Meet Megan Roup: the Trainer Behind The Sculpt Society Craze Filling Up Your Insta Feed

Neither equipment nor rhythm are required to get the most out of The Sculpt Society, pro Megan Roup's plan that's attracted the likes of Sofia Richie and Elsa Hosk. See what they hype is all about.

By Amanda Williams, Sarah Grossbart Jun 24, 2020 4:00 PMTags
Watch: Break a Sweat With Megan Roup's Sculpt Society Workout

Trainer Megan Roup has spent more than two decades of her life in leotards, enjoyed a stint as a Brooklyn Nets dancer and attracts Victoria's Secret model clients like The Bachelor does wannabe influencers.

And she swears none of that is necessary to get the most out of her fitness plan. A mix of accessible dance cardio and sculpting moves that employ basic equipment such as ankle weights and sliders, "even if you have the worst rhythm," she tells E! News, "at The Sculpt Society, you will feel successful. I'm very intentional in how I keep it simple and repetitive."

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At-home Celebrity Workouts

Hoping to fill a gap she'd noticed in the industry, the NYU Tisch School of Arts grad spent years workshopping choreography and toning moves on now-fiancé Morgan Humphrey and working side jobs as a fit model, fitness instructor and a professional dancer ("I'm the queen of a side hustle," she's said) to craft her plan. 

"For dance-based fitness, I felt like unless you were a professional dancer or had a dance background, you couldn't walk into all these studios and feel successful and get the movement," she explains of her motivation. "And so I really wanted to create something that was for non-dancers and dancers alike, but really simplified that dance cardio so that it was fun and effective. And then at the heart of the method is really the sculpting. So a lot of body weight exercises that move quickly, but that also feel good and feel attainable for anyone at any level."

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She's been rewarded with a dedicated cult following, models Elsa HoskMartha Hunt, Sofia Richie, Hunter McGrady and thousands of others turning out for her classes at New York City's Studio B Bandier and Project by Equinox pre-Covid, logging onto her app for the live workouts she's been doing daily during quarantine and showing their devotion on Insta, with sweaty #TSSfam shots. 

The allure is fairly straightforward, she says: "It's really upbeat. It's enjoyable. You don't feel like you're necessarily working out." But the other half of the equation is the online community she's built. Each morning she goes live on her app (members pay $19.99 per month to gain access to a library of routines, ranging from five to 50 minutes) for a sweat sesh followed by a 30-minute coffee klatch, touching on everything from the power of intuitive eating to the importance finding a practice "that makes you feel really excited to work out." 

For Roup, she says, her goal is just "making sure that everyone in my class, whether it's in person or online, feels successful and feels that community element."

With her app offering everything from easy-to-follow dance cardio, sculpting content (check out a quickie abs routine in the video above using a set of sliders or a hand towel) and both pre- and post-natal moves, "You can really tailor to what your needs are," she tells E! News. And if you wrap up your session feeling exhausted, sore in all the right places and just a little bit more upbeat, she counts that as a win: "At the heart of what I'm doing is to really empower women to feel their strongest, most confident self."

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The Best Five-Minute Abs Routine

Cross Mountain Climber using right leg: 8 reps
Spider, bringing the right knee into right shoulder: 8 reps
Cross Mountain Climber using right leg: 4 reps
Spider, bringing the right knee into right shoulder: 4 reps

Mini break with child's pose: 8 seconds

Windshield wiper, sweeping right leg up to right corner: 8 reps
Straight leg pike: 4 reps
Windshield wiper, sweeping right leg up to right corner: 4 reps
Straight leg pike: 4 reps

Mini break with child's pose, then repeat everything on the left