In a candid conversation for Men’s Health magazine, Ed Sheeran opened up that when his career was going well in his 20s and 30s, his health was going downhill.

The 'Shape of You' singer disclosed, “And I do think that wellness is a direct mirror to mental health and the way you feel. I always felt like shit within myself; I’d wake up and look in the mirror and just feel gross.”

The singer decided to “feel and look good,” and fatherhood played a huge role in that, as he sought to “be a responsible dad.” And with support from his family, Sheeran’s fitness transformation was not radical, but one that began in his own garage.

For quads training, he prefers lunges, bench press and deadlift. His transformation started with a cross trainer in his basement during pre-COVID: “I went down in my basement, and I answered my emails for two hours and just plodded.”

He further added, “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.”

During the pandemic, he started weight lifting through a Zoom call with trainer Ali Thomas: “I didn’t feel fu***d while I was doing it. 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.”

Then, in 2025, Matt Kendrick, Ed Sheeran's personal trainer, introduced him to reformer Pilates, which helps him stay active and energetic. He shared that for someone who never ran 'more than a kilometre,' he took part in his first 10k. And that made him feel better.

“There are some days that I run, some days that I swim, there’s some days that I will do weights. Then there are some days I will do reformer,” and he lost almost 14kg in the last 5 years.

Apart from doing this workout, he also maintains a healthy diet.

Ed Sheeran’s diet: Diet and “Binge”

Ed Sheeran speaks candidly about his attitude to food. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 2023, the artist revealed that he had a "binge" personality when it came to his relationship with food.

“I’m a real binge eater. I’m a binge-everything. But I’m now more of a binge exerciser and a binge dad.”

Contrary to his love for pizza, Sheeran is now a firm advocate for moderation and not simply limiting what he eats. He does not walk around with containers packed with healthy or clean food.

“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.”

Instead, he tries to manage his "binge" lifestyle through exercise and healthy eating. He is particularly fond of mango smoothies that are rich sources of collagen.

So, would you also like to shed some weight using Ed Sheeran's routine?

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Joyita Das