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Modern wellness is so ugly & sterile. Disgusting powders, fluorescent-lit gyms, bland “health” foods.
It’s funny that now fitness is now a way people bring dread into your life, when it used to be the literal way people decorated their lives with beauty! Walks through gardens, tennis, dancing… the list goes on.
You’re told beauty is pain. But what if beauty came from beauty? Adding in beautiful alive foods, beautiful movement, & crafting a beautiful life. There truly is a lost art of living well.
People weren’t going to gyms until literally 100 years ago, & they were in far better shape than we are now. Actually, instead of spending their time getting fit at ugly gyms under toxic fluorescent lighting, their fitness regimes added beauty into their lives. And it worked so much better.
So I wanted to do a deep dive on the fitness routines & rituals of history’s most beautiful ancient princesses- because they knew how to do this better than anybody.
Dancing, horseback riding, long walks, swimming… You were decorating your life with beauty while decorating your body by sculpting it.
If you want to be fit, you’re going to spend between 3-4 years of your LIFE exercising. What kind of a different person would you be if that time was filled with beauty instead of dread?
What would your life look like if you used working out as a vehicle for adding beauty to your life instead of dread? What would you look like? It’s a known thing that stress ages the body & that joy, beauty, connection, and pleasure shift it into repair mode.
So, let’s deep dive into the fitness routines of ancient princesses in order to brainstorm ways to add more beauty into our own lives. I’m excited to write this post because their fitness routines were particularly beautiful, intense, & they were quite serious about their tiny waists.
Their methods are some of the most beautiful & ethereal ways to sculpt the body. & while it may not be realistic to do their full routines, I hope there are things you are inspired to pull from to make your fitness routine something beautiful, not something you dread.
& a lot of it are things I want to incorporate into my own fitness routine.
Okay, let’s get into it, shall we?
the real fitness routines of history’s most beautiful ancient princesses
Since they didn’t have rigid fitness routines as many of us do now, I formatted this post to be a menu of sorts. Pick the beautiful movement that excites you, & I hope you decorate your life with it.
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Dancing (considered essential)
Loved by Marie Antoinette, Catherine de’Medici & across almost every royal court, dancing was considered an essential part of “feminine refinement”.
Benefits: Dance is a full body workout that strengthens the core, improves posture & balance, and develops the long, sculpted look.
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Horse Back Riding
Loved by Empress Sisi of Austria, Marie Antoinette, Queen Elizabeth I, and almost every royal court, where riding was considered a “mark of refinement”. Many royal women rode daily, often for hours at a time, through hunts & countryside rides.
Benefits: Horseback riding strengthens the core, legs, posture, coordination, and pelvic stability while developing balance & lowering stress.
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Archery
Loved by Queen Rani Lakshmibai, Queen Anne Boleyn, and noblewomen across Persian, Ottoman, and European courts, where archery was associated with discipline, focus, athleticism, and aristocratic skill.
Benefits: Archery strengthens the upper body, shoulders, back, and core while improving posture, coordination, breath control, focus, patience, and calm concentration. I find this one to be so beautiful.
I just think archery is so elegant & beautiful! I really want to start.
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4. Fencing
Loved by Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) and practiced among aristocratic women in 19th-century European royal and noble circles, where fencing was associated with discipline, agility, posture, and athleticism! Sisi incorporated fencing into her intense physical training regimen alongside horseback riding, hiking, and gymnastics (she was the most intense one)
Benefits: Fencing improves coordination, reflexes, balance, agility, posture, burns tons of calories, while developing controlled, mental focus, precise movement and strong full-body awareness.
5. Swimming. Cleopatra was known for her love of swimming! It is believed that Mark Antony gifted a thermal healing pool in the ancient city of Hierapolis (modern-day Pamukkale) to Cleopatra. You actually can still go swim here, with ancient Roman columns in this mineral-rich water in Turkey! (I need to go)
Benefits: Swimming is a full body workout x lymphatic drainage. If you have a salt pool or body of water near you, I’d definitely incorporate swimming as much as possible
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Long Walks through beautiful gardens & nature. Loved by Empress Joséphine (she was the ancient princess from the morning and night routines who was obsessed with healing with flowers), Marie Antoinette, & Empress Sisi of Austria, who all spent hours walking through palace gardens, countryside estates, and forests part of daily life. Joséphine especially believed flowers, fresh air, and beautiful surroundings calmed the nerves and preserved beauty. Marie Antoinette famously escaped Versailles to walk the gardens of Petit Trianon, while Sisi took intense daily walks no matter the weather!
Benefits: Long walks are so incredible for you. They improve circulation, digestion, lymphatic flow, posture, mood, cardiovascular health, and lower stress. Walking through beautiful natural environments also lowers cortisol, & regulates the nervous system.
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Hunting (I was shocked by this one). Loved by Catherine de’ Medici, Queen Elizabeth I, and Empress Sisi of Austria, who all participated in hunting through horseback hunts, falconry, archery, and long rides through forests and countryside estates. I was honestly shocked by this one too because I always thought hunting was super masculine, but for centuries it was considered not only prestigious, but royal women would strategically go hunting to influence decision making, as it was where many decisions were made.
Catherine de’ Medici especially loved hunting parties and was known for her skill on horseback!
