15  Bandsintown artists weigh in with their best tips on how they stay healthy on the road.

Staying healthy on the road which is traditionally a landmine of fast food and gas stations filled with crap. Not to mention the fact that you are in and out of bars and clubs serving fried food and of course booze.

Ron Pope

Remember that even though you're traveling, you're not on vacation. You're at work and part of your job is to keep showing up night after night. 

Don't Eat Like You're Going to The Electric Chair

Drink lots of water, exercise whenever you can find the time, stretch, do your best to get enough sleep, don't eat like you're going to the electric chair, don't get drunk every day, 

Lift With Your Knees

lift with your knees when you're lugging those amps, etc etc etc. 

Manafest

Go Green

Green smoothie every day.  Bring vitamins.  

Go Nuts

I travel with little almond butter packs so I don’t eat junk when I’m hungry. And get sleep Try for at least 8 hours every night. 

James Wesley 

Get to Bed

I try and get to bed early, but being on the road and getting to bed early being the boss It never happens. 

Go For a Run

I do like to get up and go for a run. It clears my mind and makes for a better day for sure. The main thing is to try and eat right  and get a nap if you can, because you never know what may happen later in the day before the show. 

Jeff Crosby

Think Healthy

Healthy snacks like nuts, granola, carrots, apples, celery...stuff you can reach for when you're kinda hungry that'll tide you over and keep you from eating gross freeway fast food. Don't fall into the convenience trap. It'll burn you out and make you feel terrible after a week on the road. 

My tour dinner consists of LOTS of salads with grilled chicken and sparkling water. It's boring but you'll thank yourself when the tours over.  

Use Hotel Exercise Rooms! 

They're not bad and even 20 minutes will make a difference after hours of sitting in the van or bus.

Reva Devito 

Use The Google

Eating well on the road is so hard. Yelp is a good source for me. I just type healthy in the search bar to see what’s good in the area. I try to exercise anytime we’re in a hotel with a gym! 

Magnesium and Melatonin

magnesium and melatonin for sleep!

Rebecca Loebe 

Plan in Advance

Think about what you’re going to eat. Sure, some venues will provide the band with dinner and drinks, but you definitely can’t live on French fries and PBR for too long if you want to stay energized. 

Be Prepared

Pick up a multi-use utensil and keep it with you at all times. Some venues will allow bands to prepare meals before the show. I’ve traveled with a rice cooker, great for making beans and rice, soup, or noodles. I also bring along salt, spices, and condiments, a camping stove, dishes, and cooking utensils. 

Always Have Snacks!

Eating well is all about preparation. If you don't have your own snacks, you are at the mercy of the road and the road is not always kind to people who care about their health. I try to stop for lunch at organic grocery stores or co-ops - that way I can get a healthy hot meal and stock up on snacks.

Be Realistic in Your Tour Routing

Luckily, sleep has never really been a problem for me, except that sometimes it can be hard to get enough. This comes down to scheduling - there are only 24 hours in a day. We work at night. It is not always possible to get to bed before midnight, one, or even two when you're on tour, which means that it might not be possible to sleep 8 eight hours AND drive 300 miles to the next gig. Be realistic in your tour routing. When you know that you *have* to make a hellacious drive in order to get your dream gig, cut yourself some slack the day before or after.

The Talbott Brothers

Build A Bed

We have bunk beds in our tour rig and we take turns resting whenever we travel. sleep and water are keys to staying healthy. 

Bars! (Not Those Kind)

We keep our fridge stocked with groceries; some favs are: Brew Dr. Kombucha, Nature’s Bakery fig bars, Perfect Bars, Roc2Coffee and fruits, vegetables and hummus. We generally eat healthy but are suckers for hole in the wall food joints from time to time.

Lowdown Brass Band

Staying healthy is tough, especially as we get up there in years a little. It's a lot easier to bounce back from pounding PBR's and sleeping on floors when your 24 than it is at 42 so you have to choose your battles more carefully.

 Go Green

The assumption is that bands survive and function perfectly well on a diet of pizza and beer.  That's what they will feed you. This is false. Try to drink a green juice every now and then. Veggies/vegans, bring as much stuff with you as you can or stop at grocery stores.  It's grim out there. 

