Sitting down with TIME magazine for the Person of the Year interview, superstar Taylor Swift takes us inside the hard work that went into prepping for the Eras Tour.
The 66-show tour, and the additional 85 shows she has yet to perform in 2024, all involve an intense amount of physical training to pull off. Remember, we’re not just talking about performative timeline of Swift’s most iconic music, but also the choreography, which spans the entire 40-song set list with high-energy and careful moves. If you’re going to do that every night for so many nights, you need an exercise plan and fast. So, how exactly did Taylor Swift’s workout routine manifest?
According to the TIME interview, this was actually the first time Swift ever prepared physically for a tour. “I knew this tour was harder than anything I’d ever done before by a long shot,” she explains. “I finally, for the very first time, physically prepared correctly.”
Set List Sprint
Music is a key motivating factor for a lot of people’s workouts, but Swift wasn’t just quietly rocking out to herself in the gym. Instead, she sang her entire set list while running on the treadmill.
That’s 40 songs of high-energy pop powerhouses and romantic melodies that Swift had to learn how to breathe through and keep her energy up for. Of course, it didn’t end there. Swift rounded out her routine with strength and weight training and months of dance lessons, which were, according to Swift, the hardest part.
“I wanted to get it in my bones. I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought,” she says. “Learning choreography is not my strong suit.”
Practice Makes Perfect
Unsurprisingly, a 40-song show takes a lot of prep. Swift cut out alcohol and started rehearsing the first show over a month before the fans started arriving in the seats. She also explains that she continued her workout routine in-between shows while the tour was running, something she plans to continue in the 2024 leg of the Eras tour.
“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 says. “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.”