Benefits: Hunting combined hours of horseback riding, walking, endurance, balance, coordination, focus, and outdoor exposure. It built stamina, posture, confidence, resilience, and deep familiarity with nature while making movement feel adventurous and social rather than like “working out.” Not to mention, you get wild caught meat, grounding, & possibly even some foraged wild herbs. What could be better? I’d love to learn but don’t even know where to start!
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Gardening & tending to flowers
Loved by Empress Joséphine and Marie Antoinette, who spent hours among palace gardens, roses, herbs, orchards, and greenhouses. Joséphine became so obsessed with flowers, healing through floral waters & rare plants that she transformed Malmaison into one of the most famous botanical gardens in Europe. I need to go here, too!
Benefits: Gardening encourages gentle daily movement, sunlight exposure, grounding, mobility, stress reduction, and nervous system regulation while making everyday life feel slower, more intentional, and connected to nature.
I just started a little flower, herb & tomato garden. It adds so much beauty to the everyday (& to every meal).
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Hot Baths & Bath Houses
Loved by almost every ancient princess (here are their exact bathing rituals & recipes) who all treated bathing as far more than hygiene. Baths were considered beauty rituals, nervous system recovery, social rituals, and even medicine. Cleopatra was famous for her milk, honey, and rose baths, Catherine de’ Medici adored herbal bath houses, and Joséphine filled her baths with florals and perfume oils.
Benefits: Hot baths improve circulation, relax muscles, support sleep, reduce stress hormones, and soothe the nervous system. Some studies have even found that soaking in a hot bath can burn a surprisingly similar amount of calories to a long walk due to the body working to cool itself down! Ancient women may not have known the science, but they absolutely understood that deep warmth restored the body, softened the skin, and made you feel physically better. If you aren’t feeling up for a workout, take a hot bath!
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Tennis, derived from jeu de paume, is called the “Sport Of Kings” (Hunting is, too). While modern day tennis is not the same as real tennis (it’s actually played indoors, there are still ) I actually find modern tennis to be much more beautiful. The courts, outfits, racquets.
Benefits: It is a serious workout while just being overall a gorgeous one. You are getting sunshine, socializing, and running around all while having the best time!
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Flower Gathering & Foraging (my favorite)
Loved by Empress Joséphine, aristocratic women across Europe, and noblewomen throughout herbal traditions who spent hours gathering flowers, herbs, berries, and medicinal plants from forests, gardens, and countryside estates. Historically, flowers and herbs were deeply tied to beauty, medicine, bathing rituals, and perfumery. Honestly this one feels like the most “fairy princess” fitness routine imaginable.
Empress Josephine & Marie Antoinette both swore by Orange Blossom water for beauty & calmness.
Benefits: Flower gathering and foraging combine long walks, bending, carrying, sunlight exposure, grounding, fresh air, and nervous system regulation while making movement feel magical, seasonal, and deeply connected to nature.
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Hot Baths/Bath Houses
Loved by Ottoman royal women, Roman noblewomen, Russian aristocrats, and queens across Europe, where bath houses were considered beauty rituals, social rituals, and medicine all at once. Women would spend hours rotating between steam, hot baths, oils, massage, mineral waters, and rest. Ancient wellness retreats basically already existed.
Benefits: Hot baths have not only been shown to burn as many calories as a 30 minute walk, but they can increase your metabolic rate while you’re in the mby up to 80%! Because our bodies make metabolism slowing hormones before bed (like melatonin) I love morning hot baths (which Marie Antoinette swore by) as a way to jumpstart my metabolism for the day.
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Falconry
Loved by Queen Elizabeth I, Catherine de’ Medici, and noblewomen across Persian, Ottoman, and European courts, where falconry was considered one of the most prestigious aristocratic outdoor activites. Royal women would spend entire days riding through forests and countryside while training and hunting with falcons.
Benefits: Falconry combined horseback riding, walking, endurance, focus, patience, coordination, and outdoor exposure while deeply connecting with nature. Also… carrying a falcon on your arm through a misty forest may be the most enchanted thing imaginable.
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Sauna
Loved across Scandinavian, Russian, and Northern European cultures, where heat rituals were deeply tied to recovery, circulation, resilience, beauty, and overall vitality. Long before modern wellness culture, women used intense heat, steam, cold plunges, oils, and rest as part of physical and nervous system restoration.
Benefits: Sauna use improves circulation, muscle recovery, cardiovascular health, stress reduction, sleep quality, and relaxation while deeply calming the nervous system. Some studies have even found that sauna sessions can produce cardiovascular effects surprisingly similar to moderate exercise, help your body eliminate microplastics, PFA’s & all sorts of chemicals, & lower inflammation. Love!
Okay guys! I wanted to fill the post with a mix of things that are easy to incorporate, as well as some hobbies that might be tougher to incorporate, but are just so beautiful & fun to hear about (& who knows! Maybe some of you are able to incorporate it into your life?)
I’m quickly forming a list of all the spots I need to visit, a swim in cleopatra’s pool, Empress Josephine’s botanical gardens at the Malmaison… What a dream. Wish we could all go together!
Anyways, I need to know all of your thoughts! Which were your favorites? How do you think you can incorporate them? Archery, tennis, and dance are on my list to add, and I already do the long walks & foraging.
I’d love to hear the ideas on how you incorporate them into your life, these things can be realistic if you find the right way to fit it in (making them social things, a certain week day tradition, etc.) & I’d love to hear if any of you have a plan on how you make any consistent!
This was so fun to write and can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Xx, Valerie
