It’s far too often we hear about performers being injured or ill while on tour and having to cancel dates or the remainder of the tour. In some cases this is from accidents or things that couldn’t be prevented. The rest of the time it is simply the wear and tear of the touring and continuous performing. Having a sold out show doesn’t really allow an artist to call out sick even if they want to. Illness aside, sometimes it is just the lifestyle performers adopt while they are on the road. Lack of sleep, diet, and other factors can contribute to poor health during extensive touring. Being health conscious and maintaining a healthy lifestyle while on tour makes it both easier and harder on tour. It is easier on your body but you may find some things hard to stick to when everyone else is partying away.
Watch Your Diet
Being on the road makes fast food seem like the easiest way to eat since you likely won’t have access to a kitchen. This is just a lazy excuse and a bad choice as far as your health and wallet are concerned. By shopping right at a grocery store, you can come up with healthy food choices that do not require any cooking utensils and save you money in comparison to fast food. Buying a loaf of bread and pack of deli meat for sandwiches is a lot cheaper and healthier than buying a burger for every meal.
Keep Hydrated
Contrary to what some “rock stars” want to believe, alcohol is not a hydrating fluid. In fact, alcohol is treated as a toxin by your body and encourages dehydration. Water is a major component of your body, so it is important to drink plenty of it. It helps your body to function normally and flushes toxins(like alcohol) out of your body. Sometimes you might feel tired and distracted and automatically think you need more sleep. Instead you might just be a little dehydrated. If you don’t like the taste of water, you can always buy the flavor packets for making it taste better. While water is great and you should be drinking it during the entire day, it doesn’t contain all of the electrolytes your body needs. Most people will recommend Gatorade for this. Gatorade is fine but don’t drink too much or too often. Gatorade does replenish useful electrolytes, but it also contains questionable ingredients like brominated vegetable oil. Instead of Gatorade, my personal recommendation would be mixed juice drinks such as V8 Fusions. These options provide the useful electrolytes without the extra sugar and such. Plus fruit drinks will be rich in vitamins which leads us to…
Take Vitamins
Vitamins are a valuable component of a healthy diet. Normally you can get everything you’ll need from these through how you eat if you eat well. Being on the road though impacts your dietary choices, so pick a good multivitamin. My personal preference is Centrum Performance. Even if you are getting a good balance of the vitamins contained in these, a little extra won’t hurt. Plus getting plenty of Vitamin C will help boost your immunity and ward off illnesses.
Exercise or Yoga
Unless you have plenty of room in your van or are fortunate enough to be using a tour bus, you probably won’t be able to take any exercise equipment with you. This doesn’t mean you can’t exercise while on tour. Body weight exercises such as pushups, crunches, and squats will not only help keep you in shape (or at least minimize how wide your shape spreads), but will help maintain and/or improve your functional strength. In addition, doing even the most basic yoga stretches can help in minimizing muscle strains from lifting equipment day after day.
Be A Non-Vampire
Playing late nights only to load up and start driving to the next gig does not contribute to being a day person. Still, getting out for just 20-30 minutes in the sunlight (even on cloudy or overcast days) is beneficial to your well being. Remember that your body uses sunlight to produce Vitamin D, which is helpful in maintaining bone health and strength. Just don’t get too much sunlight without wearing sun block, or you’ll risk health problems later in life.
Schedule Rest Breaks
I know for some bands and artists, playing every night is great because of the extra money and exposure you get. But remember at some point you will need to have a chance to rest, even if just for a night. Consider having a set day of rest for each week of the tour so you can avoid burnout. Take that day to relax and get out to see whatever city you’re in at the time.
Before You Leave On Tour
While on the road you won’t have access to your normal doctor or dentist, so make appointments with both for checkups before you skip town for weeks or months. Better to find out about any health concerns prior to leaving than finding out three weeks into the tour.
What If I Get Sick On Tour?
This can be a tough situation to deal with. If it is a simple throat and sinus cold, then you can get away with over -the-counter medicine and still be able to perform within a certain level. If you’re laid out with a 104° fever, then you might need to make arrangements to cancel/reschedule a gig so you can have time to recover. It is an unfortunate thing for that to happen, but it is better than forcing yourself to perform and either giving a lackluster performance or over-exerting yourself and making things worse.