Taylor Swift is no stranger to life on the road, but for her record-breaking Eras Tour, she prepared like never before.
Joking that she toured “like a frat guy” in the past, Swift told TIME in her 2023 Person of the Year cover story that she “knew this tour was harder than anything I’ve ever done before by a long shot.”
The Eras Tour made headlines before it officially began in March, with a Ticketmaster crash leaving millions of dedicated fans disappointed in November 2022. Swift performs for more than three hours, taking concertgoers on a journey through her career with intricate set design and 16 costume changes.
“[The fans] had to work really hard to get the tickets,” Swift said. “I wanted to play a show that was longer than they ever thought it would be, because that makes me feel good leaving the stadium.”
Her training began six months before the first show at Dogpound, a celebrity gym with an annual membership worth $36,000. The gym created a custom program for Swift, incorporating strength, conditioning and weights to get her in Eras Tour shape.
“Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire setlist out loud,” Swift added. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.”
Along with her intensive cardio routine, Swift completed three months of dance training with La La Land choreographer Mandy Moore, whom she met through pal Emma Stone, to help get the choreography “in her bones.”
“Learning choreography is not my strong suit,” Swift said. “I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought.”
Swift’s strict wellness routine even included changes to her diet. She was “really disciplined” about her drinking “for a couple months” leading up to her tour in order to stay sharp. “Doing that show with a hangover, I don’t want to know that world.” Swift joked, confessing that she let herself have a “fun night” at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
While her preparation prior to the tour was crucial, even more important is her post-show rest period. “I do not leave my bed except to get food and take it back to my bed and eat it there. It’s a dream scenario,” she said, describing how she recovers after a weekend of Eras Tour shows. “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.”
Fans who weren’t able to get Eras Tour tickets were still able to join in on the fun with the release of the Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film. In its opening weekend, it became the top-grossing concert film of all time in North America.
With her first U.S. and international legs complete, Swift is taking a deserved performance break, but she lives by the motto “the show must go on.”
“I know I’m going on that stage whether I’m sick, injured, heartbroken, uncomfortable, or stressed,” Swift 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.”
The Eras Tour returns on February 7, 2024, with Swift performing at the Tokyo Dome. She will play more than 70 more shows in 2024 across the globe.
