just showing up means you’ve won!
This article was originally published on TODAY.com