Action - like belting out a Taylor Swift song on a treadmill - leads to motivation, as Megan Whelan finds out during her Diabetes and Me journey.
A playlist starting out pretty chill but gathering speed is an ideal motivation for a gym fitness session, Megan Whelan discovers. Photo: Supplied
There's a trend I have seen floating around on social media over the past few months: the Taylor Swift strut. It's pretty simple - a Spotify playlist wherein the tempo gets slightly faster each song. You pop on your headphones, jump on the treadmill and ramp up the speed each time the song changes so your peppy strut stays on beat.
The creator has also made lists with Lady Gaga, Pitbull, Harry Styles and Lizzo among others, if Taylor Swift is not your jam. Here's the thing. It's bloody fun. Let me tell you how I know.
I was recently staying at a hotel with a gym, and I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try the Taylor Swift strut. After a long, somewhat stressful day, I headed up to the gym, with noise-cancelling headphones and my phone in hand.
It starts out pretty chill with The Man as a pacesetter, and you increase by 0.1 mph each song. By song four I was at a pretty quick pace, and definitely feeling myself.
And then came You Belong With Me, one of Ms Swift's most popular and, yes, catchy songs. It's also a very fun song to sing. So, picture this: I'm on the treadmill, alone in the fitness centre. The treadmill has a screen so you can imagine walking outside. I chose Rome at dusk. Again, I was alone.
I should add something here: I cannot sing. Not at all. People hear my speaking voice and imagine I am quite the crooner, but I couldn't hold a tune with a 10-gallon drum. But I like to sing. Alone, in the shower or on a road trip, belting out a banger is one of the best stress releases I know.
Did I mention I was alone in the fitness centre? And that no one had come in for the first 15 minutes of the playlist? So yes, I sang. I was intrigued by how much lung capacity I had when I was walking at almost running pace, and, well, you try not singing along to that song.
Head down, headphones up loud, strutting in time and singing at the top of my lungs I was living my best life. Until I glanced up in the middle of the second chorus and realised there was a man on the StairMaster. I had no idea how long he had been there.
How does one recover from that? Completely off key singing alone, with no backing music in a room with terrible acoustics while puffing and red-faced? I don't think one can, TBH.
I am not here to be a fitness influencer, despite very definitely being influenced by the creator of the playlist. You should do whatever kind of movement feels right to you. But there is one thing I have learned on this diabetes journey: exercise really does help.
Not just with blood sugars and cardiovascular health, but with my mood, stress levels and ability to sleep. With feeling like I am in control in some way and that, despite my sore knee and bicep tendonitis and wild lack of musical ability, I am not completely failing at being a grown up.
This week I booked to travel again and I went back to the same hotel. Not because I wanted to relive my mortification, but because I knew there was a gym. I could have stayed at a fancier hotel, something I love doing, but I went for the one with the dumbbells I could do squats with.
This was slightly astonishing to me, realising how my life has changed. Not only did I pack my sneakers and leggings, but I also actually used them. I went back to my room after a long day and stared longingly at the comfy bed but thought "if I sit down, I won't get up again, and I won't go, so just go."
Packing sneakers and leggings for business trips is proving life changing, Megan Whelan writes. Photo: 123RF
We sometimes think that motivation leads to action, but I've found in the past year that action leads to motivation. If you are lucky enough to have the type of job where you can work from home, my top tip is to just put on your exercise gear at the start of the day. Then, when you can squeeze in some movement, you don't have to tackle the insurmountable task that is wrestling yourself into a sports bra.
For people with type 2 diabetes, exercise both lowers blood sugar and increases insulin sensitivity. Not just during the exercise, but up to 48 hours after. That's an interesting factoid, but not something I find super motivating. Neither is the exhortation to "just go on a brisk walk" I found on many a diabetes advice website.
The playlist motivated me. It was silly fun that made me smile, and if anything can make me smile while walking on a treadmill, I will take it. (As an aside, I have also done the Lizzo strut playlist, and like the queen herself, it killed me.)
Dancing in my kitchen while I cook makes me smile. Clambering up a hill to get a better look at a sunset lifts my spirits. Doing some mobility exercises on the floor of my bedroom before work makes my day better (and God, if you're over 40, you will know what I mean).
When the playlist made it to Shake It Off, I ran. I ran on a treadmill, in a gym. Something that six months ago, I would never have had the confidence, let alone ability, to do. The buzz of that buoyed me through the next several days, and even motivated me to do more cardio, despite hating it. I just hope the man on the StairMaster got as big a kick out of it.
