Taylor Swift, a global icon, has captivated audiences not only with her music but also with her incredible stage presence and seemingly boundless energy. From wrapping up her record-smashing Eras Tour to releasing her eleventh studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, and supporting her boyfriend, Super Bowl winner Travis Kelce, Taylor's life is a whirlwind. Her radiant appearance and energetic performances are a testament to her dedication to fitness and well-being. In 2024, Taylor's trainer, Kirk Myers, told Vogue, "Taylor is the most resilient person I have ever met. It's super inspiring to see her consistently overcome obstacles and become better and stronger in the end. This also translates into her training and throughout her workouts. I give her a difficult exercise or challenging workout, not only is she able to complete and push through it-but she also perseveres, moving forward into the next exercise. This ultimately makes her stronger, better, and faster."
Preparing for the Eras Tour: A Transformation
Knowing that the Eras Tour would be more demanding than anything she had ever done, Taylor began preparing six months in advance. The tour, with its approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes of performance time, features Taylor singing 44 songs across nine albums while dancing almost continuously. She told TIME that she “toured like a frat guy” in the past but needed to be in serious shape this time around. She “finally, for the very first time, physically prepared correctly.”
Singing on the Treadmill: Cardio with a Twist
Taylor's cardio routine was far from ordinary. To prepare for the vocal demands of her shows, she incorporated singing into her treadmill workouts. “Every day, I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud,” Taylor said. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.” This method not only improved her cardiovascular fitness but also trained her to sing while exerting herself physically. Runner’s World estimated that Tay ran about 16 miles during each of her workouts, using beats per minute in each of her setlist's songs to guess how far she ran.
Strength and Conditioning: Building a Foundation
In addition to cardio, Taylor engaged in strength and conditioning workouts at Dogpound, a gym with locations in New York and Los Angeles. She has been working out with Kirk for nearly a decade. The two met through friends, though he told Vogue he "can't say what friend." Kirk created a tailored program for her that focused on strength, conditioning, and core work. “We approached her training for the Eras Tour with the mindset like a professional athlete," Kirk said. "There was an ‘off-season’ when she wasn't touring and ‘in-season’ when she was."“Her work ethic is just incredible,” he told the outlet. “I'm ready to be known as ‘Taylor Swift’s trainer.’ I don't think there's a cooler title out there.”
Dance Training: Mastering the Moves
Recognizing that choreography was not her "strong suit," Taylor dedicated three months to dance training with choreographer Mandy Moore. Mandy was recommended by Tay's close friend Emma Stone, who worked her for her 2017 Oscar winner La La Land. “I’ve known [Emma] since we were 17, and I told her all about the tour-I’m always bouncing ideas off my friends,” Taylor shared with TIME. “I wanted it to show people so many different types of dance and performance. Em said, ‘Mandy’s your girl.’” “I wanted to get it in my bones,” Taylor said of her choreography prep. “I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.” Taylor admitted that learning choreography is not her “strong suit,” but that working with Mandy “completely changed my relationship to choreography, and somehow got into my brain and figured out exactly how I would think about things.”
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Rehearsals: Perfecting the Performance
Taylor and her team spent almost a month rehearsing in the stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the site of the first Eras Tour show. "We actually got to be in the stadium for almost a month running the show several times a week," she said. "So that was extremely helpful."
Maintaining Momentum During the Tour
Even during the Eras Tour, Taylor maintained her fitness routine. Kirk told Vogue that she worked out two times per week, using LA-based chiropractic physician Amin Javid, DC, to implement recovery techniques. "In-season training was more about maintenance, and so it was more like stability, mobility, biomechanics,” he said. “If you've seen the show, you know how intense it is physically. Imagine doing that three, four days in a row and then you finally have a few off days and you're still showing up to gym. That's Taylor.”
