Dustin Lynch has made musical success look easy—or at least that can be the perception when your debut album reaches No. 1, as the country music star achieved in 2012.
However, before his string of gold and platinum hits and packing arenas worldwide while touring with a musical who’s who—Keith Urban, Luke Bryan, Florida Georgia Line, Brad Paisley, and Kane Brown—Lynch’s road to country stardom sounded more like the makings of a classic country song: a used van, a beer-and–fast food diet, followed by some simple yet unforgettable advice from an old man sitting alone at a bar.
“I don’t know what his past was… it seemed to me like he had been in the business for a while by just his demeanor,” Lynch recalls. “He said the key is just being prepared when an opportunity presents itself for you. If you want to be an artist, be prepared. And I’ve never forgotten that. That was heavy.”
Preparation has become Lynch’s life mantra. Behind every success story is the unseen work and preparation it takes to remain on top of your profession, and the Tennessee native is no exception. Following his debut success, Lynch has gone on to record eight No. 1 songs, 10 gold and platinum singles, and over five billion streams worldwide. Now his latest work, Killed the Cowboy, looks to continue that streak.
Maintaining that edge is a never-ending physical and mental process, Lynch admits, but the layout of that process has become more manageable and not as insurmountable as it once was.
“I don’t think it’s easier, I think I have a better formula,” he says. “I think I’ve become a lot more efficient with how I’m writing. The bar is just as high… When you release a song and you see it on the charts next to your heroes, that’s the playing field. That’s the bar we’re competing with.”
Closing in on 40, Lynch has to keep elevating his physical preparedness in order to keep raising the musical bar. His diet has certainly been upgraded from those early days of late-night drive-thrus, and he now hits the weight room at least three days a week. From there, his fitness levels are enhanced by his daily dose of outdoor adventures.
When on tour, immediately after soundcheck Lynch and his bandmates are off to trek the local trails for both inspiration and perspiration. When at home in Tennessee, he can be found hunting, hiking, riding motocross, or waterskiing. The outdoor activity not only restores him physically, it also gives him the opportunity to mentally reboot for the next project.
“I always remind myself that you’ve got to live in order to have something to say,” Lynch says. “You can’t be scared just to go and be. Usually, when I’m not focused on having to come up with something, I live a little bit, then I can kind of section off some creative times around that and write about what I went through.”
Training for the Tour and the Trails
When you’re a country music star, sometimes it’s actually OK to skip leg day—especially when you’re about to perform in front of thousands of fans later that evening. Although Dustin Lynch is never prepared to throw in the towel when it comes to training, he’s discovered—through agonizing trial and error—that it’s OK to reduce the intensity on show day.
“I learned the hard way,” Lynch says. “During one particular session it was a heavy leg day and I wound up having baby deer legs afterward. When I hit the stage that night, it was not fun at all trying to walk around in cowboy boots with shaky calf muscles.”
Lynch has compromised by scaling back at times but has never completely shut down his fitness regimen for any reason. As his career workload becomes more demanding, especially on tour, he relies more heavily on three to four days of a rigorous weight room routine.
The heavy lifting not only helps him maintain a chiseled, athletic look, but the adrenaline pump carries over to his high-energy performances that last for more than 90 minutes. “I like to go hard in the gym and for whatever reason, the pump, the blood that gets flowing, I sing better,” he says. “The day of the show I’d love to go out and really get a good workout in. I just have to watch how much I do.”
The gym is just one part of what keeps Lynch concert-ready. While performing in front of large crowds is his first love, being able to get outdoors and work out in nature is an important element that keeps the star both physically and mentally prepared.
When the bus pulls into the next concert destination, Lynch pulls up the AllTrails app and begins exploring the local terrain. This year, places like Denver; Bend, OR; and Keuka Lake in New York’s Finger Lakes region served up some of the best outdoor workouts for him and his bandmates.
“I ended up finding a bunch of [local experts] throughout the tour this summer and after knocking out soundcheck we’d head to the lake and get some surfing in before showtime. So it ended up being a great summer.”
