This week I am wrapping up an exciting achievement: I’m completing a workout program!
This is big for me. Since having my son over three years ago, I have not been very consistent with exercise. I’ve gone through phases—including a few months of semi-regular OrangeTheory workouts, and lots of stroller walks around the neighborhood—but nothing really stuck.
I’ve always wanted to feel more empowered in my own body. I want to feel capable and confident. I want to build muscle, have more energy, and feel like I can tackle physical challenges without hesitating or fretting if I can actually do it.
They also say the best way to be consistent with exercise is to find something you ENJOY.
That’s why, for a long time, I tried to find or create my own Lara Croft workout. I’m a big Tomb Raider fan, and for me, Lara is the epitome of fitness. She can scale mountains and outrun enemies and roll away from falling rocks and lift stones off tombs. She can do it all, and she makes it look so easy and graceful too.
But the programs never quite worked for me. I couldn’t find the right balance of strength and agility, and nothing really FELT like Tomb Raider.
But I still wanted to exercise like myself… which is a big geek.
So you can imagine how excited I was when I found a program, inspired by the Valkyries, that would guide me through training like a Viking shieldmaiden.
So I ran out to buy a sword and unleash my inner warrior.
Why Train Like a Shieldmaiden?
Some of you may know I write fiction about Vikings. My first protagonist is a shieldmaiden who trains with her mother on wintry nights, learning to wield her father’s legendary sword and become worthy of Folkvangr and Valhalla.
So when I found a program that would make me feel like my character, I knew it was for me. The workout is called Valkyrie Reborn, and it’s put on by Whimsy Forge. They have several other programs, all of them geeky, whimsical, and rigorous. (This is not sponsored, by the way—I just want to share how much fun I’ve been having!)
The Valkyrie training is inspired by both the Valkyries of Norse myth and A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (which I haven’t actually read). I appreciate that the training leans into the shieldmaiden energy that I’m looking for in my workouts, so I don’t feel like I’m missing out having not read the ACOTAR books. Even so, it’s fun that the program is for bookish geeks like me who just want to have fun and feel powerful when they exercise!
What the Program is Like
The Valkyrie Reborn program is eight weeks long, with stages to build strength and agility. You also have optional sword drills and extra challenges you can do each day. So I bought a halfling sword on Medieval Collectibles (since my house can only accommodate one that’s under, say, 24 inches long) and started training!
To make the experience even more fun and immersive, I often put on some Viking ambiance on another screen. I do my workouts in my upstairs bedroom, at my writing desk, where I have two screens and windows looking out at the trees. On a foggy morning or rainy day, it’s very atmospheric to practice spins with my sword like I’m training for battle.
The program alternates weeks between two types of workouts. One week, you lift weights and focus on hypertrophy to build muscle (i.e. lifting heavier weights each time); the next week, you do more sword training and agility using mostly your own body weight.
I find the agility weeks to be a lot harder but also more fun and rewarding. I’m not as used to those types of exercises—think planks, lunges, sword passes behind your head, and the dreaded burpees that just about kill me.
But the program’s combination of weights and agility is perfect. They really make me feel like a shieldmaiden. And the variety keeps things interesting too.
The program also includes an incline challenge. Once a week, you are supposed to either climb stairs or go on an actually elevation hike to improve your ability to climb. This is inspired by ACOTAR, as a character has to climb 10,000 stairs to attend training. But some at Whimsy Forge call it the “Stairs to Valhalla.”
I occasionally do these climbing challenges just walking up and down my staircase at home over and over, but that’s pretty dull. Since it’s hard to get out for a hike with my three-year-old right now, I’m not worrying about that part of the challenge too much this time. The rest of the program is already four workouts a week, which is plenty for me. Maybe I’ll do more of the elevation challenge next time when I retake the program.
For now, I’m just proud of finishing the majority of the workouts. I did my best to make up missed training days on the weekends, and occasionally I combined short workouts into a single day to fit everything in.
I started noticing results in my body within the first month. I feel more toned and a lot stronger; my endurance is better too.
It hasn’t always been easy to find workout time. My son is in preschool four mornings a week, so I’ve been using a little of that time to exercise. The trouble is, I also need to be running errands, doing chores, and writing my books in those precious hours! It’s all about balance.
That’s another thing I love about the program: it’s a reminder of my books and the many types of heroines in them. Yes, my stories have a shieldmaiden, but they also have women with different types of power: a seeress with visions of the future and the ability to fly as a raven, a former shieldmaiden who has become a strong mother, a healer with wisdom from years of thought and attention, a peacemaker who wants to use her privilege to help those less fortunate.
There are more ways to channel power than just fighting, and sometimes strength is surprisingly gentle.
So I am embracing all of those in my life now. Sometimes I’m a mom who has to be calm and gentle and silly. Sometimes I’m taking care of my house and have to get my hands dirty. Sometimes I’m a creative writer who gets lost in visions of my own making.
And sometimes I just want to pick up a sword and be a shieldmaiden for a while.
– Ashley
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