Taylor Swift loves a good surprise. On Aug. 26 she let us in on her very own love story, announcing her engagement to Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce. Just a few weeks prior, she also confirmed that her 12th studio album (“The Life of a Showgirl”) is on the way, teasing fans with a multitude of different album covers. From her upcoming album release to the highly-anticipated wedding, there’s clearly never a dull moment for Swift . . . that’s just the life of a showgirl. But how does she keep up with it all?
The truth is, Swift’s lifestyle takes serious strength and stamina. We know this much to be true from her hours-long performances at the Eras Tour. “She will never tell anyone that she is an athlete. But I’ve seen what she goes through. I’ve seen the amount of work that she puts on her body, and it’s mind-blowing,” Kelce told GQ in an interview published on Aug. 12.
To his point, Swift’s wellness routine is designed with stamina in mind. Even when she’s not performing for three hours and 44 minutes straight, her health and fitness regimen needs to serve her well in the long run. Although Swift has been fairly tight-lipped about her habits as of late, there are a few Easter eggs out there (and we’re not just talking about her music). Ahead, we scoured the internet for everything we could find about Swift’s current wellness routine, including her favorite workouts, comfort meals, and best practices for mental health.
Taylor Swift’s Wellness Routine
When the Eras Tour finally wrapped, Swift had 21 months of shows under her belt. Here’s what we know about the wellness routine that gave her the stamina, energy, and mental resilience to keep at it for this long.
She’s Always in the Gym
As Swift’s trainer and Dogpound founder Kirk Myers told British Vogue in an April interview, a lot of prep went into the Eras Tour. “We approached her training for the Eras tour with the mindset like a professional athlete. There was an ‘off-season’ when she wasn’t touring and ‘in-season’ when she was,” Myers said. “When she’s not touring, we’re in the gym up to six days a week for sometimes two hours a day.” These long gym sessions consist of strength training and conditioning with an emphasis on core work, Myers said. But even on tour, Swift was still putting in the work, averaging two gym sessions a week. “If you’ve seen the show, you know how intense it is physically,” Myers said. “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 the gym. That’s Taylor.”
She Sings on the Treadmill
Six months before the Eras Tour began, Swift starting running and singing on the treadmill, she told Time in her December 2023 person of the year cover story. “Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud,” she said. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.” She’s also a known lover of cardio, previously telling WebMD that she liked to do an hour of cardio on the treadmill every day. “For me, running is about blasting a whole bunch of new songs and running to the beat,” she said in a 2010 interview. Looks like not much has changed.
She Took Dance Lessons
Leading up to the Eras Tour, Swift knew she wanted to be confident in her choreography. “I had three months of dance training, because I wanted to get it in my bones,” she said in the same Time interview. Although she admits that dancing was not her “strong suit,” she stuck with it, learning from celebrity choreographer Mandy Moore (recommended by bestie Emma Stone). “I wanted to be so over-rehearsed that I could be silly with the fans, and not lose my train of thought,” Swift explained.
She Quit Drinking
You might’ve heard of Swift’s affinity for cosmos — or maybe her Bacardi and coconut combo at the 2023 VMAs. However, with the exception of the 2023 Grammys, Swift told Time that she quit drinking so as to avoid doing the Eras Tour hung over. A wise decision indeed.
She Believes in Balance
“During the week, I try to eat healthily, so that means salads, yogurt, and sandwiches,” Swift told WebMD. “It’s nothing too regimented or crazy. I don’t like to create too many rules where I don’t need them.” On the weekends, though, she goes for classic comfort foods. “I love a burger and fries, I love ice cream so much, and I love baking cookies. Actually, I love baking anything.” (But you might’ve known that already.) In terms of drinks, Swift is a big Starbucks fan. She loves the vanilla latte during weekdays and a PSL on the weekends.
She Loves to Cook
In 2019, Swift shared her top three favorite dinner-party recipes with Elle: Ina Garten’s Real Meatballs and Spaghetti, Nigella Lawson’s Mughlai Chicken, and Jamie Oliver’s Chicken Fajitas With Molé Sauce. Some of her favorite things to bake in the winter are pumpkin bread and ginger molasses cookies, but she’s also shared snaps of cinnamon rolls and a recipe for chai sugar cookies.
On this note, one of her favorite breakfasts is buckwheat crepes with ham, parmesan cheese, and a fried egg, according to a 2012 interview with Bon Appétit. She pairs it with orange juice — which she drinks every morning — and she always keeps her fridge stocked with Diet Coke.
She Takes Supplements
In the same Elle interview, Swift said she takes L-theanine to help with stress and anxiety and magnesium for muscle health and energy. L-theanine helps you stay alert and increases levels of dopamine and GABA, per the Cleveland Clinic. Magnesium, on the other hand, is known to support serotonin production, and even help with sleep and anxiety.
That said, just because Swift takes these supplements, doesn’t mean they’re right for everyone. It’s always a good idea to talk to your doctor before incorporating any new medications into your routine (supplements included), as they can interfere with certain health conditions and medications. This is especially important since supplements are not tested or regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
She Works on Positive Body Image
In Swift’s 2020 Netflix documentary, “Miss Americana,” she bravely shared that she struggled with an eating disorder in the past, and has done some serious work to overcome it. “I tend to get triggered by something, whether it’s a picture of me where I feel like my tummy looked too big, or someone said that I looked pregnant, and that will trigger me to just starve a little bit. Just stop eating,” she said in the documentary. She remembers near-fainting after shows while on her “1989” tour. “I don’t think you know you’re doing it when you do it gradually. You don’t ever say ‘I have an eating disorder’ but you count everything you eat.”
She spoke more about her healing journey in the 2019 Elle article. “I learned to stop hating every ounce of fat on my body. I worked hard to retrain my brain that a little extra weight means curves, shinier hair, and more energy,” she said, reflecting on her past in light of her 30th birthday. “I work on accepting my body every day.”
She Travels With Wellness Essentials
Swift is a seasoned traveler, so it’s safe to say she has her routine down. She always travels with candles, and the first thing she does when she gets to her hotel room is unpack. She told WebMD that having a comforting routine is crucial in order to stay balanced. We have a feeling it’s no different now, given all the travel needed for the Eras Tour.
She’s Always Writing
“As a young kid, I learned to process my emotions by writing,” Swift told WebMD. She began writing poetry in second grade and hasn’t stopped writing since. She says she uses writing to keep herself honest and work through feelings — from rejection and loneliness to joy and love. In this way, writing is a tool for her mental health (and it also leads to some pretty amazing songs).
— Additional reporting by Mercey Livingston and Chandler Plante
Kaley Rohlinger is a freelance writer for PS who focuses on health, fitness, food, and lifestyle content. She has a background in the marketing and communications industry and has written for PS for over four years.
Chandler Plante (she/her) is a social producer and staff writer for the Health & Fitness team at Popsugar. She has over five years of industry experience, previously working as an editorial assistant for People magazine, a social media manager for Millie magazine, and a contributor for Bustle Digital Group. She has a degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University and is based in Los Angeles.
Mercey Livingston is a writer and editor with eight-plus years of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition for media outlets and brands including Well+Good, Shape, and Women’s Health. She was the fitness editor at Peloton and held editorial roles at Equinox, Shape, and Well+Good. Mercey is a NASM-certified personal trainer and women’s fitness specialist. She’s also a certified holistic health coach through the Institute For Integrative Nutrition, with an additional certification in hormone health.
