The Sword & The Stairs

Another spectacular episode released yesterday!

This episode we take on a viral internet challenge that has been taking Nesta fan's and ACOSF fans by the throat since the obsession began. The Stairs.

Everyone and their bestie takes a look at the 10 thousand stairs Nesta has to climb in the House of Wind and for some reason says, "I gotta." But why? What about those damn stairs, about Nesta, makes us feel like we need to take on that challenge ourselves?

We all love Nesta's story of growth, mental health, and finding her family. But just because Nesta's journey to climb down 10 thousand stairs is iconic, it doesn't mean we were ever meant to actually try.

Allow us to shed some light on this situation, and let you in on some secrets.

(If you haven't listened yet, stop and do so now because I'm about to release spoilers!)

Let's face it- if you're training in Valkyrie Squad, you probably see yourself in Nesta's story. A lot of us do. Whether it's because of her redemption arc, or her healing journey- a whole lot of us were inspired by Nesta, challenged by her, and reminded that we all have a little more going on beneath the surface.

Allow me, and our Mother of Valkyries, to be the ones to break the news: you don't have to be exactly like your favorite FMC to still be badass, strong, or healing.

Sam is a licensed fitness instructor, and myself as a certified personal trainer, so know that the advice shared from the podcast and my own perspective here, is with the desire that you pursue fitness in a safe and healthy way.

And because of this, I'll say it. Fuck the Nesta Stair Challenge.

Let's chat Reality for a minute and just get into the physics of it. Science talk, about your bod. More specifically, your knees.

In ACOSF, the stairs in the House of Wind are described as being a narrow stairwell, made of stone, spiraling down, with each step being a foot high.

Were you aware, friend, that the standard step in your home is only 7-8 inches max in height? And that's an industry standard, because it literally only takes a slight change in that step height to throw you off. If you've ever walked the uneven steps of a 120+ year old home, you'll get it.

So each of these HoW steps is a foot high. That's twice the height of your standard step in your home. Making those 10k steps for Nesta more like 20k steps compared to our normal.

What if we took down that number from 10k to 1k? One thousand steps doesn't sound too bad right?

Think again. The Eiffel Tower in France, is only as tall as one thousand steps in the House of Wind.

And our calculations don't stop there. We did some math for you, or rather our producer Bex did (because Sam and I don't math).

How about 3 thousand steps? Those are the same height as the Dubai Burj Khalifa building, which is the tallest building in our world! 6 thousand steps? Oh that’s just the height of the Rocky Mountain range, with the highest point in Colorado. And all 10 thousand steps? Is the Alps mountain range in Europe.

Let's not forget the countless times in ACOSF that we were told about our fav characters getting hella sick in that staircase. Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel all got sick in that stairwell, either from elevation, exertion, or just spinning in circles for hours while going down the stairs. And they were immortal.

'I got so dizzy on the hike down that I puked on Az. he then puked on Rhys, and Rhys puked all over himself. It was the height of summer, and by the time we made the trek back up, the heat was unbearable, we all reeked, and the scent of the vomit on the stairs had become horrific. We all puked again as we walked through it.'

Okay but did anybody else get Flashbacks to the movie, Stand By Me, with the blueberry pie eating contest? Because that's all I think about when I read this section.

Your mortal body would be suffering the effects of Altitude sickness in a big way, and that's not even the only reason you would be having a hard time.

Let's talk really quick about the first Valkyrie Meetup we had last year in Colorado Springs, when we hiked the Manitou Incline. It's the closest real life comparison I can give you for how a human should prepare for such a climb.

Here are a few stats about the incline in Colorado. There are a total of 2768 stairs to the top of the incline, and those stairs were all different heights The base elevation is: 6600 feet And the Summit is 8550 feet, which means you are hiking up about 2k feet in elevation gain when climbing these stairs. And when the squad climbed the incline, a some of them unfortunately struggled with altitude sickness. Even a few of them struggled just being in Colorado Springs because the elevation was such a drastic change from where they live. All of the elevation gain from the meet-up was WAY LESS than the elevation change Nesta was experiencing when climbing the stairs. We not only climbed less in altitude, but we came prepared! I made sure to tell the squad, “Be Prepaaaared” just like Scar but less evil villain. Everyone brought all different kinds of things to help them keep going. We brought: energy bars, apples, which are my favorite because natural sugar just hits different, nuts, energy goos, electrolyte water packs or drinks to help keep replenishing your body because you sweat them all out. And most importantly, every single Valkyrie brought WATER, so much water! 

