I’d choose any workout over running on a treadmill. If it came down to an hour on the treadmill versus an hour spent at a military-style bootcamp taught by an ex-Marine, I’d opt for someone barking orders at me over the monotony of a treadmill every single time.
The only thing that could possibly coax me onto my most hated piece of workout equipment? A workout based on my favorite music artist — Taylor Swift.
When I saw that this Taylor Swift themed treadmill workout had over 3 million views on TikTok, I knew it was time to revisit my relationship with the treadmill and give the Taylor Swift Treadmill Strut a try.
What is the Taylor Swift Treadmill Strut?
The Taylor Swift Treadmill Strut (TSTS) was created by Allie Bennett, a TikTok creator known for her treadmill workouts timed to popular music artists. "I grew up as a dancer so I’ve been trying to find ways to incorporate some of that musicality and fun energy into my workouts — and this is the way I’ve been able to do that!" Bennett told TODAY.
The TSTS has been her most popular video thus far. After someone messaged her asking for an all Taylor Swift playlist, she decided to structure the workout like one you would see in a spin class. The workout playlist features 10 of Taylor Swift’s top bangers and runs just under 37 minutes long.
"I think those videos have been so popular because they’re simple workouts that people can do to the music of their favorite artists! They’re easy to follow and deceptively sweat-inducing, but they make time pass by pretty quickly," Bennett told TODAY. "I’ve even gotten messages from people who have tried my workouts saying that they never felt like they could run before, but they found it easy to do with the setup of the workout."
She also thinks that her workouts resonate with people because they are more about mental health than focusing on physical goals. "It’s a workout without any 'burn X amount of calories' or 'get yourself bikini ready' sort of messaging, which you see a lot of on the fitness side of TikTok," she said. "It’s refreshing to be able to put something into that space that’s just about enjoying your workout, because I think fitness should just be about finding a form of movement you enjoy and look forward to, not about the way you look!"
Ready to give it a try? All you need to complete the workout is a treadmill and the playlist, which Bennett has compiled here on Spotify. You can access it without a premium account, but if you want to avoid ad interruptions having a subscription (or borrowing a friend’s) would be ideal.
The workout begins by finding your starting pace to the beat of Taylor Swift’s “The Man.” (Bennett suggests that you start at 3.4 mph.) Once you’ve set your base pace, you increase by .1 mph for each song on the playlist (except for the final three songs), using the tempo of the song to inform your pace.
The Taylor Swift Treadmill Strut workout:
- "The Man" — 3.4 mph [3:10]
- "How You Get the Girl" — 3.5 mph [4:07]
- "Message in a Bottle" — 3.6 mph[3:45]
- "Better Than Revenge" — 3.7 mph [3:37]
- "New Romantics" — 3.8 mph [3:50]
- "You Belong with Me (Taylor’s Version)" — 3.9 mph [3:51]
- "Look What You Made Me Do" — 4.0 mph [3:31]
For the next two songs on the playlist, Bennett says you can either up the speed to a running pace or keep it at a fast walk.
- "Shake It Off" — 7.0 mph [3:31]
- "...Ready for It?" — 7.0 mph [3:28]
Finally, the workout ends with a cool down to one of my favorites:
- "Style" — 3.0 mph [3:51]
Who is the Taylor Swift Treadmill Strut workout good for?
Though Bennett has speed suggestions that coincide with the beats per minute for each of the songs, the workout is malleable to whatever pace you’re comfortable walking and running at, which makes it a good workout for anyone, regardless of fitness level.
This is something that personal trainer Holly Roser appreciates: “This is a great workout for someone who doesn’t like a lot of direction. She’s not telling you what speed or incline you should be at, just getting you to move.”
Roser also says treadmill formats like the one in TSTS deliver an effective workout. “Cardio intervals like these deliver excellent results if done for at least 30 minutes, three times a week,” says Roser. “Cardio three days a week and strength training three days a week is the winning formula to reduce body fat and see results.”
Based on this guidance, I decided to add the TSTS workout to my routine three times over the course of a week — and this is how it went.
My experience trying the Taylor Swift Treadmill Strut
Even though Bennett recommends going at your own pace, I decided that I’d try to follow the TSTS workout exactly as she’d outlined it.
I started out with “The Man” at 3.4 mph, which felt slow to me as someone who’s a fast walker. As the name of the workout suggests, I focused on really “strutting” with purpose on that treadmill, and by the time song number two (“How You Get the Girl") came on, I was feeling like the main character in a Taylor Swift music video.
Increasing your pace by .1 after each song doesn’t seem like it’d make much of a difference, but as I neared the middle of the playlist (somewhere between “New Romantics” at 3.8 mph and “You Belong with Me” at 3.9 mph) the workout really picked up, and my strut became more of a fast-paced walk.
I tried to push myself from 4.0 mph (“Look What You Made Me Do”) to 7.0 mph (“Shake It Off”) the way Bennett did in her video, which was a real challenge as a person who only runs when she’s late.
I made it about halfway through "Shake It Off "at 7.0 mph until I had to return to 4.5 mph to catch my breath. Halfway through “...Ready for It?” I got a second wind and kicked it up to 6.0 mph.
I’ve never wanted a Taylor Swift song to be over as much as I did toward the end of that song. I was so happy when the playlist changed over to the cool down song, “Style.”
By the end of that first workout, I’d burned 234 calories, ran a distance of 2.45 miles and held an average pace of 15:20.
Feeling sore but excited to try again, I started my second TSTS workout at a slightly higher pace, 3.6 mph. Instead of running at 7.0 mph for “Shake It Off” and “...Ready for It?” I decided to start at 5.5 mph, increasing my speed halfway through each song to end at 7.0 mph for the last half. This brought my calorie burn up to 258, my distance to 2.55 and my average pace to 15:09.
I repeated this formula on my last day, but attempted to run at 7.0 mph for the entire duration of the last song and made it most of the way through. This workout was about the same in calorie burn (261), but I did see my distance increase slightly (2.57) and pace get faster (15:02).
What I liked about the Taylor Swift treadmill workout
Having someone hand you a custom-made workout set to your favorite music artist’s top hits without having to pay for it feels like an amazing gift. I really liked how easy it was to tailor the speeds to my own fitness level. I never felt like I had to struggle to keep up with a pre-determined workout; I felt like I had the flexibility to lower or increase the speed when I needed to. The workout is also dynamic — you can increase the speed or even the incline to continue challenging yourself. And it accomplished an amazing feat: making me not absolutely hate the treadmill.
Being able to track your progress from workout to workout through the metrics the treadmill provides was another advantage that I hadn’t realized I was missing — it was very gratifying to see my distance and pace improve over time.
What I didn’t like about the Taylor Swift treadmill workout
Even if you love every song on this list, it’ll eventually lose its novelty. Though changing up your pace and incline can help the workout feel fresh, I think after a month of using this playlist I’d start to get tired of it.
The long pauses in “...Ready for It?” were also hard to continue running through. Every other song on this list has a beat that helps you keep pace, but the dramatic dips and pauses of this song in particular were tough for me to push through.
I would recommend this workout to:
- Taylor Swift fans
- Anyone who feels lost at the gym and wants a simple plan to follow
- People looking for a workout to ease them back into a fitness routine
- Anyone who hates the treadmill