Life on tour is grueling (or so I’ve heard), but Taylor Swift could’ve fooled us with her seemingly effortless stamina throughout her 3-hour “The Eras Tour” show (complete with seamless outfit changes on stage, might I add). It got me wondering how she performs her way through 44 hits from her 10 studio albums without so much as breaking a sweat or popping one of the sequins off her red-and-sequined-snaked Reputation look. So naturally, I scoured the internet for every tidbit I could find about her wellness routine.
How does she sweat it out? What does she eat in a day? Is she just like us when it comes to self-care? Thanks to various sources and Swift’s most recent interview as TIME’s 2023 Person of the Year, we have more insight into how she prepped for the demands of her tour. Read on for a breakdown of T-Swift’s health and wellness standbys. Alexa, play the Midnights album.
For fitness: She runs and lifts
Confessing that she used to tour “like a frat guy,” Swift didn’t mess around this time around. “I knew this tour was harder than anything I’d ever done before by a long shot,” she admitted to Time. “I finally, for the very first time, physically prepared correctly.” She hit the ground (or rather treadmill) running six months before her first show. “Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud,” she shared. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.” To channel Swift, give the Taylor Swift treadmill workout a whirl (it’s way better than running on the tread, IMO).
As far as the singer-songwriter’s other secret weapons to keeping up endurance and strength to perform dozens of shows while on tour, she looked to celeb hotspot Dogpound to create a regimen for her that included strength, conditioning, and weights. But to ensure she’d have all the dance moves down come showtime, she enlisted the help of choreographer Mandy Moore. “I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones,” she said. “I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.” Much appreciated, Tay Tay.
For recovery: She doesn’t leave her bed
Non-stop, back-to-back shows call for some major R&R, and Swift does it right. In between tour legs, she spends 24 hours resting and recharging. “I do not leave my bed except to get food and take it back to my bed and eat it there,” she explained to Time. “It’s a dream scenario. I can barely speak because I’ve been singing for three shows straight. Every time I take a step my feet go crunch, crunch, crunch from dancing in heels.”
Swift knows the importance of carving out time to do nothing. She’s got millions of Swifties depending on her, after all. “I know I’m going on that stage whether I’m sick, injured, heartbroken, uncomfortable, or stressed,” she expressed. Although we may not take the stage and have adoring fans, we all deserve respite, whether from workouts or the daily grind. Take a breather—be it a day in bed like Taylor, a walk around the block, or DIY-ing a lymphatic massage.
For diet: She follows intuitive eating habits and avoids alcohol
Show biz is not without its fad diets, cleanses, and quick fixes. But don’t count Swift as part of that crowd. Rather, she takes a balanced approach to her diet. Translation: Taylor follows a wholesome menu during the week while letting loose with her food choices on the weekends. The only info my extensive research found on her diet was from 2010 (that’s Fearless era, y’all), but I think it’s still good advice: “…I try to keep it lighter, but it’s nothing too regimented or crazy,” Swift told WebMD. “I don’t like to create too many rules where I don’t need them. We know what’s good for us, thanks to common sense.” One exception: Swift decided to cut out alcohol in preparation for “The Eras Tour.” “I was really disciplined about drinking,” she told Time. “I stopped drinking for a couple months before the show except for on Grammy night.” Swift then continued to nix booze through the duration of her tour. “Doing that show with a hangover,” she forebode. “I don’t want to know that world.” Props to T-Swift, but if you don’t want to go cold turkey and avoid drinking altogether, try these simple alternatives.
On the flip side, we could all take a page from Swift’s book on mindful eating—that goes for sweets too. If you’re a Swiftie, you probably already know she’s no stranger to baking up a storm of desserts. “I bake pumpkin bread for everyone I know and make ginger molasses cookies and hot chocolate and chai,” she expressed to Bon Appétit in 2012 (more importantly known as the Red era). As for her go-to drinks? Skinny vanilla lattes on weekdays and PSLs on weekends. “The point is I’m never cutting out what I love,” Swift informed WebMD. She is just like us!
For hydration: She always has a water bottle with her
Swift can’t live without her Starbucks like the rest of us, but she knows water does a body good. And makes it a point to load up on water, tour or no tour. “I have so much water in my dressing room because I drink, like, ten bottles of water a day,” Swift revealed in her 2012 Bon Appétit interview. “I drink so much water my friends call me an alien.” She never leaves home without a water bottle. And even keeps a case in her car for good measure.
While you don’t have to guzzle ten bottles in a day (assuming you’re not a pop star performing night after night), a general rule of thumb is to aim for about 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day. When we stay sufficiently hydrated, our cardiovascular, digestive, and immune systems work more efficiently. So do as Taylor does and hit your hydration goal for the day. Step 1: Start with a glass of water first thing in the AM. Your skin will reap the benefits, too.
For mental health: She journals and keeps it real
“Health is a big part of being happy,” Swift shared with WebMD, which to her means being in great shape both physically and mentally. It turns out she’s a journaling stan (that instantly gets her the Everygirl stamp of approval, BTW): “From a young age, any time I would feel pain I would think, ‘It’s OK, I can write about this after school,’” Swift said. “As a young kid, I learned to process my emotions by writing.” Swift was onto something at an early age, because putting pen to paper has a bevy of benefits. Including reducing stress, creating space from negative thoughts, and deepening self-discovery.
Swift also takes to her songwriting and music to feel all her feels: “…anytime something hurts, like rejection or sadness or loneliness, or I feel joy or I fall in love, I ask myself, ‘Can I write a song about this so I know how I feel?’” she continued. Even if your journal entries about your feelings don’t become a platinum hit, journaling can provide an effective way to process emotions. Think of it like a therapy session with yourself.
Despite being in the limelight, Swift acknowledged that fame can be fleeting and she’s grateful to get to do what she does. “There is one thing I’ve learned: My response to anything that happens, good or bad, is to keep making things,” she conveyed to Time. “Keep making art.” And she’s managed to keep a good head on her shoulders. “Over the years, I’ve learned I don’t have the time or bandwidth to get pressed about things that don’t matter,” Swift voiced. “Yes, if I go out to dinner, there’s going to be a whole chaotic situation outside the restaurant. But I still want to go to dinner with my friends.” The moral of her story? “Life is short,” she affirmed. “Have adventures.” Enough said.
For self-care: She has a routine to feel at home while traveling
In her interview with WebMD, Swift didn’t sugarcoat life on tour: riding hours on a bus, giving it her all on stage, and not sleeping in her own bed can feel draining. Her key to staying balanced through it all? Following a comforting routine and packing certain travel essentials. Her first order of business when settling into her hotel room is unpacking. “I do it everywhere I go,” Swift said. “I really like the way it feels to have my clothes put away in drawers and my shoes in the closet.”
According to the WebMD article, Swift also always brings candles with her to her destinations. Even though she shared this routine back in 2010 when we were all blasting “Forever & Always” (not Taylor’s version) from our iPods, we’re all creatures of habit. So it’s a safe bet she’s kept up the same regimen to stay calm and collected during her “The Eras Tour” today.
If you caught Swift’s Netflix documentary Taylor Swift: Miss Americana, you know that her squad includes her feline companions—Olivia, Meredith, and Benjamin—and she has personalized bags and cat backpacks for them for travel on her private jet, according to Parade Pets (they’re practically just as famous as their mom, thanks to their many cameos on IG and TikTok). What’s more, Swift brings them to events and music video shoots alike every chance she gets (as evidenced here and here). As a fellow four-legged animal mama (sorry, I’m partial to dogs), I can relate (minus the Gulfstream, of course).
