WHEN HE STARTED working with Matt Kendrick, Ed Sheeran had already lost a significant amount of weight, but the new brief was about more than shifting kilos. ‘He wanted to come off booze and focus on his fitness, wellness and health,’ Kendrick tells MH. The idea of appearing on the cover started out as a joke.
Kendrick says he set up a WhatsApp group to communicate with Sheeran’s tour manager and others about catering and hotel gyms, naming the group: ‘Men’s Health Cover’. ‘But the goal was never, “Hit X% body fat”. It was, “Make me healthy. I want to feel great. I’ve got a gruelling schedule and I want to look after myself.”’
Kendrick was conscious of not coming on too strong. His approach had to meet Sheeran where he was. ‘I wanted him comfortable. Not the cliché approach where you macro-count and get shouted at’. Despite Kendrick’s wariness, Sheeran surprised him with how quickly he took to training.
But his rigorous touring schedule presented problems. Far from the glamour of a private health club, or the resources of a well-kitted-out mobile gym, Kendrick simply worked with whatever he could find. ‘With tour life, you’re at the mercy of whatever gym you find in the hotel – the basics. So we focused on compound movements and form.’
Lift off
And so the work began. The ‘German Body Composition’ approach was taken – pairing upper- body and lower-body movements with minimal rest, for maximum metabolic effect. Weights were kept light and reps high as Sheeran honed his technique. After a bedding-in period, Kendrick began upping the weights, lowering the reps to 6 to 8, and pushing Sheeran to lift hard and heavy, while still keeping one eye on form, tempo and maintaining mind-to-muscle connection.
Each session would consist of three pairings, or six exercises – eight if they were throwing in some additional core work. ‘We’d include a squat or deadlift pattern – think primal movement – working on those compound moves first.’ Single leg work followed. Upper-body moves alternated between pushing and pulling exercises from session to session, finishing with smaller muscle groups including biceps and triceps. Always pairing with a lower-body move, keeping each session full-body – perfect for efficiency.
It wasn’t all pump and grind – cardio conditioning was in the mix from the start to build Sheeran’s stamina. ‘We’d add high-intensity finishers: body weight circuits, bike sprints, treadmill intervals. Short and sharp.’ Kendrick stresses that low-intensity days were kept enjoyable to avoid boredom or burnout.
Often, he says, a brisk sunrise walk or light run was enough, adding that Sheeran’s global stardom does make it difficult to just ‘head out for a jog’.
Reformer Pilates was the glue that held it all together, giving back rather than taking away.
Far from having to act as drill sergeant, Kendrick says Sheeran enjoyed training so much he needed reining in to avoid exhaustion. ‘He was moving five to six days a week because he was wanting to do it. But after a bit it was like, “You know what, we’re just going to pull you back a little and reduce the volume” – being aware of how much he was doing outside of the training.’
PROTEIN, CARBS AND CULTURE
The low-hanging fruit of discrediting ‘celebrity transformations’ is to point out the assistance they often have in the form of personal chefs.
And, Sheeran is no exception, employing Josh, an old school friend, as part of his on-tour catering team. Despite this leg-up, Kendrick insists that when it comes to nutrition, Sheeran sticks to no-fuss basics. Breakfast: a four-egg omelette with peppers, mushrooms, greens and a side of berries; or overnight oats with protein – portable for travel days. Lunch: carbs from sweet potato or basmati rice, quinoa or lentils; protein from fish, chicken, turkey and the occasional steak. Plenty of veg. Similar at dinner. Stir-fries galore. ‘We kept it to real food, shakes when needed.’
Kendrick stresses that this daily consistency is matched with flexibility, pointing out that no fitness goal is worth travelling the world only to not experience local cuisines. ‘Ed embraces different cultures, he loves people and wants to do all that side. He’s invited to the best restaurants in Mexico, India, wherever. For those people it’s a highlight – they put everything into it. I’m not going to stand in the way of that.’ He also points out that Sheeran’s demanding rehearsal and performance schedule requires fuelling without the stress of counting calories. ‘On performance days, he’s burning insane amounts over a two-and-a-half-hour set, moving around the stage. Post-show, he needed carbs. If he wanted a burrito – have a burrito.’
Matt Kendrick’s golden rules for sustainable transformation
Make it normal
Fitness is part of your life, not your personality. Respect it, don’t obsess.
Compound your effort
Squat, hinge, push, pull, row. Slow down, nail technique, own positions, then add load.
Finish smart
Short, sharp intervals that mirror real demands beat random hours of flogging.
Framework = freedom
Nail breakfast and a main meal; the rest gets easier.
Respect the room
Cultural meals, celebrations, late shows – honour them.
Adapt to the day you have
High-stress travel or poor sleep? Reduce volume, keep the habit.
Resilience is the point
Looking good is a by-product. Feeling good is the engine.
Sheeran’s full-body push-centric day
Hitting some muscle-building classics, this session hits your upper and lower body. Keep the rest between supersets to the bare minimum, before resting for 90 to 120 secs between rounds. As for the bike sprints, max effort means max effort – dig yourself a hole.
4 SETS
A1
6 to 10 x back squat
A2
6 to 10 x dumbbell bench press
3 SETS
B1
6 to 10 x Bulgarian split squats (each leg)
B2
6 to 10 x dumbbell shoulder press
3 SETS
C1
10 to 15 x incline dumbbell fly
C2
10 to 15 x cable triceps pressdown
Tabata bike sprints
20 secs max effort sprint / 10 secs rest x 4 minutes
