Madonna's tough tours

LONDON: Madonna says she goes through months of preparation to ensure she is fit enough for the tricky song-and-dance routines she performs on tour.

Madonna says touring is an "endurance test".

The 51-year-old singer - who recently completed a gruelling 13-month long 'Sticky and Sweet' world tour - admits massive amounts of preparation is involved in her live show to ensure she can cope with tricky song-and-dance routines.

Explaining her preparation, she said: "First, I start to train for several months, just to get my cardiovascular endurance up so that I can sing and dance at the same time. Then putting the show together and figuring out the choreography and experimenting. Then I spend hours and hours with my band and my dancers and my choreographer and my director.

"It just becomes an endurance test. So by the time the show is put together, I'm physically ready, just from doing it over and over for months."

The 'Celebration' star admits she is glad her tour has come to an end as she would get "bored" otherwise.

She added to website Popeater: "We did the tour for four months, and then we took a break. And now we've been on the road for a couple of months. It feels like a good time to end it. I'm ready to have another creative experience. I don't know how people go on the road for 18 months and do the same show. I couldn't do it."