Five-time Grammy-winner Jon Batiste takes us through his New York home gym and fridge, showing us the diet and fitness routine he uses to stay in shape.
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00:00 (gunshots)
00:02 - Hey John Batiste, it's men's health.
00:04 - Hey, men's health.
00:07 Wanna see my gym and friends?
00:14 Come on, let's go.
00:15 (upbeat music)
00:19 (upbeat music)
00:25 (upbeat music)
00:27 - All right, let's see that fridge.
00:38 - Si, so.
00:39 (upbeat music)
00:41 There it is, you see?
00:46 That's what's in there.
00:48 - What staples do you always keep in there?
00:49 - Mainly, you know, I like to hydrate.
00:51 Coconut water, as you can see here, we got this.
00:54 This is like basically the saving grace
00:57 of any set or any performance or anything that I'm doing.
01:01 The kimchi, the avocado, remove the plastic first.
01:06 You know, this is a staple
01:07 for any kind of healthy people out there.
01:09 Some peppers.
01:12 It's a very healthy and very tasty hot sauce.
01:15 In the spirit of bringing my childhood
01:18 to my life today in a healthy fashion,
01:22 you know, you make your own hot sauce.
01:23 I like to have some sort of non-dairy yogurt
01:27 or some sort of kefir.
01:29 Today we got sheep's milk yogurt right here.
01:32 Yogurt with berries and honey.
01:34 It's a good thing to set your stomach off in the morning.
01:37 You know, get yourself settled on a nice baseline.
01:42 - What's your diet mainly consist of?
01:45 - Since I was 17, I got more and more busy.
01:48 So I had to figure out stuff to eat.
01:50 I like to have things that just settle my stomach
01:53 and help me to move.
01:54 You know, I'm always on the move.
01:55 So whether it's rice or whether it's pasta,
01:58 any kind of carbohydrates like that as a base of a meal,
02:01 I'm into that.
02:02 - What's the weirdest diet you've tried?
02:04 - The weirdest diet is probably the diet I grew up on.
02:06 You know, in New Orleans, you got foods
02:09 that you wouldn't have prepared in the same way
02:12 anywhere else in the world.
02:13 - You still eat your favorites from New Orleans?
02:15 - There are New Orleans foods that I cook
02:17 and I make new versions of, healthier versions of.
02:20 You know, remind me of home, remind me of childhood,
02:23 but you know, you change things, you know,
02:25 whether it's brown rice and the red beans and rice,
02:28 instead of using sausages,
02:29 you use some kind of other form of protein.
02:33 Creates a sense of nostalgia at home,
02:35 but it's also fits my lifestyle now better.
02:38 - How has New York influenced your diet?
02:40 - New York is incredible because there's every single
02:44 kind of food that you can imagine you want.
02:46 Really, that's what I learned from New York
02:48 is the finding of combinations
02:50 that you would never think come together.
02:51 And that's a beautiful thing.
02:53 And also there's a lot of healthy restaurants around here.
02:56 Part of that subway, taxi, constant motion lifestyle.
03:01 On the go, we can still be healthy and vibing out
03:05 and get the shade.
03:06 - What do you normally have for breakfast?
03:08 - We can go over here and just look at a spread.
03:11 That's a nice vibe of a spread of an energy, of a vibe.
03:15 You see the energy of the vibe of the spread.
03:17 - Yeah, the spread's vibe does have great energy.
03:20 You got a 5 a.m., 6 a.m. call time
03:23 and you've been in the studio all night
03:25 and you want something that's sturdy
03:27 and is going to set you off in the right direction.
03:29 Grab you some coconut water
03:32 and some overnight oats in a mason jar.
03:34 You got breakfast in two minutes and then you gone
03:38 and you solid until lunchtime.
03:40 Bang for the buck, baby.
03:42 Come on.
03:43 You'll get a lot from this food.
03:45 - Looks like a lot of vegan options here.
03:47 - I'm not so strictly vegan,
03:49 but I find that for the things that work with my body,
03:53 it tends to fall in that category.
03:55 This is raw vegan pizza.
03:56 You know, the shiitake mushrooms, the onions,
03:59 and on top of it, you see that sprinkle of hemp seed.
04:02 Now the hemp seed is something that you can really take
04:05 into anything that you're doing.
04:07 Sprinkle it on your rice, sprinkle it on your pizza.
04:09 You can sprinkle it in your smoothie.
04:11 You can sprinkle it in these different ways
04:14 and get so much impact from it.
04:16 - Do you have a favorite protein?
04:17 - Turkey, bacon, go-to protein.
04:21 I like that because it's not bacon,
04:25 but it gives you the sensation.
04:27 Yeah.
04:28 - What's your go-to comfort food?
04:29 - Ooh.
04:30 See this?
04:34 This apple tart situation.
04:36 When you grow up and you like apple pies and apple,
04:39 any kind of sweet, and you get a version of it
04:42 that's, you know, a vegan and still tasty version,
04:46 which I didn't think was possible.
04:48 (laughs)
04:49 I like that a lot.
04:51 - This spread seems professional.
04:52 Do you cook?
04:53 - I like to cook.
04:54 I really do.
04:55 I don't have as much time to cook.
04:56 That's why, you know, you have experts to come in and help.
