Dr. Justin Lima · September 29, 2026 · 4 min read
Lessons For Strength Coaches From Taylor Swift
Strength and conditioning coaches might not think performers are athletes, but they are.
singers and performers are athletes.
The day I am writing this is Tuesday September 29th 2026, and if you are like me with a wife who is a "Swiftie" you know that Taylor Swift came out with new music. For the record me and the gang at Iowa Football S&C used to listen to Taylor from time to time back in the day - don't let them tell you otherwise.
Now, what is the point of me saying all of this? Simple, performers are athletes too.
What?
No way Justin.
You are out of your mind.
I am ok with you saying this because I have heard it before and will hear people say/think it again.
Follow me on this train of thought.
Singers/performers (forgive me for not knowing the proper terminology) are on stage dancing and singing for multiple hours when putting on a concert. They do this multiple days in the week. And will do this for weeks and months in the year. Oh yea, don't forget about rehearsal.
Take a step back strength coach, what does this sound like? You guessed it, games and practice during in-season.
It doesn't stop there for people like Taylor who tour for parts of the year, they have to get ready to travel and perform on stage, so they have to work in the offseason when they are not on tour.
See even more how they are an athlete?
Sure they don't have someone trying to tackle them, stop them from scoring points, etc...but they are putting in HOURS of physically demanding work on their bodies. Now you see why they are athletes and need a well designed S&C program?
Who trains these athletes?
I don't fully know who trains them. I know one person who does - Ben Bruno.
If you follow Ben on social media you will know that he worked with/for Coach Mike Boyle back in the day, left Mike's facility on great terms and started working in California with tons of celebrities, athletes, and musicians. One person he worked with was Justin Timberlake (who is a singer/performer just like Taylor). Ben has shared how long he and Justin worked together while Justin was on tour.
Another name that comes to mind is Frank Barone. Frank used to work in college S&C, then professional S&C, both mainly with soccer. He was on the Cheeky Mid Weeky back in the day. Frank left that world of team sport soccer to go to Cali and work with clients one on one. Not that he works with Justin Timberlake, Kate Upton, etc...like Ben does but it is very similar.
Coaches like Ben and Frank would not be able to have the careers they have if it were not for singers who wanted to train. I shared with you Justin Timberlake story from Ben's post, but another world famous singer trains hard for tour as well. Miley Cirus also loves to train hard and talks about using TRX, ViPR, dancing, etc...to stay in prime performing shape. Shoot, getting back to Taylor swift and her Era's tour she talked about how hard she had to train to perform that long.
As you see with Ben and Frank's work, and when you look around the industry of training musicians they often have "their own trainer" they work with.
Totally makes sense, it is what you see with professional athletes, and even some college athletes during their offseason. So, to whom all the singers train with, I have no clue, all I know is they are training hard because their career is hard.
Why does this matter for strength coaches?
Here at SCN we have highlighted all the fields of S&C for coaches to learn about and see if it is right for them. It is also why I wrote my textbook for Cognella Academic publishing. We have shared with you not only about - high school, college, pro, TSAC, and private - we have dove into corporate wellness, research, and the different inner-workings of the 5 prior listed. Well working with musicians/performers is not its own category fore say as it falls in the private side of S&C - it definitely is a niche much like corporate wellness. Maybe this is something you want to look into more. Cool, check it out. It is not for me as I have my life set up already, but if I was young and able to move, maybe I would see about interning or working for people like Ben or Frank.
Just like anything we talk about here - check it out and see if it is for you. If it is, learn as much as you can before you make the leap. If it is not for you, cool. Either way, now you will never be able to unsee performers as athletes. And that is because they are athletes.
about the author
As a strength and conditioning expert and coach, Dr. Justin Lima's career spans Division I football at the highest levels. Dr. Lima holds a Ph.D. in Health and Human Performance from Concordia University Chicago and a Master of Science in Strength and Conditioning from Bridgewater State University. He is the owner and CEO of Strength Coach Network, the premier platform for strength coaches to pave a real path forward to elevate pay, personal life, progression and purpose.
A devoted family man, Dr. Lima lives with his wife and two sons in Iowa — the same state where much of his career was built and where his dedication to the profession continues to thrive.
Dr. Justin Lima
Strength Coach Network
