Our (Ocean Grove’s) recent tour across Australia with Polaris was a great opportunity to put some healthy tour habits to the test for the first time. First off, I challenged myself to drink zero alcohol for the duration of the 5 week tour – 22 shows across 33 days. That’s the kind of schedule that can really catch up to you if you’re having late nights and battling hangovers. Thankfully, the non-alcoholic range is getting pretty good out there, so it was a good chance to sample the local 0%ers on offer around the country. It’s not exactly a local, but the one that took out top spot for me would have to be the “Guinness 0.0”. Seriously top tier.
I just ran the City2Surf over the weekend and to get myself match fit for the 14km race I set myself the goal of running a total of 100km across the entirety of the tour. This meant that pretty much every show day between load-in and sound check I would head out for a run and go as far as I could depending on how much time I had. Usually it was 6 or 7kms and enough to break a sweat and get my mind off things for a bit. The beautiful upside to this was not only did it get me out of the venue and exploring the natural surroundings of every new city I found myself in, but it helped keep my cardio in check. As a vocalist who likes to jump and dance across the stage, the more lung capacity I can muster, the better, so I think the daily running and getting fresh air into my lungs helped a lot. Many people donated to the cause, too and I managed to raise $550 for Support Act in the process.
It was also the first time I brought a yoga mat on tour with me. I’ll admit, it’s a tricky item to bring along when you’re constantly on and off planes and vans, but it was a worthy sacrifice of convenience. An hour before show time each night I used the mat to do a series of push-ups, sit ups and stretches, both of my limbs and my diaphragm. Having the mat with me meant I had no excuse of there being no gym etc. If I could find enough space to lie the mat down then that’s all I needed to get the job done. I’d try to do at least 50 push-ups and 100 sit-ups with stretching in between. This was a great way to keep my core strength in check, another invaluable factor for a vocalist. I’d hit the stage feeling warm and energised and for something I initially thought may tire me out as the tour went on, the running and exercise before the show actually had the opposite effect. I felt more energised than I usually would when doing nothing at all on a show day. Add in my usual whole food plant-based diet and I felt better than I’ve ever felt on tour before, not once.
Check out some more touring resources here.
