Under the spotlight,the famous British singer, affectionately nicknamed“Huang Laoban”, Ed Sheeran（Ed Sheeran），he is a record-breaking, Grammy-sweeping pop superstar; but away from the spotlight,34 year-old 'Huang Laoban' is, like you and me, a runner trying to find a balance between a busy life and staying healthy.Recently, the singer-songwriter admitted in a media interview that if he could only do one sport for the rest of his life, his choice would not be weightlifting, nor swimming, but——running.
For Boss Huang, running is no longer simply a way to lose weight; it keeps him physically and mentally well, helps him cope with the demands of intense tours, and serves as a"core anchor".
Mr. Huang revealed that he runs almost every day, usually keeping his runs to about 20 to 60 minutes. For this superstar who travels the world year-round, that time is especially precious.
More interestingly, running has become a distinctive way for Ed Sheeran and his wife Cherry(Cherry Seaborn) as a unique way to be together. He described their runs together as their daily"debrief time""We run for 20 minutes,30 minutes, sometimes even an hour,"Ed Sheeran said,"This is our time to step away from work, temporarily put down the burdens of parenting, and have conversations that belong just to the two of us. We run and talk about what happened that day."
而在妻子无法陪伴的独自慢跑中，黄老板也有自己的习惯。与大多数跑者喜欢听动感音乐来提振配速不同，黄老板更倾向于收听播客。他特别提到了《And The Writer Is...》这档专注词曲创作的播客节目。
In his view, running is not only the body's rhythm but alsoa way for the brain to offloadstress. This low-intensity aerobic exercise provides him with a valuable mental haven, allowing him to briefly detach from the chaotic entertainment industry and the tedium of everyday life.
Turn the clock back a few years, Mr. Huang's lifestyle was anything but self-discipline”the two words couldn't be further from the truth. He has openly admitted that in his20s, he lived a typical unhealthy rock-star lifestyle”——He was extremely inactive, his days filled with pizza, beer and cigarettes. Although this lifestyle accompanied his early career takeoff, it also sowed the seeds of future health problems.
The real turning point came when he became a father.
“When Cheryl became pregnant, I realized I had to make a change,”Huang recalled. The sense of responsibility as a new father forced him to hit“the reset button”. He began to reflect on his lifestyle and realized that if he wanted to be there for his child long-term, he needed to be healthy. So running became the starting point for rebuilding his life.
It's not about chasing so‑called six‑pack abs or an eye‑catching full marathon PB; Boss Huang's goals are very pragmatic: to feel better and to stay healthy on the tour.
Over the past five years, through consistent exercise and lifestyle changes, Boss Huang has successfully lost about 14 kg. He abandoned the extreme approach“either extreme dieting or binge eating”，转而信奉“moderation”的哲学。他依然会喝啤酒，但频率从每天变成了偶尔为之；他依然享受美食，但更注重与日常消耗的平衡。
Although running is Mr. Huang's“favorite”sport, he knows that a single training mode can't sustain the“superhuman” physical demands of his large stadium tours. In his“Mathematics” world tour, Mr. Huang has to perform on the center stage for more than two hours straight, constantly running, jumping, and playing and singing — a physical challenge that is no less demanding than a high-intensity interval running session.
To meet this challenge, Boss Huang's fitness schedule has gradually expanded from single-mode running to more diverse cross-training. Now, in addition to his consistent running, he has added strength training, swimming, and Reformer core work (Reformer Pilates).
He does strength training to build muscular endurance and prevent injury during intense movement on stage. As a low-impact aerobic complement, swimming helps his body recover between performances. Finally, he uses Pilates to strengthen his core and improve his posture—crucial for someone who performs long-term while carrying a guitar.
Huang admits that this comprehensive training has given him ample energy,"He can perform for more than two hours each night on stage without feeling exhausted, and still have the energy to spend time with his children after returning home."
Boss Huang's story may be a microcosm of countless everyday runners. We run not necessarily to reach elite levels, nor to attain a perfect body-fat percentage.
For Boss Huang, running is a way to connect, a time for solitude, and a means to recalibrate his lifestyle. He shows us the purest side of running: an incredibly simple tool that lets us find pockets of breath amid busyness and pressure, giving us the ability to love ourselves and the bandwidth to love those around us.
As he says, if he could choose only one thing for the rest of his life, it would be running. Because what running gives us is far more than the kilometers under our feet; it's the agency to take control of our lives.
