Bookish Workouts? What?

Oh hey! It's been a hot freaking minute since I have felt any sort of motivation to create ANY sort of post lately. But rather than give you a long winded reason and try to explain myself away, I will just say this: Sometimes life happens and you're not motivated to show up for yourself, let alone other people. The last few weeks have been that way for me, but now I am actually ready to start showing up for both myself and others again! And what an amazing feeling it is!

On that note, let's dive right into it because you're probably reading the title of this post and thinking "What does that even mean?" Well, let me give you a little bit of a backstory to explain what it's all about.

Taking it REALLY far back, a few years ago I decided to really dive into my health and fitness journey. After living 24 or so years with a love/hate relationship with caring for my body, I decided to go all in with at home workouts and nutrition. And I was fantastic at following it pretty religiously for 2-3 years! I was down almost 30lbs, thinking more about what I was putting into my body, and strengthening my muscles with 30-45 minutes a day of intense activity. And to be honest, I loved it!

Until I didn't. It's probably not a surprise to anyone that once 2020 hit and the pandemic went full swing, my routine, along with basically the entire world's, was pretty rocked and I was finding it really hard to be motivated to move my body. Even so, I was able to follow my routine for most of 2020 and into 2021. However, for some reason about halfway through 2021, the routine that I had spent so much time cultivating just wasn't bringing me the same joy that it used to. I wasn't motivated to do any of my workouts at home. I didn't care about following the nutrition plan anymore, and I stopped seeking out results in the same way I had. And to be honest, I was pretty okay with that! Even during the time that I was working really hard on following the routine, I was still finding myself obsessing over results rather than focusing on overall health. The plan that I had been following so religiously wasn't serving me anymore because I was n0w at a point where I wanted to focus more on the joy of life rather than obsessing about what my body looked liked.

Which pretty much brings us to today! I am now at a point where I am aware of my body on a regular basis, but I am working on not making it the center of my focus all day every day. I want to exist in my body without feeling like I need to fit a certain size or be a certain shape to be happy. With that being said, I still find joy in moving my body and feeling strong! So for the last few weeks, I have been channeling that energy by making my workouts fun in a different kind of way that has nothing to do with seeking visual results and everything to do with finding a routine that makes me feel like a beast.

Are you wondering what this has to do with books? Well let me tell you! **WARNING** There will be a few spoilers for the 5th installment in the A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas, so if you haven't read the series and plan to, or if you haven't reached A Court of Silver Flames yet, you should be warned that I might give a few things away!

In this book, the main character, Nesta, and her friends, who she meets at the House of Wind, begin training with Cassian and Azriel (Illyrian Warriors from The Night Court) to become Valkyries. They spend a good portion of the book working on becoming stronger and towards gaining this accolade. Cassian and Azriel not only put them through the ringer physically, but emotionally as well. Over the course of the book, they do a variety of workouts in physical and mental training so that when the time comes where they are tested they are strong enough to show that they can pass the test which will allow them to become Valkyries. This is the energy that I have recently decided to channel into my workouts.

On my TikTok account (TheBookishLifeofChels), I have begun recording and sharing my workouts under the guise of "Valkyrie Training." I share a few clips of the workouts that I am doing, and give them ACOTAR related names that makes them feel more enjoyable and gives them a slight bookish vibe that people who follow me might be able to relate to. Through this process, many people have seen and related to this content and using the idea of becoming a Valkyrie as motivation. While I am doing VERY normal workouts and nothing that hasn't been done before, giving it this spin has not only made it more fun for me, but also more relatable to the people who follow my BookTok account. Additionally, through sharing the videos, many people have asked for some sort of a "plan" to follow, hence the post of this post!

I have decided that I am going to share a weekly plan of what I am going to be doing that week for "Valkyrie Training" so that others who might want to follow along can have something to reference while they are working out! Not only will this help me be more accountable, but I hope that it will help others fall in love with the process of moving their bodies again! And at the end of it all, maybe we will all be ready to participate in the Valkyrie Trials!

