IIf you’ve been exercising your vocal chords to Taylor Swift’s album Department of Tortured Poets, maybe it’s time to move on to other parts of your body – like your arms, legs, and core. We asked three fitness trainers how to turn some of Swift’s new music into a fun and effective workout.
Fortnight
Use the opening track in Department of Tortured Poets as a warm-up for the rest of the workout, advises Kelly Borowieca certified personal trainer in San Francisco.
Perform 14 repetitions (to mimic fifteen days) of each exercise.
- Arm Circles: While running in place, extend your arms and perform circular movements forward. Reverse directions halfway through.
- Sit down and reach: Sit down and squat, and as you stand up, raise one arm above your head and across the midline of your body. Switch arms after each squat.
- Jumping jacks: Start with your feet together and your arms at your sides. Jump your feet out to the sides while raising your arms above your head. Return to starting position.
- Hamstring Curl: Stand and lift one heel toward your glutes, bending your knee. Lower your foot and repeat with the other leg.
- March from knees to chest: March in place and alternate bringing your knee toward your chest. Keep your back straight and your abdominals contracted.
- Quadruple Stretch: Reach back with one hand to grab the ankle of the foot on the same side. Hold your ankle toward your glutes for a few brief moments, then switch sides.
Repeat throughout the song — and each time you hear the word “fortnight,” turn your head to the side and do one of Swift’s iconic dramatic looks, suggests Borowiec.
Department of Tortured Poets
Borowiec calls this routine the Department of Tortured Legs because it contains “slow, torturous squats.”
- 5 repetitions of squats: 3 seconds sitting, 1 second standing.
- 5 repetitions of squats: 1 second sitting, 3 seconds standing.
- 5 reps of squats: 3 seconds down, 3 seconds up.
- Pulse for 10 seconds. While remaining squatted, pump your legs up and down.
- For 20 seconds, run or jog in place.
- Rest for 15 seconds.
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Repeat during the song. Beginners can perform all other reps and/or just part of the squat, says Borowiec; those who are more advanced can hold weights to feel an extra burn. During rest periods, do some “mother singing”, as Swift calls it: sway, dance and sing along, making every face and hand gesture speak to you as you lose yourself in the music.
My son only breaks his favorite toys
This workout is focused on basic exercises, which can be performed at a slower pace. The key is to focus on deliberate, controlled movements without compromising form, says Borowiec. This way, unlike Swift’s boy, you won’t break anything important.
Perform each of these abdominal exercises for 30 seconds. Rest 13 seconds (a nod to Swift, who was born on December 13 and often references the number) between each set, advises Borowiec.
- Bicycles: Lie on your back, with your hands behind your head, and alternate bringing your opposite elbow (but think shoulder) to your knee while extending your other leg.
- Reverse push-ups: Lie on your back with your legs up, then lift your hips off the floor by contracting your abdominals and pulling your knees toward your chest.
- Russian Twists: Sit on the floor with your knees bent, lean back slightly, and rotate your torso from side to side while holding an optional weight.
- Mountain climbers: Start in a plank position and alternate bringing your knees toward your chest in a running motion.
- Bird dogs: Start on your hands and knees, extend one arm forward and the opposite leg back, keeping your back straight, then return to the starting position and switch sides.
Bad Bass
This song has a fast “tick/drum” beat in the background, Borowiec highlights, which allows for faster cardio movements to be synchronized. She recommends singing out loud while performing these cardio moves — just like Swift did when getting in shape for the Eras Tour.
Perform each exercise for 45 seconds. Go down and do a burpee every time you hear the word “down.”
- Run in place (or give a shout out to Travis Kelce with quick football feet)
- Jump rope (imaginary or real)
- Ski jumpers: Start in a squat position and then jump sideways from side to side. Reach your opposite arm to the opposite foot, keeping your chest lifted and your back leg in the air behind you.
Repeat during the song.
See you soon, London
This workout, developed by Borowiec, focuses on the upper body, targeting key areas like the arms, shoulders, and chest. Aim to execute each movement smoothly, using strength rather than momentum, she says — channeling the inner courage Swift mustered to leave her beloved London behind.
Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, with dumbbells.
- Biceps curl: Hold the dumbbells with your palms facing up, curl them toward your shoulders, and lower them again. Keep your elbows close to your sides.
- Triceps extensions: Hold a dumbbell with both hands, extend your arms above your head and lower the weight behind your head by bending your elbows 90 degrees. Return to starting position.
- Chest pressure: Lie on your back with your elbows bent and level with your shoulders, then push the dumbbells up until your arms are extended and lower the dumbbells back to chest level.