04:59 But if I had my druthers, I would cook all the time.
05:03 It's one of those things that gives me a sense
05:05 of therapy and self-care.
05:08 I'm thinking about how I'm doing my body,
05:10 I'm feeding my family.
05:12 I just like that practice.
05:15 - Well, if we're talking about practice,
05:16 should we go to your gym?
05:17 - Well, you know what?
05:19 It's that time of day.
05:20 Wonderful food is great, but it's time to hit the workout.
05:23 Let's go to the gym.
05:24 So here we are on the beach.
05:32 One of my favorite workouts happens on the beach.
05:34 It's the toughest.
05:36 But you know what?
05:37 It's good for you.
05:39 - This is definitely the most spacious gym we've seen.
05:41 How often do you work out?
05:43 - I like to work out before I go on tour.
05:45 I like to stay in the cardio zone
05:47 throughout the rest of the year.
05:49 That means every time that I'm going on stage,
05:52 I won't run out of breath and I can give it my all.
05:55 - What inspired you to get fit?
05:57 - Wanting to give the best to the people
05:58 is what really inspires me to get fit.
06:01 Just staying in the zone of wanting to share
06:03 what it is that I do requires me to give my body and my soul.
06:08 So when I'm giving it, I want it to be right.
06:12 - Do you have a workout partner?
06:13 - Yeah, Jacob Hirschman, who came to a show
06:17 about 12 years ago,
06:20 is the person who I work out with the most.
06:23 It's sporadic, but we do it.
06:25 And when we do it, it's very intense,
06:27 especially before a tour,
06:28 sometimes he'll even come on the road.
06:30 Sucks, but it's great.
06:31 - Do you prep differently on tour?
06:33 - Rest of the year is just getting the body to function,
06:37 maintaining your body so that you don't fall out of shape.
06:40 But tour prep is like going into an athletic zone.
06:45 Sometimes you're doing that prep while you're on the tour,
06:47 if it's long enough, and you're continuing.
06:49 So it's like you're in the NBA season or something.
06:52 - What's your workout routine look like
06:53 when you're recording a new album?
06:55 - In the studio, it's mostly stretches and being loose,
06:58 being free, letting the energy flow,
07:00 letting your chi be warm, and letting it come through you.
07:04 One of my favorite exercises, actually,
07:06 is a yoga sequence where you're stretching your entire body
07:09 from the top all the way down,
07:14 opens the legs and hamstrings.
07:18 Sometimes I'll go into a plank,
07:19 which is another one of my favorite exercises of all time.
07:23 And you hold this just before you go on stage,
07:27 and you start doing your warmups like that.
07:29 (imitates drum roll)
07:36 Activate the core, and you're right on point.
07:39 - What exercises do you hate?
07:41 - It's the beach workout, the medicine ball.
07:43 I hate it.
07:45 It's the worst thing,
07:45 but it's the best way to stay true.
07:49 There's a slant on the beach, and it really is real.
07:54 There's a lot of resistance.
07:55 It's like life.
07:56 It's a lot of resistance, a lot of pushback.
07:58 But you know, that's why I like it. (laughs)
08:02 - After all your success, what keeps you motivated?
08:05 - I think motivation comes just from wanting to be better.
08:08 Push yourself, wanting to be in shape for tour,
08:11 and also for the haters.
08:13 - Haters gonna hate.
08:16 What are your current fitness goals?
08:17 - Current fitness goal, just to be ready to do
08:20 two and three hour shows, singing and dancing
08:23 where I'm not tired,
08:24 and where I can give it 100% the whole time.
08:27 - What do you listen to when you work out?
08:31 - It depends on the vibe.
08:32 Like some days are intense,
08:34 other days you just wanna cool it.
08:36 It's all about knowing where you at
08:37 and curating the playlist accordingly.
08:40 - Do you have any tattoos?
08:41 - Oh no, I don't have any tattoos,
08:43 although I thought about it, but that's not my,
08:46 everybody's palette is not a tattoo palette.
08:49 It's not my palette.
08:51 - John, I hope rapid fire questions are your palette.
08:54 Under the boardwalk.
08:56 - Workout time, 7 a.m. or 7 p.m.?
08:59 - 7 p.m.
09:00 - Squat or deadlift?
09:02 - Squat.
09:03 - Favorite song on your workout playlist?
09:05 - Rain dance.
09:06 - Crossfit, yay or nay?
09:08 - Yay.
09:09 - Pull-ups or chin-ups?
09:10 - Pull-ups.
09:11 - Dumbbells or kettlebells?
09:13 - Dumbbells.
09:14 - Run on the treadmill or the great outdoors?
09:16 - Outside.
09:18 - Cardio or weights?
09:19 - Cardio.
09:21 - Big legs or big arms?
09:22 - Legs, baby.
09:23 - Biggest compliment, jacked, ripped, swole, or cut?
09:27 - Cut up.
09:28 - If you could work out with anyone, dead or alive,
09:30 who would it be?
09:31 - David Goggins.
09:32 He pushes it all the way to the limit.
09:34 All right, y'all, get out of here.
09:37 We did what we had to do today.
09:39 Whatever you do when you put in work, it's a good day.
09:42 Now, go home.
09:44 [laughing]
09:46 [upbeat music]
09:49 (upbeat music)