I Tried Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Treadmill Workout

Taylor Swift is having one hell of a year, and even that’s a massive understatement. Between a record-breaking world tour, multiple album re-releases, being named TIME Person of the Year, winning Album of the Year at the Grammys, supporting her boyfriend at Chiefs games — oh, and preparing to release her 11th studio album in April — it’s a wonder how she ever sleeps.

And yet, she manages to pull off an amazing feat of endurance every time she steps onstage. Swift’s Eras Tour set list runs over three hours, spans 44 songs from 10 eras (including two surprise songs), and sees the superstar strutting up and down a massive stage in a stadium of tens of thousands of fans. Even attending one stop on the tour can be exhausting, but she’s up there delivering vocals and choreo night after night after night.

When I started seeing Eras Tour videos all over my FYP, I immediately wondered about Tay’s workout routine. What in the world was she doing to build that much strength... and was there any chance I could try to replicate it? In her December 2023 TIME interview, Swift detailed the six-month preparation process to get ready for the tour. “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 also did a customized strength and conditioning program at Dogpound, her New York City gym, and three months of dance training.

It’s an unbelievable workout routine, even for a superstar, and I needed to know what it actually felt like for a normie (me). Armed with Swift’s go-to sports bra from Forme and a prayer, I set out to replicate her treadmill workout.

The Plan: Taylor’s Tour Workout (My Version)

Though I definitely couldn’t pull off the strength or dance training, I was hoping I could hold my own on the treadmill — I’ve run two marathons and two half-marathons in the past. The biggest logistical hurdle was figuring out a space where I could run while belting Swift’s lyrics, because I have a feeling the folks at my neighborhood gym don’t want to be subjected to that.

Thankfully, the good people at Barry’s Bootcamp in Brooklyn Heights were down to help me make this happen. I popped into their studio on a Monday afternoon between classes, and they queued up the Eras Tour set list on the speakers and let me have the red room to myself. (Barry’s team, I cannot overstate how much I love you for this. I felt like a pop star and no one else had to hear my singing voice.)

I wanted to stick as closely to Swift’s routine as possible, while also keeping in mind that she’s in much better shape than me. I settled on a routine of power-walking her slow songs and jogging the fast ones — with the goal of running as much as I could to get a sense of how hard it really was.

As for the outfit, Swift has been photographed rehearsing in the $185 Forme Power Bra, which was designed by an orthopedic surgeon to be posture-correcting. I tried it out along with my favorite Lululemon running tights (mid-rise with pockets, an old version of the Swift Speed Tights the brand currently sells).

The Process: This Is Me Trying

From the first few lines of “Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince,” I knew this was going to be... challenging, to put it lightly. “Cruel Summer” was the first song I ran to, but belting the bridge sounded more like a cry for help. (Please picture me, alone in the Barry’s red room, wailing, “He looks up grinning like a devil” with the treadmill on 6.5 mph speed.) I was suffering, but also having the time of my life, and I was determined to make it through at least a few eras.

By the time I got to Fearless, I realized I was going to have to walk most of these songs. Strutting while singing was more manageable, not to mention more fun. I worked my way through that era and evermore on various walking speeds and inclines, basking in the melodrama of tracks like “champagne problems” and “tolerate it.”

Then came the bass drop in “...Ready For It?” which I was not, in fact, ready for at all. I forced myself to run to that one, took a walk break for “Delicate,” and jogged painfully through “Don’t Blame Me” and “Look What You Made Me Do.” (My exact reaction to the transition into “LWYMMD” was, “I have to run to this one, sh*t.”)

I got another walking break for the Speak Now era (“Enchanted” and “Long Live”), then hyped myself up for the last era I had energy for: Red. At this point, my singing was basically breathy chanting, but I was trying my best. I jogged to “22,” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” then finished my workout with a 10-minute walk to “All Too Well” — complete with my own spur-of-the-moment dramatic arm choreo. How can you possibly sing “and you called me up again just to break me like a promise” without clutching your chest?

The Takeaway: This Is Some Vigilate Sh*t

I have no clue how she does this, truly. My run/walk ended up at 7 miles in just over an hour and a half, and I didn’t even make it through the last three eras on her set list. I am in decent running shape and still could *never* come close to pulling this off on a daily basis. My recovery period took a few days in itself.

The Barry’s studio lighting made me feel like “The Man,” and I also really enjoyed running in the Forme bra — it kept my upper body sturdy and was comfy and well-made (a must for an item with that price tag). I’m not sure it did too much for my posture in one workout, but if I were training hard every day like Swift, I can see the appeal of wearing something with built-in support.

TL;DR: Unsurprisingly, the Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department is also a world-class athlete. This is one of the silliest, most fun workouts I’ve ever attempted, but I think I’ll stick to belting her lyrics alone in my apartment... where no one can hear me and I have enough breath support to stay on pitch.