Megan Moroney still can’t stand cardio, even though she knows that keeping her heart rate up has helped her stand out as one of country music’s hottest young artists. After all, in order to keep her onstage energy at peak levels throughout her summer tour, the “Indifferent” songstress understands the uncomfortable necessity of getting in a good sweat.
“It’s my least favorite part of working out—ever,” she says, “but I can definitely tell onstage if I haven’t worked out. These stages are so big, so if I’m running around and singing, I can tell if we took a week off—I’m winded. So it’s best not to let that happen.”
It could be said that her intense training is needed to keep up with the multitude of awards and accolades she’s piled up in such a short period of time. The 2023 ACM New Female Artist of the Year’s debut hit, “Tennessee Orange,” has gone double platinum. Her first album, Lucky, now has over a billion streams globally. (Her tour in support of that album sold out in just five minutes!) Another hit, the post-breakup ballad “No Caller ID,” set a record for biggest-streaming country female song debut in the U.S.
And now with her second album—Am I Okay?—just recently released, the Georgia native has solidified herself as a country music superstar.
The self-described “emo cowgirl” (“It means emotional cowgirl, not to be confused with goth cowgirl,” she explains) has already attracted a massive following. Her popularity based on what’s been called her music’s signature balance of raw honesty and sensitivity topped with a bit of down to earth Georgia charm. And with her new hit “Indifferent” moving up the charts, Moroney is supporting the album as she opens for country music legend Kenny Chesney on their current U.S. tour—which travels from Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium to Phoenix’s Talking Stick Amphitheater to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough.
Musically, she’s already drawn comparisons to Taylor Swift, but when it comes to maintaining country muscle, Moroney continues her daily training grind by emulating another icon, Carrie Underwood.
“Her legs are amazing— that’s a known thing,” she says. “She has a very strict diet and workout routine—everyone wants Carrie Underwood‘s legs! She looks great, and it’s because of her hard work.”
While she’s on the road, and with a bit of help from her bandmates, the singer will make the time to get in a solid pre-concert workout—utilizing whatever equipment was packed onto the tour bus or body-weight movements. When she’s home in Tennessee, Moroney’s training varies, sometimes utilizing a combination of weights and cardio. However, recently, the singer’s focus has shifted to a regular routine of Pilates, a challenging low-impact workout that focuses on breathwork designed to help strengthen the core.
“I love it,” she says. “There’s a place I go called Bodyrok. I used to lift weights and do the proper gym thing, but a Pilates workout kicks my butt for some reason. When I’m home I’ll try and get in a workout at least three times a week.”
First Pilates, then ‘Protein’
It takes effort to outshine Megan Moroney onstage. Audience eyes are normally laser-focused on the guitar-strumming singer belting out hits “I’m Not Pretty” and “28th of June” dazzled up in any one of her signature bright-colored sequined outfits.
However, it’s sometime hard for the singer not to be outangled onstage by her massively jacked guitarist, John Barker. In addition to being her bandmate, Barker doubles as both on-the-road big brother and training partner.
“I nicknamed him ‘Protein,’ and the name stuck,” Megan Moroney says. “Everyone now knows him as Protein. He for sure stays in the gym a lot.”
As a team, along with her other bandmates, they’ve formed a bond that extends from the stage to the weightroom. “We pretty much do everything together,” she says. “And working out is just another thing we all do together. It’s very sibling-like.”
While she relies on Pilates, the unpredictability of her fluctuating schedule usually presents a unique training scenario. Like, finding a space to train as a team. Nevertheless, the band finds a way to make any space a gym space. The band is always prepared with weights and bands and other equipment for the long bus ride. Oftentimes they’ll opt for a workout outside the bus. Sometimes they’ll even gather outside the stadium to get a swat in.
“Someone always has some sort of workout on their phone, and it’s usually a full body, circuit-type workout,” she says. “[Sometimes] then we’ll do a little bit of cardio. And if there’s no time to do a proper workout, we’ll do something to get our bodies moving.”
When the workout’s done, one more fitness challenge presents itself. This time fast-food or a catered pre-concert menu saturates their dining options. Buto far this tour, Megan Moroney believes that premade meals are the answer to this culinary conundrum. That’s why she says the freezers of both tour buses are stocked with food for the band.
“My bus is always stocked with MegaFit Meals,” she says. “We just keep those because they have enough protein and not too many calories, and they’re good for you. They fill you up. Everyone on my bus eats those, and we kind of stick to them. There’s only so much fast-food you can eat on the road before you start to feel like s**t.”
Singing Your Way Through a Workout
Keeping a top-level physique and conditioning has become a part of the chart-topping singer’s everyday routine. But when showtime approaches, working to keep a clear head is another pre-show non-negotiable. So while friends and family may fill the backstage area at any concert, Moroney tries to clear the area to get some last-minute motivation with the band.
“Usually I need 30 minutes before the show to be not overstimulated,” she says. “I like to get into my routine with my band. We have this hands-in [ritual]. It’s nothing crazy, but I would say that even if I have my best friends there or my family, everyone gets out of the room 30 minutes before, so we can keep it within the team.”
As Megan Moroney has demonstrated, her journey to the top of country music has become a matter of establishing sets of routines. It’s been quite an impressive journey for a once-aspiring artist who nearly passed on a music career to become an accountant while studying at the University of Georgia—the alma mater of another young country singer, Logan Crosby. However, a chance to showcase her talents proved to be the spark that helped ignite her career.
“My freshman year, I had an opportunity to open for Chase Rice at the Georgia Theater,” she says. I wrote my first song to do that. Since then, [music] became what I was going to do. It’s worked out pretty well so far.”
Making it this far, requires one more workout she says has helped her establish a scintillating stage presence so soon in her career. With no longer a need to crunch numbers as an accountant, one of her music drills rquires memorizing lyrics while doing crunches, burpees, or any type of cardio. Doing this, she says, helps improve memory and focus and helps prevent any embarrassing onstage slipups.
“I think every singer should be doing cardio while singing their songs,” she says. “I’ve done that before. It builds up your endurance to make sure you’re able to sprint across the stage and still be able to breathe.”