Real Sweat From An Artificial Workout (Gilmore Girls Edition)
Special appearance by Pop who helped me get ready for my workout.
Ah, Gilmore Girls. Stars Hollow is a cozy, nostalgic town that I would drop everything to live in. The townies, quintessential seasons and scant square footage are right up my alley. This show holds a special place in my heart, but more on that another time :)
I also enjoy a themed workout and decided to combine these two loves for an inspiring and fun fitness mash-up. Rather than hand-picking thematic exercises, I decided to test out Artificial Intelligence and asked it to generate a Gilmore Girls-inspired exercise circuit. See below for the full prompt.
Aided by AI (ChatGPT in this case), prep for this activity was minimal. The only item I needed for the workout beyond my typical workout gear was a book for the Jess’ Book Balance exercise listed below. To accommodate my somewhat small space, my wood box did double duty and acted as a chair and a box step up.
To add ambiance, I curated the above playlist based on songs I recall from the series and songs that make me think of the Gilmore Girls world or characters.
prep
The phases, exercises and durations were all provided by ChatGPT. My initial assessment was that the workout had a good balance of legs and core and seemed — dare I thought — easy.
Descriptions of each exercise were also provided by ChatGPT, but I re-worded them based on my understanding of the move and what instructions would be useful during the workout.
I chose to apply 30 seconds of rest between sets and 60 seconds of rest between exercises. I decided to complete all sets in an exercise before moving to the next exercise, instead of rotating through all exercises once to complete one set.
results
Duration: 39 min.
I tend to power through workouts quickly, so this could easily have been stretched to 45 minutes as requested in my prompt.
Sweat rating: 7.5/10
It was fairly warm in my house when I started the workout, which aided the sweating process. Though I reckon I would’ve been sweating by the end even if it were cool inside.
Difficulty rating: 7/10
Certainly more challenging than I anticipated, which I’ll take as a win. Planks of any kind and leg raises are always a struggle for me — and the box step-ups were a nice burst of cardio.
Theme rating: 5/10
I appreciated the catchy exercise names but didn’t feel transported to Stars Hollow.
Fav exercise:
Jess's Book Balance. Not only is Jess is one of my fav GG characters, but I liked this Gilmore Girls variation of an exercise I normally do with a stability ball. This was the only exercise where I remembered I was doing a themed workout.
Least fav exercise:
Stars Hallow Plank. Surely a sign I need to practice this move more frequently, but this one was a little shaky.
adjustments
Variations to make the workout more or less difficult
Add hand weights to all of the leg exercises
Increase the # of sets or individual exercise count/duration
Use a shorter or taller box for step-ups
Make it a full body workout by incorporating other areas of focus like arms and cardio
Set the scene
Coordinate your workout outfit with the theme
Add a relevant scent via candle or diffuser (e.g., pastries, coffee, fall leaves). I recommend pre-scenting your space so you don’t have an open flame during the workout and so that the scent isn’t too strong.
Play a pertinent show, movie, podcast in the background while doing your workout
Take your workout to another location that suits the theme (e.g., at a park, in a gazebo)
Prep a post-workout snack in line with the theme (e.g., apple, protein pop tart, coffee smoothie)
Overall I’m impressed by the workout that was curated via AI given my prompt. It was thorough, creative and a good challenge. To elevate the experience moving forward I’ll put more effort into setting the scene — and will call upon AI to help with research. I definitely recommend giving this experiment a try!
The fitness workout and information provided in this blog post are for informational purposes only and are based on personal experience. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new exercise program to ensure it is safe for your individual health conditions and needs.
By following any of the fitness advice or workout routines presented in this post, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, assume all risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and discharge Raven Voyage and its authors from any and all claims or causes of action, known or unknown, arising out of Raven Voyage's negligence.
