“I’ll probably do a quick cardio session today,” says Megan Jovon Ruth Pete, better known as Megan Thee Stallion, who is speaking to me on Zoom from New York. “I’ll get on the StairMaster for 30 minutes, hit a little quick glute workout, and finish up with some abs.” Anyone well-acquainted with weight training will understand this training split, but even then, the StairMaster warrants serious kudos – it’s the most challenging piece of cardio equipment in the gym, bar none. “It whoops your butt,” she says. “But it helps my legs, my glutes and my stamina. My body looks really nice.”

The body is something of a specialist subject for the 31-year-old Texan-born star, who is known for her provocative lyrics about women’s empowerment, sexuality, and physicality: song titles include “Body” and “Big Booty”, while twerking is a lyrical theme of “Thot Sh*t”. It’s perhaps no surprise that glute workouts are her favourite body part to train. “I love donkey kicks, but I call them stallion kicks,” she says, laughing. Her favourite workout tunes include “What You Waiting For?” by Gwen Stefani and “Stay Fly” by Three 6 Mafia.

Women’s weight training is booming globally. Free weights use among women has jumped 150 percent over the past decade, according to Harrison Co, while women were 21 percent more likely than men to record strength training on Strava in 2025. Increases are being seen across every age demographic, but Gen Z women are leading the charge. Gen Z outnumber older generations by two-to-one in strength training being their primary method of exercise, according to Strava. In a rejection of cardio culture and the “shrink yourself” approach that has dominated the women’s fitness conversation for decades, younger women are building butts and biceps in the gym – they’re not punishing themselves, they’re working out for pleasure.

Until now, there have been few celebrity “faces” of strength training; Hilary Duff for fitness app Ladder is probably the closest we’ve gotten. That changed last month when MTS became Gymshark’s first celebrity athlete. The partnership offers a fresh perspective on who is deemed an athlete, and who the gym is for. “Meg has the ability to take a conversation that might traditionally sit within fitness and put it firmly into the mainstream,” says Noel Mack, chief brand officer for Gymshark. “If [thanks to Meg] more women can feel that fitness is for them and decide to give strength training a go, then we’re doing exactly what we set out to do.”

The campaign strapline is Megan Does Gym – fitting for an artist who spends four to five days a week training and regularly posts reels of herself lifting weights. “Working out helps me clear my mind,” she says. “It’s gotten me through some hard times in my life, and once you start doing something consistently, it becomes part of your routine. I also love pushing myself and pushing my body, and seeing how much stronger I can be from last week.” She relates the process to how she approaches her career. “Whether it be working out or writing a song, or just doing anything ‘Megan Thee Stallion’, I like trying to figure out how I can be better or more disciplined.”

Along with those “stallion” kicks, her favourite glute-building exercises include heavy resistance band work. “I do a lot of lunges (with weights) and definitely a lot of fire hydrants; I do a lot with natural body weight,” she says. “The StairMaster has really lifted my butt, too. And then also weightlifting – you don’t have to go too crazy [heavy], you just have to target the muscles that make your butt and thighs pop. Working out can be about illusion. If your shoulders and arms start looking bigger and your thighs start growing [through intentional lifting], your waist looks smaller.”

Megan believes women unlock a sense of confidence and capability when they start weightlifting. “It’s empowering when you finally start to see results and changes in your body,” she says. “I wanted to motivate some of my women and some of my guys to feel like they’d seen the progression, they’d seen how long it took me to get to where I am now. I definitely feel like I have more stamina [for performing], and I do admire my physique right now. I’ve been putting so much work into my body. I’m proud that I stuck to my goal.”

Athletes today know that if you look good, you perform well, and wearing fun gym outfits that highlight the changing body is another source of motivation, she says. “I like to look like a baddie when I go to the gym,” she says – an especially pertinent message in the aftermath of Sean Gillis’ misogynistic and much maligned “joke”, which denigrated women for their workout wear. Megan’s favourite workout pieces from the brand include cotton marl grey bike shorts, long-sleeved cropped tees in a smoky brown and strappy-backed bras in a flame orange. “I need popping colours and I like layering things. If I feel like I look cool during a workout, it makes me want to do more; it makes me want to push harder. I like to see how my butt looks in my tights, or how my arm looks in my shirt. My outfits make me feel a little bit more confident.”

Weightlifting, she says, is a slow-release reward, which is a refreshing switch-up from the current age of instant gratification. “Weightlifting takes time, it’s almost like dating,” she says. “You have to work out what you like, and you’re not going to immediately love every workout. When I first started doing the StairMaster, five minutes would have me wheezing, huffing and puffing. Now, I could probably do 40 minutes.” Influencer fitness content might have convinced us that transformations happen overnight, but the artist insists that “progress takes patience. It’s not a sprint. It’s not a race.”

Megan also has some advice for women hoping to counteract the comparison culture that online content can encourage. “I don’t like it when people say, ‘I want to look like that’,” she says. “You can definitely have inspo, but your body type is not your favourite influencer’s body type. You don’t know what people are putting their body through to look the way they do. I encourage anybody on their fitness journey to just know that you’re not gonna look like anybody else. You’re going to be the best version of you.”

“Being strong comes in so many forms,” she continues, when asked what being strong means to her in 2026. “I think showing up for yourself is strong. I think being disciplined is strong. I think being kind to yourself and others is strong. I think being resilient is strong. I think on the days you want to give up but you still get out there and do whatever you set your mind to – that’s strong.”