Adrien Nunez doesn’t fake that tour life is straightforward. Between lengthy journey days, late-night performances, and fixed schedule adjustments, construction can really feel practically unimaginable to take care of. However for the previous basketball participant turned artist, self-discipline isn’t about excellent circumstances; it’s about consistency.
Muscle & Health caught up with Nunez at Stagecoach throughout a TikTok interview to speak all issues coaching, routine, and the way he stays grounded whereas balancing life on the street and within the studio.
Rooted in his athletic background, Nunez has constructed a routine that adapts to wherever he’s, prioritizing consistency over intensity. Whether or not it’s a fast exercise between soundcheck and stage time or a full coaching break up when he’s dwelling, his method to health is much less about aesthetics and extra about efficiency, readability, and longevity.
Adapting His Coaching to the Highway
There’s no overly structured split guiding his exercises on the street, and there’s no obsession with monitoring each rep or chasing numbers for the sake of development. As a substitute, his coaching method is formed fully by what’s accessible within the second and what realistically suits into the calls for of the day. Flexibility turns into the construction.
“Most days it’s one thing fast,” he explains. “I’ll run, hit half-hour on the StairMaster, or get a carry in if there’s a fitness center.”
It’s easy by design. Nothing about it’s meant to be flashy or overly sophisticated. On tour, the aim shifts away from bodily transformation and turns into way more purposeful. “It’s not glamorous,” he provides in reflection, “nevertheless it works.”
When he’s dwelling, that total rhythm adjustments.
“That’s after I actually go in,” he says. “I’ll do an hour on the courtroom, then an hour lifting. 5 days per week.”
At dwelling, construction returns in a method that isn’t potential on the street. The coaching turns into extra deliberate, extra aggressive, and extra layered. Basketball periods carry again the aggressive basis he constructed his identification on, whereas lifting periods add the power and conditioning aspect that helps every little thing else he does.
“You simply discover ways to regulate,” he provides. “That’s the most important factor.”
That distinction between the 2 is intentional. It prevents stagnation whereas additionally defending him from overtraining in a high-demand way of life.
The Athlete Mindset That Nonetheless Drives Him
Lengthy earlier than music ever entered the image, Nunez was dwelling in a totally completely different world. One constructed on basketball, competitors, and repetition. It was an area outlined by construction and accountability, the place effort confirmed up daily whether or not you felt prefer it or not. Regardless that his profession path has shifted dramatically since then, that athlete mentality by no means actually left him.
You’ll be able to nonetheless see it in how he trains, and you’ll nonetheless hear it in how he talks about self-discipline and ambition. It additionally reveals up in the best way he strikes by means of his schedule, particularly when issues get unpredictable. There’s a sure competitiveness beneath every little thing he does, even outdoors of sports activities.
When requested a few dream stage or final efficiency second, he doesn’t pause or overthink it.
“The Tremendous Bowl,” he says. “That will be loopy.”
For him, it’s not simply concerning the spectacle of acting on one of many largest levels on the planet. It’s additionally about what that second represents. It displays the identical mindset athletes carry once they discuss championships, high-stakes environments, peak strain, and the chance to carry out when it issues most.
“I feel that athlete mindset by no means actually leaves you,” he says. “Even after I transitioned into music, I nonetheless method every little thing like I’m getting ready for a recreation. It’s about exhibiting up, doing the work, and being prepared when it’s time to carry out. Whether or not that’s on stage or on the courtroom, I’ve all the time been wired to compete. I like being in environments the place there’s strain, the place it’s a must to earn it daily. That’s what retains me locked in.”
That aggressive edge additionally reveals up in how he engages with sports activities off the sphere. When he builds his preferrred basketball lineup, his decisions are rooted in respect for greatness. He names Steph Curry, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, and Shaquille O’Neal as his dream 5, combining completely different eras, enjoying kinds, and ranges of dominance into one lineup.
“That’s simply enjoyable to consider,” he says. “I’ve all the time been into basketball like that.”
Whilst his profession has advanced, basketball hasn’t develop into one thing he left behind, it’s nonetheless actively a part of his identification. It capabilities as extra than simply cardio or an informal pastime. It’s a reference level for a way he thinks about teamwork, effort, and competitors.
And that connection turns into much more apparent when he’s round different artists who share that very same power. He points to Kane Brown as considered one of his go-to folks on the subject of hooping and coaching.
“We’ve been enjoying at his home,” he says. “He can actually play, too.”
In these moments, the overlap between music and athletics turns into clear once more. It’s not nearly staying energetic, it’s about staying related to the mindset that formed him lengthy earlier than the stage ever did.
Coaching By Unpredictability One of many clearest examples of Nunez’s adaptability got here throughout a gaggle run, Stryde Social, in Nashville with different artists, together with Russell Dickerson. What was imagined to be a typical outside coaching session shortly was one thing much more intense and unpredictable.
“We have been simply on the market operating, every little thing felt regular at first,” he remembers. “Then out of nowhere, a storm rolled in. It went from sunny skies to utterly darkish in like 10 minutes.”
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What adopted escalated quick. The wind picked up with sufficient power to noticeably affect motion, visibility dropped to the purpose the place it grew to become tough to see forward, and road fixtures started to sway beneath the strain. Then the rain was hail, shifting your complete dynamic of the exercise in actual time.
“It was actually sort of insane,” he says. “We needed to duck beneath a bridge simply to remain protected for a minute as a result of it acquired that severe.”
