- Carrie Underwood shared how her fitness routine has changed over the years.
- The country star admitted that she used to work out to be a “a certain size.”
- Now, she stays active for “longevity”—to keep up with her performances and young sons.
Over the last 17 years, Carrie Underwood has gone from American Idol winner with big dreams to country music legend and mom of two. As it would for anyone, the time passed created some serious change for the star—especially when it came to her fitness routine. In a new interview with People, Underwood admitted that she used to work out to be “a certain size,” in order to conform to music industry beauty standards. But now, her goals and intentions are much different.
“Earlier in my career I was working out more to be a certain size or fit into a certain aesthetic that I thought I wanted to be,” she said. “And now I feel like I work out more to be strong and to have energy and longevity.”
Underwood has two young boys that she exercises to keep up with—Jacob, 3, and Isaiah, 7—not to mention a physically demanding live show for her ongoing arena tour, Denim & Rhinestones. (“I’m running around in heels and I honestly write songs that I don’t give myself time to breathe,” she admitted.)
“It really is playing the long game, right?” she continued. “I’ve worked out a whole lot and been frustrated because it wasn’t the results that I wanted. I feel like now at this point in my life, you really do learn that it is a lifestyle, it’s balance. It is overall taking care of yourself.”
The “Blown Away” singer added that her busy lifestyle requires her fitness routine to be flexible, and surprisingly, she’s able to be more consistent with it while on the road. “When I’m at home, I feel like I’m mom-ing it. I’m doing the laundry, packing the lunches, I’m always cleaning,” she explained. “So when I’m on the road and I live on a bus or in a hotel room, I’m not having to do all that stuff so it frees up a little time. My schedule is still very regimented and there’s all this stuff that I do, but my mornings are a little bit more flexible.”
Regardless of which mode she’s in, her fitness app, fit52, and her trainer, Eve Overland, make it easy to adjust accordingly and “make it happen however it can happen,” she said. That includes running on the treadmill, lifting weights, and doing banded exercises. “You have to work around a lot,” she added, explaining that fit52 helps, given that its workouts require minimal equipment.
Remaining consistent, on and off the road, has helped Underwood develop a baseline for feeling good, rather than simply “looking good” by certain standards.
“If I start feeling weird or tired it’s like, what boxes am I not checking? Am I eating fried food? Am I not drinking enough water?” she explained. “Whatever it is, I usually can pinpoint what I’ve been lacking and try to correct that and get myself back up to speed and be able to be my best.”
And that should always be the goal, shouldn’t it? So, if you happened to set a New Year’s resolution rooted in your physical appearance, take a page from Underwood’s book and make sure it prioritizes your energy and well-being, too.
Kayla Blanton is a freelance writer-editor who covers health, nutrition, and lifestyle topics for various publications including Prevention, Everyday Health, SELF, People, and more. She’s always open to conversations about fueling up with flavorful dishes, busting beauty standards, and finding new, gentle ways to care for our bodies. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Ohio University with specializations in women, gender, and sexuality studies and public health, and is a born-and-raised midwesterner living in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and two spoiled kitties.
