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Break a Sweat With Megan Roup's Sculpt Society Workout
Trainer Megan Roup wants her clients to be a perfect 10. As in, give her less than a dozen solid minutes of exercise each day.
"My philosophy is more about committing to less so that you can show up more," The Sculpt Society founder explained in an exclusive interview with E! News at New York City's lululemon GlowUp Studio. Which means she would rather her clients—including Dakota Johnson, Sabrina Carpenter and Elsa Hosk—"do 10 minutes a day consistently throughout the week than maybe two workouts that are long, grueling and hard."
That way, continued the Los Angeles-based mom to daughter Harlow, 3, and Mercer, 18 months (with husband Morgan Humphrey), "you build the habit. It doesn't feel like you're trapped in this never-ending cycle of you need to do hours a day. You're going to get beautiful physical and mental results, and you're just building it in that muscle of brushing your teeth every day."
She, too, once fought tooth and nail for her fitness levels. And what she learned, continued the former Brooklyn Nets dancer, is there's no need to be "trapped in this never-ending cycle that needs to be so grueling."
As an over-committed working mom of two, "sometimes I don't have 20 minutes. So if I can just do a five or 10-minute video in the morning and then feel grounded in my body, I mentally feel more resilient, I go into my days in such a better place. And that is the beauty and power I think in fitness."
NBC/Jamie McCarthy/NBC via Getty Images
And if you're intrigued enough to press play on a new fitness routine, you're hardly alone.
Since launching her sculpting and dance cardio-based workouts, the NYU Tisch School of Arts grad has developed a following that includes Shay Mitchell, Miranda Kerr and basically every model that's walked a Victoria's Secret runway.
A large part of the appeal is that she makes it approachable AF.
When she prepped Johnson for 2024's Madame Web, for instance, "We were trying to build endurance," Roup reflected. "It was definitely 30- to 45-minute sessions. When she was on set, though, she had very limited time, and so I would send her shorter workouts around 20 minutes."
And whether they have access to a full gym or are trying to squeeze in a session in a hotel room, she's got a plan for that.
"I have some clients who just want to do low-impact and some clients who like a blend of dance cardio and sculpt," Roup detailed. "So when I'm working with someone, it really depends on their preferences. I want to make sure it's a workout that they want to show up to."
If cardio's a hard pass, "Then we'll make a low-impact plan," she added, "and make sure that I'm giving them classes that are still getting their heart rate up in a low-impact way."
The most crucial part, stresses Roup, is just showing up, which is why she advocates the importance of dressing the part, tending to favor the "beautiful compression" and "soft material" of Lululemon's Glow Up line.
It can be a struggle to get to a class or even push play on a workout, she acknowledged, "So if you can be in an outfit that you feel confident in, it just makes that process feel a little bit better."
So suit up, because Roup is sharing more of her wellness wisdom with E! News.
—Reporting by Nikaline McCarley
Megan Roup/Instagram
Remember Every Little Bit Helps
"Sometimes pressing play on a 20- or 30- or 45-minute video feels overwhelming," acknowledged Roup. "So let's take the overwhelm out." It's for this precise reason that the mom of two (she and husband Morgan Humphrey share daughters Harlow and Mercer) offers options like her quickie program packed with four weeks of what she calls "spicy, short workouts" that can be completed in 25 minutes or less.
"These are short workouts
every day that you can consistently show up to," she explained. "I roll out of bed, I'm in my pajamas and I'm doing a 10-minute full body workout and then I move on with my day."
The way Roup sees it, good results can come in small, efficient packages.
"These big, lofty goals, they don't last," she noted. "That's why New Year's resolutions happen, but then by February, you're back on the same train. It's actually smaller habits on a daily basis that build something bigger over time. And again, that's why I'm constantly saying commit to less so you can show up more when it comes to your workouts."
For those looking to create a regular fitness routine, she recommends squeezing in "little chunks of movement—10 minutes between a Zoom call and just continue to build off of that because that's what's really going to shift things for people."
The Sculpt Society
Remove the Guess Work
As Roup put it, "The decision fatigue is real." So free up space to figure out what you're making for dinner by committing to a pre-set routine.
"My most successful clients and members are the ones that are following my weekly schedule or one of my programs that come with a calendar," she noted. "Here's the video you're going to do. So that you know when you wake, you don't have to make another decision. You're like no, this is on my schedule. I know what I'm doing."
And while, sure, she'd love to bring in more Sculpt Society acolytes, her advice for any fitness newbie is just "finding something that you enjoy," Roup said, "finding something you can follow that fits into your lifestyle."
The Sculpt Society
Be Kind to Yourself
Once upon a time Roup was that girl going hard at the gym each day. Then she took it down a notch with her own brand of movement that she describes as "85 percent low-impact, full-body workouts" with just a "sprinkle" of easy-to-follow dance cardio.
"My body almost sighed with relief," she recounted. "it was like, 'Oh, thank you for finally listening to what I need.' And I never saw better results." Which is why she insists workouts "don't need to be super long, they just need to be well-programed. And I really saw those results in my physical and mental health."
The Sculpt Society
Ditch the Diets
Again, yes, really. After years of yo-yo dieting, binge eating, calorie-counting and constantly thinking about food, "I finally hit my low point," Roup said. "The mental space and thought that's going into everything I'm eating and how to burn off everything, I just got to that point where it's like, I don't want to do this anymore."
So she stopped. "I scrapped all of the quote unquote labels that you put on food being good or bad," she explained, "and just really allowed myself to look at food as food and to have nothing off limits."
With a diet culture mindset already firmly engrained in her mind, it was a bit of a struggle at first. "You're like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm just going to have, like, Snickers all day long and I'm going to eat all the things that I can't have,'" said Roup. "But after a week or two, that gets really boring."
She's spent the past decade getting in touch with her body's cues, "Like, when am I actually hungry? What am I craving? What foods are giving me energy? What foods are making me crash and not feeling good?" she said. "And when you start to lean into that, it really simplifies food."
Granted, she acknowledged, it wasn't an overnight shift into intuitive eating. "It took me a really long time to unravel that," she said. "But I was just at my breaking point, like, I'm sick of following a stupid diet and feeling s--tty."
Megan Roup/Instagram
Don't Forget to Have Fun
Nope, it's not just a directive for pee-wee baseball players. "I want people to look forward to movement," said Roup of ensuring every step of her routines are done to the beat of a catchy track. "If we can pair movement with music, it just starts to lighten the mood."
Rather than create an intense AF and sometimes draining atmosphere, "My approach is really leaning into changing the way we work out," she said. "I really want this to feel joyful and fun."
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