I Tried Adele’s Workout Routine And She Didn’t Go ‘Easy On Me’

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In the past two weeks, we have gotten not just one, but two amazing albums that were birthed out of heartbreak. I don’t know who hurt these women (actually just kidding, we do) but thank God for breakup albums. First Taylor Swift released her version of Red, and just a week after Swift, Adele released her album, 30. To say I’m thrilled is the understatement of the year. 

And how else would I celebrate Adele’s new album other than trying to emulate her lifestyle? So this week, I worked out like Adele!

First And Foremost

I have done a few exercise articles before and I always like to do a disclaimer. This article isn’t about weight loss. I personally don’t work out to lose weight or to look better and, thankfully, neither does Adele! I do, however, use exercise as therapy and often will go on a run or a jog if I need to clear my head. That being said, even if I ‘copy’ these famous workout routines, I will never do it in a way that will be harmful to me or my body. I love to work out and I never think exercise should be a punishment.

Rumour Has It

Celebrities are constantly scrutinized in the news and online. People critique their outfits, hair, makeup, bodies, words, and lovers. Society has made celebrities objects that we can gawk at and discuss like they’re not even people. 

Adele has had no shortage of scrutiny from people. In an interview with Oprah, she said, “My body has been objectified my entire career. Rather too big or rather too small…I’m either hot or I’m not.”

The British singer “broke the internet” on May 5, 2020, when she posted a photo of her dramatic weight loss. Her comments were flooded with people telling her how ‘healthy’, ‘beautiful’, and ‘amazing’ she looked. My question is: did she not look healthy, beautiful, and amazing before?

Right As Rain

Adele has said multiple times that she began working out to better her mental health, not to ‘get skinnier.’ She puts body positivity at the forefront of all of her actions and has stated that she loves herself and her body, no matter what its weight.

People deal with their mental health in different ways and exercising is a popular mechanism. Adele did an interview in which she said, “I needed to get addicted to something to get my mind right…. It could have been knitting, but it wasn’t.”
Adele’s hardcore workout regimen and rapid weight loss concerned a lot of people, but she assures her fans that it was for her mental health. 

“It was because of my anxiety. Working out, I would just feel better. It was never about losing weight, it was always about becoming strong and giving myself as much time every day without my phone.”

Adele didn’t start working out to lose weight. She stated, “Most people in my position would get a big deal with a diet brand… I couldn’t give a flying f***. I did it for myself and not anyone else. So why would I ever share it? I don’t find it fascinating. It’s my body.”

Adele is allowed to change her body if she feels like it. She’s allowed to do it no matter what the reasoning because it’s her body. It’s not her fans’. It’s not her publicists’. It’s hers. And when she posted that Instagram, everyone felt as though they had a right to comment on it and make uninformed, vicious assumptions about her sudden drop, even though she hadn’t posted anything for five months.

Go Easy On Me 

Adele works out two to three times a day. She practices with weights in the morning, goes on a hike or boxes in the afternoon, and finishes off her day with cardio at night. She works out with a personal trainer who monitors her workouts. 

Adele does switch between cardio, weights, and low-impact exercises so her routine doesn’t get repetitive (and thus, dangerous). She said she’s tried out reformer pilates too, just like Meghan Markle. 

In an interview with Insider, personal trainer Laura Hoggins suggests that people don’t go all-in on this workout routine unless they’re a professional or being trained by a professional. Adele also mentions that a lot of her routine isn’t too accessible just based on money alone.  

The Week

Yes, I will do Adele’s workout, but I wanted to highlight why Adele started working out. It wasn’t to look better or to shed the weight. She knew she was beautiful no matter what. She wanted to have the empowerment and ownership over her body that exercise can give a person. 

While this week was about working out, I didn’t want the calories or the HIITs to be the focus. Adele said that working out was her time and it wasn’t about losing the weight, it was all about battling anxiety. 

Thank God this week came when it did because I’ve been battling so much anxiety and I was able to channel Adele and leave it all on the mat. 

