Lifestyle

I Created A 'Game Of Thrones' Workout And It Was A Roller Coaster Of Emotions

by Georgina Berbari
HBO

Game of Thrones is the kind of show that makes your blood pressure rise and causes you to break a sweat without you actually moving even a single muscle. So, in retrospect, I may or may not be questioning my sanity after making the decision to create a workout routine to go with the most recent episode of Game of Thrones.

But, here we are. I did it, and I lived to tell the tale (quick shout-out to my boyfriend, an incredible sport who somehow stuck it out with me for this wild ride).

Here's what happened when I essentially turned a medieval, sex-filled show into an hour of "stop-drop-and-side-plank."

Spoiler alert: I'm never doing it again.

Every Time You See A Sword, Do A 30-Second Plank

Planks are usually my favorite exercise to do when I hit the gym, but honestly, I'm probably not doing them for at least week after this.

My boyfriend, on the other hand, said he felt great keeping up with this workout throughout the episode (ahem, show-off).

Initially, I was going to make it a one-minute plank, but with the number of swords in this past episode alone, my arms may or may not have fallen off.

Every Time You Hear "King Of The North," Do A Headstand

HBO

TBH, I'm the kind of person who barely breathes throughout the duration of any Game of Thrones episode because I want to catch every. Last. Word.

So, yes, going upside down was just a little bit distracting.

Except for this scene -- I think I automatically inverted my body when Sam asked Jorah to try not to scream out in pain.

Every Time You Hear The Word "War," Do 10 Squats

I think I'm honestly scarred now by hearing the word "war" in any context.

Ten squats seems easy, but by the end of the show, it added up to maybe 100 altogether.

Between the nail-biting scenes in this episode and the glute-burning workout, I'm still in pain right now.

Every Time You Hear "Kings Landing," Do 10 Boat Crunches

HBO

Engaging my core was honestly frustrating AF while I was trying to watch Arya slay (as she always does).

When the wolves surrounded her, my heartbeat had already spiked, and then I still had to complete my crunches on top of that.

Totally saving the ab action for post-GOT next time around.

Every Time Someone Mentions "The Iron Throne," Do A Side-Plank For 15 Seconds On Each Side

This was pretty much my face by the end of the episode.

Yes, it was partly because of how the episode concluded (no, I won't spoil it for you), but also because my arms were trembling from the aggressive amount of planks this entailed.

TBH, I'm just glad I didn't include any workouts to do every time someone says Jon Snow's name, because I probably would not have lived past this one episode.

But, if you are looking to make some major gains while watching GOT, I would definitely recommend adding your boy Jon's name in there. That's all I'll say.

For the love of god, though, please don't turn this into a drinking game. Just, no. You will not be OK.