A shockingly high number of people don't think about these things at all! I lived in Alaska for nearly a decade, 9 years to be exact. For me, this is common sense stuff, that to go on such a physically demanding hike- you need provisions. You need supplies that ensure you make it. But I cannot tell you how many people I've seen on social media attempting the Nesta Stair Challenge with only water, or having only eaten a salad, or even starting fasted- on an empty stomach. Your body has needs when taking on something so physically demanding!

A reality check is important.

Let's talk about the difference between going down the stairs, and going up them.

Some of you might be thinking, she actually had it easier going down the stairs…but that’s wrong. Climbing down stairs uses different muscle groups then climbing up. When you go up stairs, your body uses several muscles to lift your yourself up, like your hamstrings, quads, calves, and glutes to name a few. Walking down stairs involves those same muscles, AND adds in all the muscles in your back also help stabilize your body. You risk losing balance way more while going down stairs. 

Notice how when people say they fall, they fall down the stairs. You don't often fall up them, unless you have the same brand of grace that I do.

Going down stairs also puts a huge amount of pressure and force on your knees. When you go down stairs, the force on the kneecap is 3.5x your body weight. 

That means that for a 150lb body, the weight on your knees is closer to 525lbs each step down the stairs. If you're a bigger bodied person like me, this revelation is mindblowing. I couldn't believe it! You would literally need new knees before you ever made it down the House of Wind steps as a mortal.

When you go down you also use muscles to slow yourself down - aka your break muscles. But the average person doesn’t train those muscles, making them weaker and us more unstable coming down the mountain.

This is why everyone falls down the stairs, and not up them. Though I have fallen up the stairs before too, because I'm graceful like that.

Her progression was unrealistic with how many steps she was able to complete without the proper preparations. Even with training and trying over and over to complete the stairs, it is still unrealistic for her to complete all ten thousand stairs the way she did.

Nesta is High Fae, we are mortal. And holding ourselves to the standards of a body that isn't even human is damaging to our psyche. We cannot presume to copy her progression or her training exactly, because of that key difference alone.

I think it’s important to compare our reality to Nesta’s because it keeps us grounded in remembering our story is different from Nesta’s.

Even if our hearts or traumas are similar to Nesta, it's important to know that you are your own person, and your body and your reality are not the same. So holding yourself so tightly to the details of Nesta's story are doing you more of a disservice than you think.

Let's get into some fitness speak real quick. This is hard lesson that I learned on my own when I picked up Mace, and actually probably even before that, when I was training Blade month of Valkyrie Squad.

Most people striving for those 10 thousand stairs don’t take the time to deload. Deloading is a short time of recovery from your training. You usually complete lighter trainings, maybe workout a little less, and generally just ease things back in this time

Deloading is vital, crucial even, to prevent burnout and overtraining. Yes, you can overtrain and your body will respond by putting on your own personal emergency brake. When I was training Blade month I was also walking the dog twice a day, as well as all my usual Mom Running around. Then came Valkyrie month, which added in sword drills to my boxing drills, and walking the dog, and mom Running, and I decided to add a little more spice and added in Mace training as well. My body shut down, hard. And it took me months to try and bounce back from the sheer exhaustion that my body was feeling. It ended up taking a toll on my mental health as well because I couldn't figure out why the hell it was so hard to workout every day anymore.

Just like Cassian tried to do with Nesta, with Sam when we begin our training for Valkyrie Squad, we start small, we start slow. We focus on the basics, on foundational and functional strength and movement, so that we can build up to the more challenging aspects of being a badass Valkyrie as we go.

Seriously, don’t try to hit all 10 thousand stairs all at once. Because it will fucking wreck you.

There are safe and healthy ways to add stairs into your workouts, that don't involve killing yourself to try and reach your goals. And honestly if you never want to add in stairs, you don't have to. It doesn't make you more of a badass or even more like Nesta than the next fan. You can train to be a Valkyrie without ever climbing a staircase or getting on a stairmaster.

So the next time you get a wild hair up your arse to train like your favorite badass main character, just remember that there are safe and realistic ways to do so that don't jeopardize your health or well being. Just because we see ourselves in them, doesn't mean we have to be exactly like them,.