Prioritizing Rest and Recovery: "Dead Days"
Recognizing the physical toll of performing, Taylor prioritized rest and recovery. After playing three days of shows, she took a full day to rest up. “I do not leave my bed except to get food and take it back to my bed and eat it there,” Taylor said. (Relatable!) “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.”
Sobriety: A Key Change
Unlike on her previous tours, Taylor stopped drinking alcohol during the Eras Tour, except for on Grammy night. “I was really disciplined about drinking.” She prioritizes hydration and doesn't make too many rules for her diet. “I stopped drinking for a couple months before the show except for on Grammy night, which was hilarious. I gave myself a fun night for that one.” She then kept up that practice throughout the tour’s run. “Doing that show with a hangover,” she said, “I don't want to know that world.”
Taylor's Approach to Diet: Balance and Intuition
Taylor has always emphasized fueling her body. “I have so much water in my dressing room because I drink, like, ten bottles of water a day,” she shared in a 2012 interview with Bon Appétit. While Taylor hasn’t revealed much about her diet in years, but, in 2010, she did share that she tries to avoid creating too many rules for herself. “I try to keep it lighter, but it’s nothing too regimented or crazy," she told WebMD. "We know what's good for us, thanks to common sense." At the time, Taylor added that she loves "baking anything" on the weekends."I bake pumpkin bread for everyone I know, and make ginger molasses cookies, and hot chocolate, and chai,” she shared with Bon Appétit.
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A Focus on Hydration
Taylor prioritizes hydration, drinking approximately ten bottles of water a day. She avoids sugary drinks like soda, opting for a skinny vanilla latte at Starbucks.
Intuitive Eating and Balance
Taylor follows an intuitive approach to eating, focusing on what makes her body feel good. She avoids creating too many rules for herself and enjoys comfort foods like burgers, fries, and ice cream on the weekends.
Mental Health: Prioritizing Well-being
In addition to physical fitness, Taylor prioritizes her mental health.
Journaling: Processing Emotions
To take care of herself mentally as well as physically, Taylor lets out her emotions on the page. "From a young age, any time I would feel pain I would think, 'It’s OK, I can write about this after school,'" Taylor told WebMD in 2010. "As a young kid, I learned to process my emotions by writing."She uses these notes for songwriting as well. "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?'"
Creating a Home Away From Home
She also has a routine to make sure any hotel room feel like home, even after long days on the road. The first thing she does? Unpack. “I do it everywhere I go,” Taylor told WebMD. “I really like the way it feels to have my clothes put away in drawers and my shoes in the closet.”Taylor also brings candles to each tour stop, she told the site.
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Key Elements of Taylor Swift's Workout Routine
- Warm-up: Before starting her workout, Taylor warms up her body with dynamic exercises like jumping jacks, squat jumps, and calf raises.
- Treadmill: She starts her treadmill workout with a playlist designed to match her pace. The playlist kicks off with upbeat warm-up songs, shifts to faster-paced tracks for running or brisk walking, and finishes with slower songs for a cool down.
- Yoga: Yoga plays a big role in helping her relax her muscles and release tension after a high-energy session.
- Pilates: Pilates is perfect for building core strength and toning muscles.
- Weight training: Taylor Swift focuses on a variety of exercises for her chest workout, ensuring she builds strength and maintains balance across her upper body. She performs three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for each of these exercises, helping to build strength without adding excessive bulk.
- Home Training with Resistance Bands: If you don’t have access to weights, resistance bands can be an excellent alternative for home workouts.
Building Core Strength
Focusing on your breathing during your workouts helps to strengthen your core, according to Swift's coach Myers. It makes sense then that breathing is a key focus when Swift is getting sweaty.
Taylor's Commitment
Taylor does it all for her fans. “I know I'm not drinking on tour. I know I'm working out in between shows. I know I'm keeping my strength and stamina up. I know I’m going on that stage whether I’m sick, injured, heartbroken, uncomfortable, or stressed,” she told TIME. “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.” Love to see a dedicated cardio and strength queen crushing it on and off the stage!