Taylor Swift started getting in shape for her ground-breaking Eras Tour six months before it kicked off in Glendale, Arizona.
The American singer who was named Time Magazine’s person of the year, sang the entire Eras setlist, including 40 plus songs – whilst running on a treadmill everyday – “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs”.
This was then followed by a specialised strength, conditioning and weights programme at her gym, Dogpound.
“I knew this tour was harder than anything I’d ever done before by a long shot,” she said during an interview for Time Magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year. “I finally, for the very first time, physically prepared correctly.”
Ahead of the 66 sold out shows she played at across America, which was, for fans, “longer than they ever thought it would be”, the 33-year-old also sought out choreographer Mandy Moore, recommended by Emma Stone who worked with her on La La Land.
“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 told the magazine. “Learning choreography is not my strong suit.”
But for Swift, Moore “completely changed my relationship to choreography, and somehow got into my brain and figured out exactly how I would think about things.”
Swift also stopped drinking alcohol to help with her preparation and during the tour, admitting in previous tours she behaved “like a frat guy”.
She told Time: “Doing that show with a hangover, I don’t want to know that world.”
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Once the tour kicked off, Swift ensured she scheduled in “dead day” to recover from the three back to back shows she would do per city – only leaving her bed for food.
It’s her “dream scenario”, although, she added: “Every time I take a step my feet go crunch, crunch, crunch from dancing in heels.”
Keeping up her strength and stamina during a tour is key, because “I’m going on that stage whether I’m sick, injured, heartbroken, uncomfortable, or stressed”.
The Eras Tour, which is now accompanied by a concert film produced by the singer-songwriter, will be back in February 2024 for a six-month run across Asia, Australia and Europe before she returns to North America in October for the last 18 shows.
Swift was also named Spotify’s most streamed artist for 2023, with more than 26.1 billion global streams since January.
Other figures to have been named Time Magazine’s person of the year include the late Queen Elizabeth, climate activist Greta Thunberg, US president Joe Biden and Pope Francis.
