Healthy Eating and Lifestyle Tips for Touring Musicians

The following is excerpted from the Berklee Online course A Scientific Approach to Nutrition and Health for Performing Artists authored by Dr. Marcela Castillo-Rama, which is enrolling now.

Touring as a musician is exciting and rewarding, but it can also take a toll on your health if you’re not careful about what you eat and drink, and how you take care of your body. Long drives, late nights, and unpredictable schedules make it easy to fall into unhealthy habits. However, maintaining proper nutrition and hydration, as well as a steady exercise and sleep routine, is crucial for keeping your energy up, performing at your best, and avoiding burnout. While life on the road presents unique challenges, a little planning can go a long way in helping you stay healthy. Here are some tips to keep you fueled, hydrated, energetic, and well-rested to take the stage night after night.

Water

If you’ve been on the road or you’ve performed at festivals you probably already know there’s no water backstage, in your trailer/dressing room, or in the artists village. If you are lucky, you might get the promoters to provide you and your band with cases of water. If you are a headliner, you may have asked for it on your hospitality rider. However, if you are just starting out in your career or it’s a small venue, this is probably not something that is available to you. During shows everyone is doing a million things, and despite best intentions things get missed and responsibilities get neglected.

What’s the solution? Be self-sufficient and plan ahead. Here’s a very basic and simple tip: invest in two sturdy, big, easy-to-clean reusable water bottles/jugs with handles that you can carry in your bag, on the tour bus, and keep backstage. If you lose one of them, you’ll have a backup. As soon as you get to the venue where you are performing, find out where the water supply is and fill your water bottle/jug and stay hydrated. Make sure that as soon as you come off stage you rehydrate as well. If your water bottle/jug is unattended during your performance, make sure you empty it, rinse it, and refill it with fresh water before drinking from it again.

Avoid Sugary Drinks and Alcohol

Aside from being incredibly unhealthy, sugary drinks give you a “sugar high” followed by a “crash.” If you are performing, the last thing that you want is to feel weak, tired, and sluggish on stage in front of your audience. Avoid sugary drinks and alcohol as much as possible. 

In the American diet, some of the top sources of added sugar come from sugar-sweetened beverages, like soft drinks and fruit drinks. Sugar-sweetened beverages are an important risk factor linked to obesity, but also diabetes, heart disease, and even some types of cancer. How much sugar do you think is in this 20-ounce (591 mL) bottle of soda? It’s 65 grams of sugar! This is equivalent to 26 cubes of sugar. If you drink a few more sodas than you should, one question for you: Would you be ok eating 26 sugar cubes? If not, why are you drinking them in the form of soda? 

Drinking alcohol can lead to dehydration because it inhibits the antidiuretic hormone produced by our kidneys (also known as vasopressin). Normally, this hormone prevents diuresis (urination) so that our body doesn’t lose too much water or minerals with urination. Alcohol has the opposite effect. It prevents the release of this antidiuretic hormone, which normally works like a traffic signal for your body, signaling when to slow down and retain water. When alcohol is present, it turns off this signal, causing the body to lose control of water retention, leading to increased urination. This is why if you’ve ever gone out drinking you may have noticed you have to go to the bathroom more often. Dehydration is what will cause us to have headaches, thirst, and lethargy the next morning.

While alcohol culture is prevalent in the life of musicians, especially on the road, it is not impossible to prevent or limit your drinking. Remember that while being on tour is exhilarating, ultimately it’s work. It’s an opportunity to showcase your art, and it’s important to be professional and give your best performance every night. You never know who might be in the audience.

Food

What about food? Once again, plan ahead. Conditions on the road are rarely ideal, even for well-established artists. To make matters worse, when you are starting out in your career you might not have a lot of money and eating healthy might feel like a luxury. More often than not, you are eating in a gas station or at a roadside diner, or eating cold pizza and greasy food at the venue you are performing at (if you are lucky!). Before you even get on the road, it’s important to prepare physically, mentally, and practically.

Look at Your Budget

Get clear on how much money you are going to get from your performances, how much you will spend on accommodations while you are on the road (do you have to keep paying rent and utilities back home while you’re on the road?), on travel (do you have to pay for a van or tour bus or gas?), and on food. A lot of the time, especially when starting out, you will be breaking even, meaning you will have just enough money to cover your living expenses. This is the baseline. Once you know how much money you will have, you can start planning.

Non-perishable and Healthy Snacks

If you have a good relationship with your band members, you may want to pool resources to buy non-perishable healthy snacks in bulk at wholesale prices before you head out. (For example: almonds, pistachios, whole-grain crackers, protein bars low in sugar, etc.) The difference in prices is staggering. Let’s do the math: wholesale almonds cost  21 cents per ounce, whereas almonds bought at the convenience store cost 119 cents per ounce ($1.19). That’s a 466 percent increase on the price.

Plan Your Travel Routes

If you have any say in planning your routes and what gas stations you stop at, you may wish to do some research ahead of time to find places that sell healthy food options. If you are in the US, there are some shops associated with Partnership for a Healthier America where they sell fresh fruit and vegetable options. 

Exercise

The more aerobically fit a person is, the better their body becomes at transporting and utilizing oxygen. This allows them to develop endurance, and perform strenuous activities (on and off the stage) for longer periods of time with less fatigue. Running is a great aerobic exercise, but if you’re worried about injuries or joint strain, you might consider gentler alternatives like walking.

As you consider your training, think about which option is best for you, and also how to incorporate it into your life, depending on what you are doing (regular routine, touring routine, etc). As always, remember that nutrition and fitness go hand-in-hand. There is no point in engaging in a thorough training routine if you pair that with eating food that is bad for you. Grammy-winning American singer, songwriter, and artist Jon Batiste embodies this idea.

Sleep

Touring can involve irregular schedules, late-night performances, and extensive travel across time zones. These factors contribute to disrupted circadian rhythms and inconsistent sleep patterns that impact an artist’s well-being and ability to perform at the highest level. Having a clear understanding of what keeps you awake, what helps you fall asleep, and what you need to do to have a restful night becomes more important. Remember that it’s crucial that you prioritize your sleep and rest while you are on the road. This is what’s going to allow you to give your best performance night after night, as well as enjoy a long and productive career.

Staying healthy on tour doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive—it just requires a little preparation and awareness. By prioritizing hydration, making smart food choices, and avoiding excessive sugar and alcohol, you can keep your energy levels high so you can perform at your best. Being mindful of your health allows you to keep doing what you love for years to come.