However, the outdoor enthusiast admits he’s had to tone down—reluctantly—some of the high-risk maneuvers for the sake of making it to the show on time and in one piece.
“I thought I was gonna get to complete a new trick over the summer—a shuvit,” he says. “As I started the process of learning it, some of the guys trying to help me were like, ‘This is going to probably result in you losing teeth before you figure it out.’ So I decided to hang it up.”
Jack Owens
Fame, Fortune & Fine Food
Becoming a bona fide superstar comes with a host of perks—one being a better choice of culinary catering, a major upgrade from Lynch’s early days of post-show fast-food runs.
“I think since our career trajectory has gone the way it has, we have a little bit more asking power now than when we were a bunch of single dudes in a van,” Lynch says. “Back then our budget had enough for pizza or Taco Bell. We’ve stepped that up a notch.”
A fancier spread isn’t just a luxury for Lynch. From a health and performance perspective, he can see the difference in his energy levels when he’s off the junk food and fueled properly. It’s not just food quality—he’s more aware of macros these days after a failed stint at going carbless.
“As I was looking to get more cut, for whatever reason I had in my head that all carbs were terrible,” he recalls. “I just started really hurting. I had aches and pains from the gym and just felt like I didn’t have the energy I was used to having.”
His philosophy centers more around nutritional consistency, a lesson he says he learned early in his career when he got the opportunity to tour with country icon Keith Urban. It was witnessing Urban’s repetitive daily routine that kept him at peak performance level, show after show, that convinced Lynch to get a better hold of his diet.
Lynch keeps an eight-hour feeding window—with plenty of rice, potatoes, and other quality carbs to keep him energized. The result, he says, was a nearly 10-pound weight loss over the past year.
“It was a great string of lessons I learned from touring with Keith,” Dustin Lynch recalls. “Just watching how regimented he was with how he scheduled his days, what he ate before and after shows. He was always able to bring the best show he could possibly bring.”
And when he’s not on the road, Lynch is probably in the backyard of his sprawling Nashville farm, partaking in another passion—grilling. The avid hunter is high on big game meat and oftentimes invites friends and family over for a taste of his signature dish: elk tenderloin coated with a brown sugar–based rub.
“I love wild game. If I have a few weeks at home and I’m wild game heavy, I feel like Superman,” he says. “I think wild game is so next level when it comes to how it makes me feel. Maybe it’s not for everybody, but that’s what I love. It’s a non-negotiable for me.”
Courtesy of Dustin Lynch
For Dustin Lynch, It’s About Preparing to Make Memories Through Music
With an 18-city Killed the Cowboy tour set for spring 2024, Lynch is preparing to bring a unique blast of energy to each performance. Sometimes, however, even he can’t predict which version of himself will show up in each city.
“Every show is different,” he admits. “Sometimes I’m in a super playful, goofy mood onstage. Sometimes I’m feeling more serious about myself, and I’m sure that shines a little bit through with each performance, but I embrace all of that.”
Killed the Cowboy brings a more introspective version of Dustin Lynch, whose sixth album follows an American Music Award nomination in 2022 for the duet “Thinkin’ ’Bout You” (with Mackenzie Porter). At 38, Lynch says the two-year project evolved into a kind of midlife check-in about where his life is headed over the next decade, with songs such as “Chevrolet” (duet with Jelly Roll), “Honky Tonk Heartbreaker,” and “Only Girl in This Town.”
“It explores where I’m at personally, navigating being single while currently trying to find out what I want,” he says. “Am I settling down, or am I going to keep enjoying freedom and adventure?”
By staying in shape, Lynch intends to remain ready to put on an explosive performance for the audience. “Our fans are there, coming out and bringing it, so we’re gonna bring it with them,” he says.
And while Dustin Lynch stays in shape and musically contemplates his future, he hopes his music and concerts can help spark connections for others.
“What they can expect from our shows is a damn good party,” Dustin Lynch promises. “We want to provide an atmosphere where people can come and let loose and meet some new friends. Maybe even meet your life partner and make great memories with us.”