For most individuals, that sort of climate shift could be the sign to cease instantly and name it a day. However in true athlete mentality trend, the expertise didn’t utterly shut the session down, it simply modified it. The group adjusted on the fly, regrouped, and handled it as a part of the coaching surroundings moderately than an interruption to it.
“That’s the factor about coaching with different artists,” he provides. “You simply adapt to no matter’s taking place within the second, and you retain going anyway. It’s by no means actually excellent circumstances, so that you discover ways to work with no matter you get.”
Why Group Issues Extra Than Motivation
Regardless of the self-discipline he holds himself to, Nunez doesn’t have a look at health as one thing that needs to be finished in isolation. For him, coaching has all the time been tied to different folks, construction, and shared effort moderately than particular person motivation alone.
“I like coaching with folks,” he says. “That’s how I grew up: basketball, teammates, all the time pushing one another.”
That surroundings formed how he views effort. In his expertise, consistency is less complicated to take care of when there’s another person within the room holding the identical commonplace. It creates a pure sense of accountability, nevertheless it additionally provides power to the method. As a substitute of exercises feeling like one thing he has to get by means of alone, they develop into shared experiences that carry a distinct degree of depth.
“Going by means of it alone isn’t as enjoyable,” he admits. “It’s simply higher when everybody’s in it collectively and also you’re all sort of in the identical headspace.”
That mindset doesn’t cease at coaching. It extends into how he operates creatively and the way he manages his general well-being. Whether or not it’s music, efficiency, or psychological well being, he tends to gravitate towards environments the place there’s connection and help moderately than full independence.
Managing the Emotional Highs and Lows
The fact of the music business is that it runs on extremes. One evening you’re performing in entrance of hundreds of individuals with every little thing feeling amplified, and the subsequent second you’re again alone in a quiet room or a transferring bus attempting to come back down from that power. For Nunez, that transition is without doubt one of the most tough elements of the life-style.
“That post-show feeling is intense,” he says. “You go from hundreds of individuals and all that power to simply being by your self once more. It’s a very huge shift.”
Over time, he’s realized there isn’t an ideal solution to clean out that emotional drop. As a substitute, it’s one thing he manages by means of small habits and intentional restoration decisions moderately than attempting to remove it fully.
A type of instruments is magnesium, which he uses as part of his nighttime routine to assist his physique calm down and transition out of efficiency mode.
“It helps me wind down at evening,” he says. “That post-show power doesn’t simply disappear immediately, so I want one thing that helps me settle.”
Beyond recovery routines, he additionally depends on a mindset he’s constructed by means of coaching: deal with what he can management and cease over-attaching to what he can’t. That method turns into particularly essential in conditions the place outcomes are unsure. That was the case through the rollout of his collaboration with Diplo, which stretched throughout months of back-and-forth and uncertainty. At numerous factors, he genuinely wasn’t certain if the file would ever be launched.
“I believed it may not even come out at one level,” he admits.
Somewhat than getting emotionally locked into the end result, he deliberately stepped again from expectations. That wasn’t about reducing ambition; it was about defending his mindset.
“I saved my expectations low,” he says. “That method, I wouldn’t get caught up within the ready or overthink it if issues modified.”
That perspective ended up being grounding. It allowed him to remain regular by means of delays and shifting timelines, and in the end helped him deal with the second when the undertaking lastly did transfer ahead with out emotional whiplash.
The Inside Circle That Retains Him Grounded
In an business the place opinions are fixed and sometimes unavoidable, Nunez is intentional about who he permits into his decision-making course of. Over time, he’s discovered that not each voice deserves equal weight, particularly when the noise is nonstop.
“Everybody has an opinion,” he says. “You’ll be able to’t take all of it in, otherwise you’d lose your self in it.” As a substitute, he retains a decent inside circle made up of household, shut associates, and his girlfriend, individuals who perceive him past his profession and aren’t influenced by outdoors notion.
“They’re those I belief,” he says. “All the pieces else is secondary in comparison with that.”
That group serves as extra than simply emotional help. It capabilities as a grounding system that helps him filter choices, keep balanced, and keep perspective when issues transfer shortly.
His relationship, specifically, has develop into a steadying power in his day-to-day life. It offers consistency in an surroundings that’s in any other case continually shifting.
“She’s tremendous supportive,” he says. “She understands the life-style and what comes with it, which makes a giant distinction.”
What stands out most for him, although, is that the help isn’t passive; it’s shared.
Even health has develop into one thing they actively do collectively moderately than individually. Over time, that shared routine has created one other layer of alignment of their relationship. “She didn’t actually prepare earlier than,” he says. “However now she’s within the fitness center constantly, and that’s one thing I actually worth.”
From basketball standout on the College of Michigan to considered one of nation music’s fastest-rising names, Adrien Nunez has constructed his profession on adaptability, self-discipline, and a willingness to evolve. After first gaining traction on-line for championing rising nation artists and serving to amplify breakout data throughout social media, Nunez has stepped totally into his personal highlight with a quickly rising music profession that now contains greater than 182 million world streams, a spot on Amazon Music’s 2025 Country Heat Artists to Watch listing, and performances on a number of the style’s largest levels, together with Stagecoach.
Following the discharge of his Don’t Wanna Go Home EP and a headline tour run throughout the U.S., Nunez continues to show that the identical mindset that when fueled him on the basketball courtroom now drives him by means of each a part of his profession. “I feel every little thing is tied collectively,”
Nunez provides. “The best way you prepare, the best way you deal with your self, your routine, your psychological well being, all of it impacts the way you present up daily.”
