Imagine Dragons' Dan Reynolds' strict touring regimen: No talking, no sugar, early to bed

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John Shearer/Getty Images via ABCWhile touring with Imagine Dragons, Dan Reynolds often wears a “VOCAL SILENCE” sign on his days off, but he’s not trying to be aloof.  Speaking to the Washington Post, Reynolds says that playing “two-hour shows that many days a week is just [too] intense” to not take voice breaks.

“It’s just like being a professional athlete, except [it’s] your voice,” he said. “You have to take it that seriously at this level. I don’t know how artists…live an unhealthy lifestyle…. Those are the bands I think that break up, they cancel a lot of show[s], or they just sound really bad live. I don’t want any of those options.”

So how does he do it? First, Reynolds says, he’s unemotional about food. “[It’s] just fuel for me,” he admits. “It’s not, like, an enjoyable thing. When I’m on the road it turns into, ‘What is the cleanest source of energy?'”

As a result, he says while on tour, he eats “the same thing every day:” eggs and oatmeal for breakfast, simple proteins for lunch and dinner, along with sweet potatoes, rice and veggies. He doesn’t eat sugar, dairy or bread, and after a show, there’s no partying:  Dan says he tries to go to bed “right after.”

Besides coddling his vocal cords, Reynolds says he maintains his strict regimen because he suffers from a chronic inflammatory condition that causes arthritis-like pain. To combat the effects of the disease, Reynolds takes a personal trainer on the road with him and does “a lot of power lifting.”

“You have to really maintain a strict regimen,” he said.

ID’s tour is underway right now, if you want to see Dan’s self-discipline in action.

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