The female warrior lunges, her sword slashing in the sunlit forest. Clad in black armor, she spins, whirling her weapon over her head. She jumps, spins, then kicks.
No, this isn’t a Valkyrie training scene from the newest installment in Sarah J. Maas’s hit romantasy (romantic fantasy) series, A Court of Splintered Harmony. Charity LeBlanc didn’t set out to create a romantasy-inspired workout program.
Originally, the former American Ninja Warrior semifinalist just wanted to share videos of her fitness journey and fantasy-inspired cosplay creations on social media—and her follower count grew. Then, in 2024, she heard about the Dragon Gauntlet, a Fourth Wing-inspired obstacle course race in Boyne Falls, Michigan. She asked her followers if they wanted to train together for the event, and designed a workout program that combined strength training, HIIT cardio, combat circuits, and weapons training.
Today, LeBlanc’s online fitness platform, Whimsy Forge, has more than 6,000 subscribers. Romantasy-inspired workout programs have exploded over the last few years, mirroring the genre’s takeover of the publishing industry. After reading A Court of Thorns and Roses in 2022, trainer Samantha Willens put her Harry Potter- and Star Wars-themed Pilates classes on pause and shifted her focus to workouts inspired by the bestselling romantasy series.
She created the Valkyrie Squad Program, a four-month fitness plan based on the series’ fifth book, A Court of Silver Flames—and her business, Micro Squad, grew exponentially. In 2024, Sabina Storberg launched WeaponUp, a sword yoga platform, thinking it would attract women into traditional martial arts or yoga. But “it was actually the book girls,” she says.
Now, they have thousands of members around the world. Sure, gaining the endurance of a dragon rider, the agility of a half-Fae assassin, or the muscle of a Valkyrie warrior (IYKYK!) isn’t your average fitness goal, but that’s why these workouts work. Romantasy books allow women to fall in love with stories of female empowerment—and these workouts allow women to live out those stories in real life.
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