Marcus Mumford rocketed to fame as the frontman of folk rock band Mumford & Sons, but the touring lifestyle ended up catching up with him.
At one point, the 39-year-old weighed in excess of 242lbs, but thanks to a strict diet and exercise regimen, he has dropped well over 60lbs over the past three years.
Speaking to Men’s Health this February, Marcus said: “I’ve been taking fitness more seriously for the last year and focussing on my training. I did a lot of running through Covid and started making some better choices because I was 110 kilos at one point – I got rid of 30 of them.
“The shows require a good level of cardio so the running helps, and then I had a friend who introduced me to strength stuff. It’s been really fun.”
Speaking about what inspired his journey, he confessed: “I looked in the mirror one day and was like, ‘I’m not in control’. I spoke with a doctor friend of mine. He provided me with some clear ways that I could get back that control and not feel like a victim in my own body.
“Now, I have jurisdiction over my own body and how it affects my head. It’s about not being too hard on yourself if you miss a session and adapting whenever your day or week has to change.”
Marcus has spoken about his lifestyle choices that led to weight gain
2019
The success of Mumford & Sons rocketed Marcus to fame with worldwide tours. However, the life of a rockstar caught up with the star, who admitted that in 2019, he started a period of “binge-eating”.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2022, he said: “When you’re travelling all the time, you’re able to convince yourself of anything, to make excuses not to take responsibility. ‘Oh, I’m on my own, so I can have a few drinks in my room’ or ‘I can have a few pints of ice-cream in my room’ because I’m medicating loneliness, or shame, or whatever it is.”
Although the peak of his fitness journey would kick off in 2022, by 2021, Marcus had considerably slimmed down, as he can be seen her with wife Carey Mulligan at the Academy Awards.
Speaking about his previous issues with GQ the following year, he said: “And a part of that for me was wrapped up in overindulging with booze and with food, and part of my journey has been addressing the food stuff, because I leant into it. I quit booze, I didn’t lose any weight for a year, because I just replaced the booze with ice cream, right?”
Marcus kicked off his fitness journey in 2022, and he managed to lose an impressive 55lbs. Speaking on RadioX, he said: “I’ve quite enjoyed the process. It’s given me some purpose outside of family and music, which has been good and something to sort of think about. And [it’s] just slightly changed my reward system, and it feels good.”
Not only has Marcus gotten slimmer over the past few years, but he’s also spoken of the other benefits that he’s received from exercise, including sustaining fewer injuries while playing football. He also told Men’s Health that he felt getting fitter had improved his stage performances as well.