Diogo Piçarra: "Exercise is my meditation"

The heat was palpable on the basketball court at Praceta Marquês de Soveral in Cascais, where the filming of the new Every Step Counts campaign was taking place. Diogo Piçarra, one of the faces of the Galp Foundation initiative, arrived with his trademark friendliness: he greeted the crew, exchanged a few words with those already setting up the shoot, and quickly got into the rhythm of the day.

Between takes, we took the opportunity to talk about movement, music, family, and one thing that, we quickly realised, is not really part of his life: standing still.

Do you usually check your phone at the end of the day to see how many steps you've taken?

Yes. If it's been a busy day, with a concert or lots of sport, it's normal for me to check. And even if it's been a very inactive day, I do the same, just to see whether I've taken many or few steps and try to make up for it the next day.

When I travel, I like to check as well. If I've been on holiday in a European city and done a lot of walking, I'll look to see how many kilometres I've covered around the city. Even when I go to the gym, I like to see how many steps the workout amounted to.

Do you have an idea of how many steps you take on a typical day?

My typical day is spent in the studio. If I didn't exercise, I'd do zero steps [laughs]. That's why I have to make myself do it: exercise, walk, run. On concert days, I also try to stay active and get a bit of exercise in at the hotel, even if it's just a quick 15-minute workout.

I'd say I average around nine or ten thousand steps a day. But I do have to push myself to get there. Otherwise, it would be 300 or 400 steps: down to the studio, back up, and that's it.

And on a concert day?

More than 20,000. It's an hour and a half of cardio: I'm running from one side to the other, going up to the barrier, interacting with the crowd, coming back to the stage, jumping around...

It's not enough to train your voice. You need to be fit to perform a concert.

Yes. I try to make every concert an experience for everyone, and I need to warm up properly. I even do a few runs around the dressing room to warm up before going on stage.

Then there's the post-concert part, taking photos with fans... I can easily spend another two to two and a half hours standing with people. So a concert isn't just that hour and a half on stage. Altogether, it's closer to four hours.

And meditation? Have you ever tried it?

I have, but I think it actually makes me more anxious [laughs]. It doesn’t work for me. I’m not sure if I was doing the right exercises, but I was getting more nervous instead of less.

I think exercise is my meditation. I need to wear myself out, to burn off energy. Reading also helps tire my mind, and then, at night, I try to get the minimum number of hours of sleep I need. It’s that trio, that combination.

Are you good at doing nothing, or do you always have to find something to do?

I’m not the sort of person who sits on the sofa. I have a six-year-old daughter and, if I’m at home, I try to make the most of my time to be with her – playing, painting, doing other activities. I think I’m one of those people who spends the least time sitting on the sofa. In fact, I used to have games consoles and I gave them all to my friends.

Why?

I felt that, whilst I was playing games, there was someone out there making music that I wasn’t making. I’d think: ‘Someone’s working, someone’s making the music I should be making.’ So I decided to remove that distraction from my life.

But there’s also another thing: where I feel truly happy is making music in the studio. For me, that’s also a form of leisure. I might be strumming away on my guitar without actually composing, just humming, playing a few chords, playing the piano or discovering melodies. If a song comes out of it, suddenly it’s become work. If it doesn’t, it was just a distraction.

How do you manage to balance your career and family, whilst still finding time for yourself?

It’s a challenge. Parenthood is humanity’s greatest challenge [laughs]. Because it means being there, but being there in a meaningful way. It’s not just about being physically present whilst you’re glued to your phone and your daughter is playing right next to you.

My day has become almost like a timetable. I take my daughter to school and have those five or six hours to work and sort out everything I need to. When I pick her up, I try to make sure that time is all for her. After she’s gone to bed, I can read, watch a series or get back to working on a song.

And I’m lucky to have the wife I have at home, who organises most things. I’m often in the middle of writing an album, thinking about a record or a gig, and she manages to make sure the rest gets done too.

Do you usually do sport regularly? What are you doing at the moment?

Yes. I signed up for Muay Thai nearly a year ago. I wanted to try something different and I loved it. As a child I’d done karate, then I played football with my brother, but when music came along I stopped playing regularly.

Do you manage to go regularly?

Yes, although during the summer it was a bit harder because of the timetables. But whenever I have a free morning, I go. Luckily, the gym has plenty of sessions. And it’s a huge class, with nearly 20 people. It’s fun. I’m training with people aged 15 and others in their 50s or 60s.

I’m learning something new, I’m doing sport, I’m taking my mind off things and, for those nearly two hours, I feel like a ‘normal’ person. I’m not a public figure. No one’s ever asked me for a photo. We’re all the same.

Is that important to you?

Absolutely. And learning something new also keeps us humble. You’re not good at it, so people have to teach you. You’re starting from scratch again. It’s a great feeling.

And do you find it hard to motivate yourself to go training?

Not really, because it’s fun too. I like going – I get to socialise with people. But it’s really tough. Nobody warned me it would be such a tough sport [laughs].

When I’m not doing Muay Thai, I lift weights at home and go for a run every now and then. I try to mix things up a bit.

Diogo Piçarra’s fans have clocked up 17,500 steps for the initiative in 2025. "“This year we want to reach 25,000.”

Turning now to ‘Every Step Counts’: how many kilometres do you think you’ll be able to contribute to the project?

My community is very close-knit. I feel that the fan pages themselves do a better job of racking up kilometres than I do [laughs]. I try to get my family and my team involved, although it’s not always easy to get everyone to submit their steps on time. The fans make up for that. They add up their steps and even organise activities to raise more.

And what’s the target this year?

Last year I think we did about 17,500. Now it would be good to reach 25,000. That’s the aim: to always try to improve and surpass what we’ve done before.

I want to contribute too. Last year I tried counting my steps during Muay Thai, but it’s difficult to wear a watch and gloves at the same time. I even tried keeping my phone in my pocket, but with all the kicking it kept bouncing out [laughs]. This year I need to get a wristband or something more comfortable. Since I’m doing sport, running and jumping, I want to make the most of those steps.

If you had to choose three people to join your team, who would you pick?

I’d pick the Men’s Health team: my personal trainer, Pedro Medeiros, Pedro Lucas and Rita, who was my nutritionist. They were the three who helped me get in shape back then. Now it’s my turn to challenge them. Since they challenged me to do the cover shoot, now I’d challenge them to give me some steps [laughs].

What would you say to someone who’s hesitating to take part because they think, ‘physical activity isn’t for me’?

I’d say not to be put off by the words ‘sport’, ‘running’ or ‘leaving the house to exercise’. We can achieve something with very little. Sometimes we don’t even think about the steps we take in our daily lives. We go shopping, and the steps we take in the supermarket already count. We can do some jumping jacks at home for 15 minutes and we’re already doing cardio.

We don’t have to completely overhaul our routine. Just our normal life can get us moving.

And does knowing that those steps also help someone else make the challenge different?

That part is even more important. We’re often so caught up in our own lives that we don’t really know what we can do to help someone else. Here, it’s very simple. We count our steps, take a screenshot, send it off, and we’re already making a contribution.

Suddenly, it takes the weight off people’s shoulders of thinking: ‘What can I do to help?’. You’re already helping. You’ve taken your steps, sent them off, and started making a difference.