Forget SoulCycle or power lifting — this winter, young women are flocking to the gym for a power strut.
The pandemic-fueled walking habit, which brought us the #HotGirlWalk, has spawned a new viral workout — the #TreadmillStrut.
Almost anybody can do it — lace up your kicks, pick a playlist, get on the nearest treadmill and start walking with sass. With its low barrier to entry, the workout has gone wildly viral, with 58 #TreadmillStrut-inspired playlists on Spotify, and nearly 125 million hashtag views on TikTok.
“It was just kind of something to reframe exercise in my mind,” TikToker Allie Bennett, widely credited with starting the trend, told The Post. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based content creator hit the jackpot back in April 2022 with a video that showed her taking it slow on her treadmill — in time to her favorite Taylor Swift tunes.
After millions of Swifties sent the 24-year-old’s choreographed stroll viral, she was inspired to keep going, creating 30-minute playlists that she posts to Spotify along with suggested treadmill speeds for each song.
Her workouts typically start with a brisk walk, around 3 miles per hour, then increase in intensity — if you can call a 0.1 mile per hour increase intense — with each track, finishing with a power walk, or a short jog.
“I have a past with disordered eating behaviors and because of growing up doing competitive dance,” said Bennett. “It was nice to just come up with a workout I could do that was focused on, ‘Let’s walk and have fun,’ instead of ‘Let’s count what we’re doing and keep track of how heavy we’re lifting and track the calories and everything.'”
The workouts are free to users, but Bennett monetizes the endeavor through brand deals.
Her fans — more than half-a-million followers and nearly 25 million views on TikTok — can’t get enough. Since her first brush with fame, Bennett has created dozens of workouts, each one with Gen Z-friendly playlists, featuring everything from the “High School Musical” soundtrack to Yung Gravy.
Thousands of people online tout how much fun they’re having with Bennett’s workouts. Vloggers have challenged their viewers to try them out, other influencers have shared their own playlists and celebrities have requested that Bennett make a playlist of their songs — Shania Twain among them.
Bennett even caught the attention of Lizzo, who responded positively after she posted an all-Lizzo walk.
“People come [to my page] who are not as experienced with workouts, and they’re like, ‘Oh, that seems approachable and easy. I’ll try this.’ And that makes me really happy and makes me want to keep making more,” Bennett said.
While the workouts are certainly fun, and research has shown that music works wonders for mental health and increases stamina during exercises, can something this low-impact actually do much for your physical health?
Absolutely, says certified personal trainer and Barry’s Bootcamp instructor Elle Wermuth, who encourages anyone who hasn’t tried it yet to strut their stuff.
“It’s an amazing trend — [it has] gotten people to get up and move their body, which is the point,” she told The Post. “The hardest part is just getting up and starting to move.”
A recent study conducted by Columbia University Irving Medical Center showed that just five minutes of light walking per hour during a sit-down work day can help regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, for example.
“You don’t need to sweat to get a good workout,” Wermuth said, insisting that walking is a full-body workout that helps to tone everything and get your blood moving.
“You will feel so much better from it mentally, physically and emotionally.”
