Our Valkyries share their journeys through our program and how it’s impacted their lives

Testimonials

Valkyrie Kelley

Overall it’s just been such a rewarding experience

My favorite things about Valkyrie Squad are the community aspect and how low pressure it is. There are days when I’m just not feeling up to working out and I feel kind of pathetic for it but Sam is always giving us reminders to listen to our bodies. She will tell us it’s okay to not be active. There was a day I was having a bad mental health day and one of the other Valkyries told me a specific Valkyrie mindstilling audio I should listen to and it helped so much. The Discord community is amazing. The other Valkyries are so accepting and caring. We’ve had gift exchanges, an art night, virtual group work outs, and I know there will be so much more! I told my therapist all about our community and she told me she’s never seen me excited about working out and even wrote down the details to pass onto other book lovers.

I would honestly recommend Valkyrie Squad to any book lover

The Valkyrie Squad had been the breath of fresh air I needed to renew my fitness routine and motivation!

By the Novice Week 4 I can feel an improvement in my balance, core strength, and strength of just regular daily activities (carrying a heavy load up the stairs). This program is awesome! 

Valkyrie Susie

Mixing fitness with fantasy, I definitely could get on board with that!! I was not prepared for this incredible program. 

Valkyrie Kaelyn

Sam has done amazing work with all the workouts. They are so fun and I find myself excited to workout. Then on top of that, she has created a marvelous safe place of others and along with her are extremely supportive! I’m so thrilled to be a part of this group of badasses!!

I have tried so many different home workout programs. After 1 month or 6 weeks I would give up because I was not seeing any progress. Valkyrie Squad came up on my TikTok and I was very intrigued.

I was diagnosed with PTSD last year and between that and back problems I've gained a lot of weight & haven't feel safe going out or just being in my own skin.

Valkyrie Emily C.

I'm taking my time with the program, but I'm already noticing that I can do things longer and feel stronger. It's also getting easier to feel like I can take on the world, that just like Nesta and Gwyn, I can come back. So thank you.

With Valkyrie Squad, I found all of that plus so much more…

I found an amazing family of humans who want to support each other and build each other up through not only tough workouts but also life’s rough patches. We read books together, have paint nights, and give each other fashion advice. It’s legitimately more than a exercise program. Trust me, I’m a Harvard trained physician and a skeptic who was looking for an evidence based program. And this squad has a community of a 1000 Valkyrie who can vouch it really does work. 

Valkyrie Allison

I was looking for an exercise program that I could actually stick to, something that could help me build strength, and improve my chronic pain.

Valkyrie Megan

Valkyrie Squad has changed my life more then Sam will ever know. I have become a better version of myself after this. It’s not just a program it’s a lifestyle! 

I’m a Vet Tech so my hours are all over the place. I never thought I would be excited to work out but every morning I’m up at 4:00-4:30 am to get my session in. I love that this program does not focus on weight loss but in strength and improvement. I am recovering from an eating disorder (something I actually never admitted until this program) and the scale is a trigger for me. I haven’t weighted myself since I started this program. I watch what I eat but I do not starve myself in fear that the number on the scale doesn’t change. I focus on how my clothes fit, how long I can hold a plank, if I can go up with my weights, etc. I have gained confidence that I have never had before. I feel amazing and like I’m finally not broken.

From day one of valkyrie squad I was hooked. These workouts are easy to follow, modify if needed and flexible to work with any schedule.

I began my fitness journey in September of 2022. I came across Sam’s TikTok page and was intrigued by Geek Gym. I love Marvel and Star Wars, and a lot of the workouts looked like fun. It was during that time that I heard she was developing a workout based on ACOTAR one of my favorite book series. I learned that in this workout we would not only build strength but also learn combat and blade techniques. I was immediately interested as I’ve always wanted to learn these things but was afraid to try them out.

The Discord is an amazing community where all the Valkyries get together and build friendships. We encourage, motivate and help each other. We don’t just talk about workouts but nutrition, books, tv, merch and other hobbies. It’s more then a exercise program it’s a community of friends. Valkyrie Squad has changed my life more then Sam will ever know. I have become a better version of myself after this. It’s not just a program it’s a lifestyle! 

I’ve never been more motivated to be healthy despite the awful hours of school and work, continue my bookish love, and just generally be happy.

What’s more - I feel SO much better, happier, healthier in the 2 months I’ve been part of the Squad. A big thanks to Sam, especially, and the entirety of the Micro Squad - you guys gave me so much to be thankful for as I go through school. 

Valkyrie Emily

I’m currently going to school for my BSN. It’s so much work, not a great health-focused environment, because we’re sleep deprived, studious, and no one ever does what they love to do anymore. I needed a community of book-lovers who had similar goals to mine. I needed a community of people who would work out with me, be bookish, and encourage me to keep going (or rest) when I need it most. The SJM bookish online community has already made me feel less alone and the Valkyrie Squad was the only thing missing from my life.

Valkyrie Squad is the single most supportive program and community I've ever been part of.

In the Discord, We cheer each other on, we uplift and support each other endlessly, and hold space for each other at any time. We are alarm clocks for each other to get up and hit the mat. The workouts themselves are fun, and have so many modifications that nothing is ever impossible. Sam has provided a very thorough tool base in the form and bonus videos to help prevent injury, optimize the moves so we get the best results for the work we do, and the workouts are never so long that I feel like I have to force myself into the commitment of making time. As a busy mom, it can be a real challenge to commit to lengthy workout times or rigid schedules, and Valkyrie Squad is so flexible and sustainable, I've found it hard to fail, where all other programs I've bought were too easy to quit.

