Taylor Swift has opened up about the workout routine that worked all too well ahead of her Eras Tour.
With a set list that spanned her career from her first album release to her most recent, the “Anti-Hero” singer was forced to prepare for back-to-back three-hour performances before embarking on the US leg of her world tour.
Swift, who was just named Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year, candidly discussed the mental and physical preparation habits she employed over the last year in her feature profile. The Grammy winner explained how her training started six months before the stadium tour kicked off in Glendale, Arizona, on 17 March.
“Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud. Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs,” she admitted before adding how she spent time working one-on-one with a strength-training professional at the New York City gym, Dogpound.
But, of course, cardio and weightlifting would only get Swift so far, as she was meant to prepare for a 44-song setlist with specialised choreography.
“I had three months of dance training because I wanted to get it in my bones,” the “Fifteen” performer added. “I wanted to be so overrehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.”
Speaking with People, Folklore and Evermore co-writer Aaron Dessner reflected on how difficult Swift’s tour performance is even though she makes it look effortless.
He said: “She makes it look easy but it’s really a feat of incredible endurance. It’s hard to think of an example of someone who matches that kind of output, except maybe Bruce Springsteen, but he doesn’t have to cover as much ground as Taylor does up there.”
For Swift to pull off a pristine performance multiple nights in a row, she decided to sacrifice alcohol during the tour, which is set to continue through November 2024. The powerhouse artist gave up drinking as she didn’t want to know what it would feel like to get on stage hungover.
“Doing that show with a hangover, I don’t want to know that world,” she told Time.
On top of the no drinking policy, she keeps a strict routine in between tour stops to preserve her body and voice. “I do not leave my bed except to get food and take it back to my bed and eat it there,” Swift noted.
“I can barely speak because I’ve been singing for three hours straight,” she continued. “I know I’m going on that stage whether I’m sick, injured, heartbroken, uncomfortable or stressed.
“That’s part of my identity as a human being now. If someone buys a ticket to my show, I’m going to play it unless we have some sort of force majeure.”
During her interview, Swift also addressed her sought-after romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Contrary to the speculation that’s followed the two stars since they were first rumoured to be dating, the “Blank Space” creator revealed their actual timeline, which began long before her first appearance at Arrowhead Stadium on 24 September.
“By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date,” she confessed.