Get Sleep

Use sleeping masks, white noise, earplugs, lavender spray, melatonin, whatever it takes to get some rest. 6hrs is a gift. 

Do Calisthenics at Rest Stops

Squats,  push ups,  sit ups, lunges,  stretch, jog around the parking lot,  anything to move. You'll curl up into a shrimp otherwise…

 Water is Important

Maybe the most important. 

The Vindys - Answers by Jackie Popovec

Jump!

Jumping rope is my latest obsession.  It’s like bringing the gym with you. It fits in your bag, and gets your heart rate up.  Being a vocalist that moves a lot on stage, I find that it really helps my stamina. 

Yelp it Up

Finding quick healthy food is always hard to do on the road, but we have been slowing collecting our favorite stops in every city thanks to Yelp.  We stick to healthy snacks like mixed nuts and healthy protein bars for long drives. I will admit my on the road must haves include large amounts of coffee and gummi bears.

New Reveille

Snack a Lot

Our big thing about eating on the road is stocking up on healthy snacks at an earth fare, Whole Foods, or similar health food store. We snack a lot, and make sure that if we want a bigger meal we don’t stop at any fast food joints unless we absolutely have no other options. One of our members is vegetarian, and she has no issues eating vegetarian on the road. There are so many vegetarian options these days that it’s really pretty simple! 

Supplement to Ward off Sickness

We also end up taking a good bit of supplements such as elderberry, black seed oil, and oil of oregano to try and ward off any sicknesses we might come in contact with. 

Be Kind to The Earth

Also, we try to bring our reusable water bottle and just refill with gallon water jugs instead of buying plastic water bottles. 

Truett

Skip The Bun

Meat and vegetables are your friend. You can get meats and vegetables just about anywhere you can get food. Go to a fast food restaurant? Get a burger with no bun. Knife and fork it. It’s important to eat as healthy as you can while you’re out on tour. 

Bring That Cooler

I always keep a cooler in the van with snacks in case we get strung out at a long load in or sound check and the venue doesn’t provide food.

Eli Lev

Run But Don’t Forget to Shower

Always try and sneak in a run in the morning (if you stay somewhere that has showers) 

Don’t Dry Out Your Vocal Chords

Stop in at juice bars, eat grain bowls, choose tea instead of coffee, consume minimal caffeine, and minimal alcohol or you will dry your vocal chords out quick!

Allie Colleen  

Bring a Cooler

This is something I struggle with a lot on the road.  Healthy options are typically not the cheapest, as we all know.  Going back to the first question of what to bring and what not to bring and the problem of “how much space do you actually have” I fully recommend you pack a cooler.  Something on the larger side so that your food is not crushed but also small enough to fit behind your center console to that you can get to it while driving (via your copilot, distracted driving is not cool).  Lord knows we have already spent the money on groceries we are not going to be home to even eat, so stock up that cooler with fresh fruit and cheese and sausages. All those good, tasty, energy full foods that will be bad by the time you return home anyway.  

Join Planet Fitness

I have a membership with Planet Fitness because you can almost always find one along the way to wherever your travels may take you.  They are open 24/7, they have really great showers and dressing rooms so if you don’t have time to hit the hotel before your gig you have a place to stop in and get ready and you can avoid changing your car and putting your makeup on with a mirror that barely shows one eye nonetheless your entire face.  

Make White Noise

If you’re like me and you like to sleep to a little white noise, here is when that Beyonce box fan comes in handy.   

Maggie From The Imaginaries

Gluten Free and Dairy Free? Look Up The Menus

Since I'm gluten free and dairy free due to food allergies, eating on the road can sometimes be a challenge. I've found Yelp to be extremely helpful when choosing where to eat, as I can look up the menus and sometimes even allergy charts or ingredient info. I also have my go to spots in mind and can usually find something to eat at most spots. We always try to pick healthier (faster) options.

Get In The Grove

It usually takes a few days to get into the groove with sleeping well, but once we're on the road a few days and get into that routine, sleeping becomes easier with time. 

ALSO, Join Planet Fitness 

We always try to work out at the hotel gyms and also have a Planet Fitness membership (which is good nationwide). Stretching is very important as well, especially after long car rides. 

Got any great tips?

Add them here along with your Bandsintown link!  We would love to include you in a future On The Road Post