There’s a reason why Beartooth lead singer Caleb Shomo takes his shirt off at every opportunity. He has abs that action stars dream of, and he doesn’t have the luxury of personal trainers, fancy gyms, or creative camera angles while out on the road performing live shows almost every single night. With 41 shows over 9 weeks spanning the continental US and a rock themed cruise – the band has learned how to do more, with less.
This interview is from their 2024 tour, and it was never published, so I wanted to share it here!
Sleep Like Your Job Depends on It (Because His Does)
“Sleep is how you recover“
While the early days of an artist’s career often sees them crammed into a sprinter van with eight other guys, as the headliner for an almost entirely sold out tour, Beartooth has the luxury to invest in things that matter. For Caleb – sleep is everything. This means they focus on having a comfortable tour bus that drives smoothly while building off days into their show schedule so they can get real sleep in a hotel bed. Plus, Caleb has an entire sleep routine that helps him conk out everything night.
“When I get into my bunk, I really try to turn off my phone – and breathe. Breathing is everything… I actually really studied for a while how to fall asleep and how different people do it. In my mind, I tried to stop breathing, and completely take my brain out of it. Then I start from my hands, lose all the tension in my fingers… all the way up to my head. Kind of the last step is completely shutting off your brain from thinking about breathing, and usually by that point you feel everything kinda numb out and you go”
Body Weight Basics drive Beartooth’s Routine
A tour bus is more than just a place to sleep—it also provides all the space needed for body weight basics—the core of an on the road workout program. Caleb sees his fitness as something where consistency matters more than fancy equipment or massive lifts.
My mentality with working out, especially on a show day, I would rather be able to show up and do it again tomorrow, then not. I really try not to kill myself. I keep it pretty minimal, pretty simple. I have basic checkpoints that as long as I’m doing this every day, then we’re good… That’s when I start to see real progress
Every day, Caleb works out twice—once in the morning for a “Gym Wars” session with the band, and a second solo warm up about an hour before the show. Their training focuses mostly on circuits. Today, it was all about planking and push ups with a one minute plank immediately followed by 10 pushups, a short breather, and then repeating five times total. The bus (or green room) serves as a great place to then move into pull-ups and chin-ups using whatever is available. This relatively short session is then followed by ten minutes of stretching with a heavy focus on limbering up their legs. The day before, Caleb spent more time on weighted pull ups and chin ups with upper body stretching. No matter what the circuit is for the day, he aims to do 10 minutes total of planking and 100 push-ups.
His evening pre-show workout lasts about 25-30 minutes and starts with jumping up and down and moving his arms. He then switches into another circuit of planks and pushups with leg stretches built in during the rest periods. Oh—and he’s singing the first five or so songs of the set at max volume while he does this.
There is a distinct lack of cardio in this workout plan – but with 10+ outfit changes and an energy filled ninety minute set, the band are all getting plenty of exercise.
“The show is the cardio. I honestly do that purposefully on this tour. I’m a big runner when I’m at home – I absolutely love running. But I’ve found that I can over do it”
Nutrition Tricks to Build Muscle on the Road
The overall focus for the band is on whole foods.
“For me, I honestly eat the same things almost every single day. I feel so much better as a whole, mentally, physically, everything – when I am eating a whole food. Like a banana instead of banana bread…It’s just not really eating much processed stuff.”
Getting abs like Caleb’s require a well balanced high protein diet, and having to eat out for all your meals doesn’t always allow for the best nutrition. Here are his top five grocery store options for staying healthy on the road.
- Kefir – a fermented milk drink similar to a thin yogurt
- Probiotic fermented Vegetables – his favorite is beet sauerkraut
- Hard boiled eggs
- Chocolate collagen mixed with greek yogurt for a protein boost
- Creatine and multivitamins
Apparently if they decide to go crazy, the band will all lose their mind over chicken wings, so those seemed to feature pretty heavily in the tour diet as well.
Overall, Beartooth are committed to bringing an amazing high energy show to fans around the world, with Caleb’s final advice that if you “put in the work, you see the wins”.
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