- Permanent lines: Hold the dumbbells in front of your thighs with your palms facing your body. Pull the weights toward your chest while squeezing your shoulder blades together and lower the weights again.
- Pressure on the head: Hold the dumbbells at shoulder height, press the weights above your head until your arms are extended upwards, then lower. Switch arms if necessary.
- Jump rope for the rest of the song. Single jumps or jumps in time to the beat.
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Tip: Keep different sized weights nearby to adjust the difficulty as needed. If you don’t have dumbbells, you can use water bottles or soup cans. And since you’ll be moving your arms a lot, use all the friendship bracelets you collected on the Eras Tour, suggests Borowiec.
Just got out of prison
Imagine you’ve just freed yourself from some metaphorical restriction and your first step is to exercise your deep abdominals. Here’s how, according to Lara Heimanna certified yoga instructor based in Princeton, NJ
- Verse 1: Lie on your back, with your knees bent, hands behind your head, and elbows bent. Exhale, lift your shoulders and head off the floor, lift your left knee and rotate your chest and spine to the left. Return to center and lower, then repeat to the right.
- Choir: Placing your knees over your hips, lift your head and shoulders off the floor and rotate your pelvis.
- Verse 2: Start the same way as the first verse, but straighten your left knee, reach your right hand outside your left leg.
- Rest briefly.
- Bridge/chorus: Scissor legs.
- Rest and breathe.
I can fix it (no, I really can)
Try a barre workout to this soulful song, suggests Linda Magid, a fitness instructor at Denver Parks and Recreation in Colorado, who also teach online. It targets the arms and requires light weights (2 to 3 pounds); or replace with a can of beans or a large book. “Dating someone you’re trying to fix is a lot of work, and it’s also impossible,” says Magid.
- Stand with a weight in each hand, like Swift preparing for a fight.
- Verse 1 and chorus: Slowly raise your arms to shoulder height and slowly return them to your sides eight times. When the chorus starts, raise your arms forward and pulse them in small movements. You should feel an intense muscle burn. Lower your arms to rest.
- Verses 2 and 3 and chorus: Raise your arms sideways to shoulder height slowly and slowly return them to your sides, eight times. When the chorus starts, raise your arms to the side and pulse them in small movements. When the chorus ends, lower your arms to rest.
- Verse 4 and chorus: Raise your arms back (with a slight bend in the knees and a slight bend forward) and slowly place them at your sides, eight times. When the chorus starts, raise your arms behind you and pulse them in small movements. Lower your arms to rest.
I can do this with a broken heart
One of the liveliest songs on Department of Tortured Poets calls for a cardiovascular workout. Magid’s routine, which gets harder as the song goes on, appropriately hits the heart and lungs.
- Movement 1: March until the first “1,2,3,4”.
- Movement 2: Run in place – you can switch to running with high knees for the second half of the verse, until the second “1,2,3,4”.
- Movement 3: Quick Feet: Get down into an athletic stance with your feet apart and run in place as fast as you can. Your steps should be small and low. (Smile while moving your feet really quickly, just like Swift did while she was dying inside, suggests Magid.)
- Repeat.
- Movement 1: It might be a run here instead of a march.
- Movement 2: They can have their knees high all the time.
- Movement 3: Feet quick as they move side to side, back and forth.
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With Borowiec’s instructions, turn this music into a satisfying relaxant. Its calm pace makes it a good option for stretching and relaxation, he says.
Hold each stretch for 30 seconds. Switch sides mid-song.
- Knee to chest: While lying on your back, hold one knee against your chest and straighten the other leg.
- Glute/hip stretch: Lie on your back with both knees bent. Cross your right ankle over your left knee and gently pull the back of your left leg toward your chest.
- Quadruple stretch in recumbency: Lie on your stomach, hold one ankle with your bent knee and pull it toward your buttocks.
- Snake: Lie on your stomach and push your forearms up as you lift your chest off the floor with your hips down.
- Child’s posture: Kneel with your knees open, sit on your heels and lower your torso forward with your arms straight or at your sides.
- Triceps Stretch: Extend one arm above your head, bend it, and gently press your elbow with your other hand.
- Biceps stretch: Extend your arms behind you and point your thumbs down and back.
Complete the workout with three deep breaths: extend your arms above the top of your head, make Taylor’s signature heart shape with your hands, then drop your arms down to your sides. Inhale on the way up, says Borowiec, and exhale on the way down. Then enjoy the burning sensation of those tortured arms, legs, and core.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
