A number of artists have gone through fitness transformations over the past few years, and the latest to open up about theirs is Ed Sheeran. The British star unveiled his new physique on the cover of Men’s Health in December, revealing how he lost around 30 pounds over the past five years.
The journey began before the pandemic when Sheeran, who doesn’t own a cell phone and communicates by email, decided to start answering his emails while on the treadmill. “I went down in my basement and I answered my emails for two hours and just plodded,” he recalled. “In my mind I was like, ‘That’s fine, I’m not on a treadmill, I’m not killing myself. I’m getting to do something I’ll be doing anyway, but I’m keeping active.’ So I guess that was my introduction.”
Next was working with a physical trainer and beginning to lift weights, something Sheeran had always been worried about. “In my mind, I always thought, I don’t want to look like [Arnold Schwarzenegger],” he explained. PT Ali Thomas helped him overcome that fear, and Sheeran and his wife, Cherry, began Zoom training sessions with Thomas. “I didn’t feel f—ed while I was doing it,” Sheeran explained. “You’d do eight reps, and you’d have a break, and then you’d do eight reps, and then you’d have a break. So it was a bit more of a relaxed thing getting into it.”
Sheeran is now 34, and wanted his habits this decade of his life and beyond to look different from the one previous to it.
“I would say I lived a pretty unhealthy life from 20 to 30. And even though I was doing professionally well, I wouldn’t say that reflected well into my personal life,” he said. “And I do think that wellness is a direct mirror to mental health and the way you feel. I always felt like s— within myself; I’d wake up and look in the mirror and just feel gross.”
Another impetus for his fitness journey was his children; Sheeran and Cherry’s daughter Lyra was born in August 2020 and their second daughter arrived in May 2022.
“I remember Lyra was two weeks old, and I had my best mate round, and we had a bottle of wine,” Sheeran recalled. “I went to bed, then Lyra woke up 20 minutes after I’d fallen asleep, I woke up, and I was like, ‘F—, I probably shouldn’t drink if I’m going to feel this dreadful.’ I want to be able to do the night stuff. It all came in at the same time of wanting to be a responsible dad, wanting to feel and look good.”
“I didn’t want to pick my kid up and have my back f—ed and stuff like that,” he continued. “And then also that feeds into professional life. You’re less resilient in your thirties. I was losing my voice more, I would pull muscles in my leg, I pulled a muscle in my back when I was playing live… [and] I wanted to feel superhuman on stage.”
He’s succeeded on both fronts — his Mathematics Tour, which ran from April 2022 to September 2025, even features a circular treadmill on the stage. Sheeran’s fitness routine is now shaped around weights, reformer Pilates and running, and he hopes that his new lifestyle can inspire any of his fans who may want to do the same.
“I do think it’s relatable for parents to suddenly want to be a bit more healthy and follow a bit more of a routine,” he said. “I’m not saying we all need to run marathons and blah, blah, blah. I’m also not selling super-healthy eating or this or that. I still enjoy myself, and I don’t roll around with a little tub of grilled turkey. It’s all about moderation.”