Adele goes through every weight machine at the gym. I’m not sure you could call my apartment gym a gym, so I’m sticking with my at-home weights this week and doing as much as I can with them.

Day One

Would it be a weekly challenge if I didn’t go too hard the first day and recover for the rest of the week? No. It wouldn’t. I genuinely think my problem is that I think I’m more capable than I am. My thought process was, “Oh! I work out every day! I can do this without a problem!” When in reality, not even Adele does her workouts the same way every day. 

I started with some dance cardio because that always makes me happy. I am not a dancer, which was made clear to me when I watched this footage back. But this is when I feel the most joy in exercising. Simone de la Rue has a great video where she incorporates weights, so I chose to do that. I also watched Amanda Kloots in honor of Dancing with the Stars. This was one of my favorite days and it got the HIIT and boxing feel that Adele loves, along with the weights. I also decided to stick to my morning 4-mile walk and yoga as well!

Day Two

Today was the day I messed up. I am strong. I have arm muscles that most men will never have, but I haven’t lifted weights routinely in a few weeks. Simone de la Rue’s video has a small bit of weight training, but I wanted to grow from there. I chose strengthening yoga for my morning practice (Adele loves pilates and yoga is pilates’ cousin) and then I did a 10-minute weight session. I was down for the count the rest of the day and do not know how I managed to survive. Thankfully, I stopped after the weights took me down and I relaxed that evening.

Day Three

Taylor Swift’s album came out and I was ready to murder anyone who talked to me. While my arms were sore, I had a fire that only a breakup album could give me. I went straight into a kickboxing TABATA workout and followed it up with a cardio boxing workout. So fun, so sweaty, SO TIRED!

Day Four

My arms had officially recovered and I was ready to go hard again. I started the day off with Kundalini yoga which really woke me up. I love it when yoga is fused with cardio because it lets me get my frustration out, while still allowing me to be mindful of my body and my surroundings. The yoga class I did focused on reframing our lives and cutting the negative energy out. I thought Adele would approve. 

I then moved to one of my favorite kickboxing classes. It fuses kickboxing with hip hop and, again, lets me get all my energy and frustration out and leave it on the mat. While today was challenging, it wasn’t dangerous and was more like therapy!

Day Five

I wanted to do pilates, but I couldn’t find my rhythm with it. So I revisited the strengthening yoga class and got my butt kicked. When your goal for working out is mindfulness, you become much more aware of how your body feels and the muscles that are being stretched and strengthened. I loved this aspect of the week. I moved on to do a boxing cardio HIIT and promptly died. Okay, not actually, but this was getting hard!

Day Six

I started the day with some energizing yoga because it was Monday. I started to crave yoga more than I usually do during this practice because it stretched out my muscles and allowed me to take time to refocus on my day. I then found a Taylor Swift HIIT dance workout on YouTube and have never been more excited in my life. This workout kicked my butt, but it was the cathartic energy I needed to start my week off.

Day Seven

It’s pilates time! I had been avoiding pilates because I don’t really understand the difference between pilates and yoga, and I love my yoga in the morning. But Well + Good published a pilates video right when I needed it, so pilates it was!

I decided it was the last day and a redemption day for me. I went back to the 10-minute weights video and tried again. It wasn’t as bad as the first time, but I do need to start working out with weights more often. I also went back to the dance workout with weights (I had a lot of energy). It was the perfect end to the week!

My Results

This week really taught me more about mindfulness than anything else. I went into it thinking I’d have huge muscles and strong limbs by the end of the week, but I came out having a greater appreciation for my body and more awareness of how each workout actually feels. 

I’m the worst at getting in the zone and drowning everything out, but Adele really focuses on herself and her feelings when she’s working out, so I wanted to mirror that. 

I’m not sure if I’ll go so hard for the rest of my workouts, but I definitely loved the style that she works out with and her thought process behind it. 

What exercises do you like to do? What challenge should I try next? Comment below!

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