Valkyrie Mia

Between the community support, mindstilling meditation audios, Sam's personal involvement with Valkyries and 1:1 support pretty much 24/7, and the fun, ever changing workouts that don't kill me to do, Valkyrie Squad is by far the best thing I've ever done, and one that I'm the most proud to be part of. The combination of meditation and companionable support with a growing and expanding fitness routine make for an incredibly well rounded and easy-to-use program.

Being a Valkyrie has helped heal my relationship with food, my relationship with myself, has redefined what I want and look for in a fitness routine, and changed my perception of myself. I feel strong, confident, and excited to work out every day and challenge myself. If there's one thing you do with 20 minutes of your day, it should be a Valkyrie Squad workout, and at least a pit stop in the discord for a minute.

Valkyrie Bobbie

I’ve had a weird relationship with exercise. I like it or I hate it. I know it makes me feel good physically, but mentally it was always a challenge because exercise = must lose weight = body dysmorphia, basically a PTSD trigger in many ways. I digress. I look forward to workouts with the Squad, and our chats, the encouragement because someone restarted, or someone had to take time off.

I want to do the program because I’ve learned to love my body and taking care of it is important… and at the end I’ll be a fucking Valkyrie. 

The theme is perfect. The effort put into the program is incredible. I’m looking forward to the journey. 

Valkyrie Molli

I used to do CrossFit for about 3 years but over the past year, I was growing bored of it and slowly started to stop going because I no longer had the motivation to go. I wanted something that I could grow in both mentally and physically without such high intensity. I wanted to slow down and focus on the little things more. I have not been here very long but I know that Valkyrie Squad has all I was looking for to give me the motivation and having recently finished ACOSF has built on that motivation as well.

I like how you start with such simple things that will better you later on rather than feeling like I'm jumping straight into the line of fire.

 I feel like I will be mentally and physically more prepared for things to come later with a smaller risk of not doing a move correctly. Lastly, the community that is being built around it in discord is amazing, it creates an environment that is absolutely perfect for my introverted self. I look forward to all that awaits as I continue through the program. 

I’m a little over a month in now and I can confidently say it is the best decision I could have ever made!!!!

Not only am I seeing and feeling physical results, but also mentally I feel stronger. I’ve applied the mindstilling practice into my everyday life (running late for work, frustrated, anxious) and I feel more in control. I even stand up straighter and walk with more power. I can’t stop talking about it to my friends and I can’t thank Sam enough for putting this together! 

Valkyrie Megan

I’d been looking for a workout/strength program for a while—something attainable and would keep my interest. I keep seeing Valkyrie Squad videos on TikTok so I finally said yeah let’s do it.

Valkyrie Alista

1000000/10 stars

TLDR: If you like swords, books, feeling stronger in your body, and/or have wanted a friend group that feels equal parts slumber party and epic warrior clan, come join us! 🙂

So this might be less of a review, and more of a love letter to everyone who makes Valkyrie Squad the magical revolutionary phenomenon that it is. ♥️

She’s chatting with us in the Discord server every day, answering a million questions about the program itself, offering individual fitness advice, and just hanging out having a good time with us. She also encourages you to message privately or set up one-on-one calls if you need specific support, at no additional cost. I sometimes worry that she’s giving us TOO much, but it certainly does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. She’s taking feedback from our chats and actively continuing to update the course content based on our needs, and just in the two months I’ve been here, I’ve already seen the program grow and improve so much!

Last but not least, Sam's dedication to the Valkyrie family is truly mind blowing

Making friends as an adult is not easy, and ACOSF made me extra jealous of the supportive camaraderie Nesta found with her Valkyrie friends. A friend group that can whine together over training drills, encourage each other to keep improving, gush about books and belly laugh over silly jokes, and open up about mental health struggles to people who might not understand your exact journey, but can relate in some way and will be there for you unconditionally? I never thought I’d find something like that in real life at all ever, let alone that it would be bundled in with my workout program and that they would immediately welcome me with open arms. There are really no words for how much happier I’ve been on a daily basis since joining this community. One of the best parts of my day is checking our chats and talking to my Valkyrie Squadmates about anything from training advice, to life updates, to sharing bookish memes, to designing a hypothetical castle together. I can’t believe I found my people. ♥️

But the other part I never expected could be so life changing is the community ♥️

They’re also really short to start out (15-30min) which makes it easier to fit into a busy schedule, but there are plenty of bonus lessons for days you want a bit more. For once I actually WANT to work out because it makes me feel strong and genuinely want to do the work to get even stronger, instead of in the past when exercise has felt like a misery to be endured in pursuit of making my body look a certain way. Now I’m thinking, “today’s training gets me one step closer to the part when I get to learn kickboxing and sword drills!"

The videos are just fun, empowering, and feel like hanging out with a bookish friend who happens to know more about fitness.

Sam does such an amazing job catering the early lessons to a ground zero beginner level, creating a foundation of proper form and building strength in these magical ways that are completely doable in the moment, but you feel it the next day. 

Fitness has always been a bit of a sore spot for me, but after finishing ACOSF, I felt like the way Nesta and Cassian approached her training could actually work for me and help with my mental health too. I’d been feeling so much stronger emotionally, and wanted to feel that strength in my body too but had no idea where to start. So I started searching, and found Valkyrie Squad! It was exactly what I was hoping for and is now sooooo much more. ♥️

Hard to be brief describing how much this program & community have already changed my life after two months– so good thing we all like novels!