My hope is that this will help me become more aware of what I am doing at the gym and to make moving my body more fun again. Because honestly when it feels like a chore, it's hard to feel motivated to get it done! But when it feels like something that is more an extension of something I am already doing, in this case reading en masse, I am much more likely to stick to it and feel accomplished!

While I am currently doing an ACOTAR them, my hope is to do different books/series in the future that others enjoy so that I can reach a wider audience and so that I don't get bored! I am really looking forward to this endeavor and working towards becoming stronger and stronger moving forward!

So, with all of that being said, I am planning on using a weekly blog post to share the workouts that I am planning on doing for the week! I will also be posting my daily workouts on my TikTok account, so if you don't already follow me and want to see the moves as I do them, feel free to give me a follow! This way, if you're unsure what move I am talking about or something like that, you can reference it there!

My workouts typically follow this structure: Monday-Total Body, Tuesday-Cardio/Core, Wednesday-Upper Body, Thursday-Cardio/Core, Friday-Lower Body, Saturday/Sunday-Active Recovery and Stretching. I am in NO WAY a fitness professional, so take everything I do and say with that in mind, but this structure has worked for me in the past and is a mix of both weight training and cardio. These are the types of workouts I enjoy the most! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do and I can't wait to share!

So without further ado, let me share the plan! When sharing the workouts in this way, I will just use the regular names for the moves so that you know what I am talking about, but if you want to see the bookish vibes for the workouts, go check out my TikTok! I will share the vibes for each day below so you'll know what to expect when you go check them out :)

Vibes for the week: We are channeling the energy of Feyre being a general badass and taking care of all of the people in her life while simultaneously being the strongest and most enchanting High Lady to ever grace Prythian!

THIS WEEK'S VALKYRIE TRAINING WORKOUT PLAN

Monday: Total Body (Cassian Edition)

Warm Up: 15 Minutes Walking/Elliptical

SET 1:

10 Loaded Front Squats

10 Overhead Press

10 Combination of Both

Repeat 2X

SET 2:

10 Dumbell Press

10 Overhead Lat Pull

10 Combination of Both

Repeat 2X

SET 3:

10 Sumo Squat

10 Upright Rows

10 Combination

Repeat 2X

SET 4:

10 45 Degree Dumbell Press (laying on the ground)

10 Bridges

10 Combination of Both

Repeat 2X

Tuesday: Cardio Core (Elain Edition)

Interval Running

5 Minute Walk

10 Minute Jog

5 Minute Walk

10 Minute Jog

Cooldown

Core:

20 Scissors

10 Leg Lifts

10 Side to Side Heel Taps

10 Roll Ups

Repeat 3X Then Stretch

Wednesday: Upper Body (Starfall Edition)

Warm Up: 15 Minutes Walking/Elliptical

SET 1:

10 Bent Over Rows

10 Tricep Kickbacks

10 Combination of Both

Repeat 2X

SET 2:

10 Lateral Raise

10 Bicep Curls

10 Combination of Both

Repeat 2X

SET 3:

10 Upright Rows

10 Shoulder Press

10 Combination of Both

Repeat 2X

SET 4:

10 Bent Over Flies

10 Hammer Curls

10 Combination

Repeat 2X

Thursday: Cardio Core (Blood Rite Edition)

15 Minutes or 1000-1500 steps on the Stair Stepper

Core:

10 Crunches

10 Side V Ups Each Side

20 Total Plank Side Dips

10 Toe Touches Each Side

10 Dumbell Side Bends Each Side

Repeat 3X Then Stretch

Friday: Lower Body (Mor Edition)

Warm Up: 15 Minutes Walking/Elliptical

16 Side to Side Walking Squats w/ Weight

15 Weighted Bench Hip Thrusts

16 Alternating Weighted Backwards Lunges

15 Russian Dead Lifts

15 No Weight Curtsy Lunges Each Side

15 Weighted Sumo Squats

Repeat 2X

Saturday and Sunday:

Active Recover-Choose to walk outside, do yoga, do stretching, anything to move your body in a looser more unstructured format!