Ross Lynch first gained notice for his roles on Disney Channel’s Austin & Ally and Teen Beach Movie, and is arguably best well-known for his portrayal of Harvey Kinkle, the heartthrob boyfriend to Sabrina Spellman in Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. But these days, Lynch has been making headlines for jumping on stage sans shirt while touring with his band The Driver Era. The pop group, which is comprised of Ross and his older brother, Rocky Lynch, is currently on tour across the United States and Canada, and their third studio album, Summer Mixtape, is out on September 16th. 

The kind of (shirtless!) high-energy performance Ross puts on stage demands a lot of stamina, and, as you might expect, it's made possible with a consistent exercise regimen supported by a balanced diet. In between shows, GQ caught up with Ross to discuss saunas, intermittent fasting, and how eating on tour is different from eating at home. 

For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and other high performers about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

GQ: What type of training have you been doing to achieve this physique?

Ross Lynch: Over the past few years I've been really into biohacking. Which is exactly as it sounds. It's about essentially doing little tricks and hacks for your body that are really good for you. For instance, I really love to do ice baths. Especially after an infrared sauna, if it's possible. Most of the time I'll just buy like $40 worth of ice and I'll throw it in the tub. And I'll just jump in for about five minutes, depending on the temperature. 

There's other things that I like to do, like intermittent fasting, which essentially means that you eat your food in a specific window. My favorite window to do is 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. I'll usually eat lunch at two and then I'll eat dinner at like, seven. And then I won't eat from 8 p.m. until 2 p.m. the next day. Coffee's okay, but no calories in there. One of the main things that I like about fasting is autophagy, which is essentially the process of your weakest cells dying off, being replaced by brand new cells. It really improves your sleep when your body's not digesting food, and sleeping is a very important factor for physical wellness. Especially for muscle regeneration, mental clarity and burning fat.

How long have you been doing intermittent fasting for?

Some years now, but I'm not perfect: There will be months sometimes where I just won't do it. Usually when I'm at home it's easier to be regimented. On tour, our schedules are always changing and we're always in new time zones. Sometimes you just gotta eat when you can eat because your body needs fuel. But I've been doing it for years now and I really like the mental clarity that it brings me. I like the energy. You feel really strong, focused, and clean. It's kind of an addictive feeling. I think probably almost everyone eats too frequently.

Walk me through an average workout during your day.

As far as physical activity goes, consistency is more important than intensity. At least once a day I'll try to do some calisthenics. Whether it's pullups, pushups, body weight squats, pistol squats, or the horse stance, where you literally just sit in a low squat for as long as you can.

What about cardio? Are you a fan of cardio?

I do cardio on stage every night. I feel like a lot of people overlook the physical exertion that I output when I perform, because not everyone performs the same. I tend to perform with a lot of energy. I like to have as much fun as possible on stage. It looks like a lot of jumping, a lot of running around. I'm constantly focusing on my diaphragm because I'm singing the whole show. I think that has a lot to do with my physique as well, because if you're concentrating on your abdomen, compressing, and doing that night after night after night, that definitely has an effect on those muscles.

What about food? Walk me through what you tend to eat while on the road to keep your body fueled.

On tour it's more difficult. Sometimes we're eating pizza at midnight and that's all there is to eat. You just played a show and you're hungry and you gotta get some fuel. Ideally, if it were up to me, I love to eat fish. I'm a big fish guy. I really like salmon. It's one of my favorite things. I really like sweet potatoes and complex carbs. I really like vegetables. When I'm really good about my diet, I don't have cravings for sugar or anything like that. I don't drink soda. I don't eat commercial candy. Me and my girlfriend are always cooking vegetables. We roast a sweet potato. Throw some garlic salt on it and some grass fed butter. That will rock your world, dude.

What are some of your favorite vegetables?

Broccoli. Broccoli's definitely up there. Sweet potatoes. I don't know if it falls into that category, but let's just say sweet potato. Another food that doesn't fall into that category, but that's super good for you, would have to be avocados. Technically that's a fruit, but whatever.

You mentioned before that eating on tour is different from eating at home. How does that differentiate?

At home I'm more effectively intermittent fasting so I don't have the same weird cravings. It's much easier to make a healthy choice when it comes to my diet. I eat a lot of salads. Whereas on tour it's like, ‘Hey, we're in this random suburb of this city and the only options are KFC or Chick-fil-A’.

Let's say it’s your last day on Earth, what would be your ideal dish?

I'd probably do like a waffle with whipped cream and berries. And I would do a banana french toast. And a side of ice cream. That would be my ultimate meal.

Your band, The Driver Era, is composed of you and your brother, Rocky. Do you often work out together?

We play hockey together. I wouldn't say we work out together. But hockey's like seriously exerting. When we're not messing around at the rink, we're trying to beat each other. We're trying to win. You know what I'm saying? We go hard out there.

It must be difficult to balance food, fitness, and traveling all the time. What have you learned about taking care of yourself while on the road?

I've been doing this steadily for 11 or 12 years now. I know what the schedule is and what the requirements are. One of the things that we did on this tour that's so great is we got ourselves an ice barrel and every day we fill it full of ice and we all jump in and—I swear to God—it's the sanity elixir. It just makes you feel leveled and clear. That was one of the things that we’ve been doing this tour that's really been helping us. Long walks are tremendously wonderful for your mental clarity, but also for physical health. That's a really great thing that I like to do. And then just whenever I can, I like to do some pushups and pull ups and then sing my ass off on stage.

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