Bennett’s simple treadmill routines consist of choosing one of his roughly 30-minute playlists arranged by songs in ascending beats-per-minute order and getting on the treadmill to walk to the beat. Her first strut workout, a playlist packed with Taylor Swift hits, racked up more than 3.6 million views and sparked a treadmill frenzy.
The key component of these strut exercises is that you only increase your speed by 0.1 mile per hour (mph) each time the song changes. Most playlists start somewhere in the three mph range, so by the end of it, you’ve steadily worked your way up to a power walk or maybe even jogging, perhaps without even realizing it. “It makes it very beginner-friendly, very accessible, which I think is hard to find on TikTok because it’s all just ‘run for this long and then do a backflip,'” says Bennett, emphasizing that extreme feats of fitness tend to attract glances on the social media platform.
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To try and change the narrative on “GymTok,” the 23-year-old from Raleigh, North Carolina decided she wanted to create a workout that would allow people to move their bodies for the sole purpose of feeling good and playing their favorite. artists
But are strut exercises on the treadmill as effective as they are fun?
In short, heck yes. Exercise doesn’t have to leave you drenched in sweat to be beneficial. Walking is an incredibly powerful form of exercise with a low barrier to entry and Main benefits—and that’s true whether you’re a marathon runner or can’t remember the last time you laced up a pair of shoes.
registering alone 21 minutes a day of walking it can reduce your risk of heart disease by 30 percent, for example. The good news is that you can achieve that goal by doing just one of Bennett’s strut workouts. The TikTok creator is constantly creating new playlists inspired by her favorite artists, from a booty-shaking Lizzo workout to a stanchion devoted entirely to early 2000s bops.
The format also gives you a lot of flexibility to adjust it to your fitness level, says Bennett. If you don’t want to pick up the pace during faster songs, stick to a speed that’s comfortable for you. Do you want to up the ante? Add a pair of light dumbbells or ankle weights while you strut Alternatively, some people like to throw treadmill struts as a warm-up or cool-down activity.
No matter how you modify, Bennett urges people to remember the true spirit of the strut. It’s not about losing weight or establishing public relations. It’s about reminding yourself that moving your body can and should be fun.
The mental benefits of TikTok treadmill props are also good
Beyond the physical benefits of walking for 30 minutes, it turns out that there is a lot of mental magic in these workouts that makes them almost addictive.
The simplicity and seemingly “easy” nature of these props makes us feel competent, says Dr. Angie Fifer Winter, CMPC, performance coach at HigherEchelon in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And while it may seem like a low bar, the competition is one of our three main psychological needs when it comes to motivation—the other two are autonomy and relationship.
The hesitation we feel when we go to the gym without a plan or prepare to execute a particularly difficult interval exercise is because we are not sure of our ability to perform the task at hand. Sometimes that feeling can be so strong that we avoid training altogether because we’re afraid of failing.
Bennett struts solve that problem by giving us a clear blueprint that we’re confident we can complete with gym equipment most are familiar with. It is an almost guaranteed success.
In fact, many people find that they are capable of more than they thought when they appear on one of Bennett’s playlists. Usually the last two or three songs are designed to be run, and even people who wouldn’t normally classify as “runners” surprise themselves. “Part of it is that you build confidence as you go along,” says Winter. “I think a lot of times we stop at thinking we can’t do something, so we don’t really try.” But this progressive increase prepares you to act, she adds.
The last, and possibly the most compelling, component of these treadmill stanchions? Music that makes you feel like a boss. “Music is a huge game changer,” says Winter. It gives our minds something to occupy and something to connect with emotionally. “And the songs are intentionally chosen to be very upbeat and positive and uplifting.” Not only does this give us a nice burst of endorphins, but it can also motivate you to push yourself a little harder than normal.
Bennett releases new playlists all the time, so your squad of swaggers always have a fresh batch of hits to choose from. And since these exercises make you feel confident and capable, you’re more likely to get comfortable again, which leads to a more consistent exercise routine, which in turn, raise your fitness level.
If you want to strut to the beat of one of Bennett’s treadmill playlists, you can find it on Spotify here.
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