How to Train Like a Superhero According to Trainer Brie Larson

While training to be Captain Marvel, Brie Larson has gone from being a normal but healthy person to being able to pull up and do push- ups with chains and push her coach’s car uphill . We spoke to her trainer, Jason Walsh , to find out what it takes to prepare for a superhero.

First, what timing commitments are we looking at?

Larson said in interviews that she trained for over four hours a day, but that this involved much more than just time at the gym. “Nobody needs to lift weights for four hours,” says Walsh. A typical day begins with “soft tissue work,” such as massage and stretching, and then moves on to larger exercises such as squats in the morning. Larson would then return in the afternoon to fine-tune the exercise types as well as other workouts such as combat choreography.

So she was sick all the time?

“Yes, most of the time,” Walsh says at the beginning, but that’s why he modified the workout as needed and put a lot of emphasis on recovery. (Larson tried to get enough sleep between sessions, and Walsh recommended supplements that he thought might help.) Over time, the soreness disappears – “it didn’t get sick every day, that’s not the goal,” but Walsh says that over time, his clients start “Appreciate” the soreness, that it can be a signal to change your workout, but shouldn’t stop you from exercising.

How do you deal with the mental difficulties of working so hard?

Mainly at the expense of a coach you can trust and who knows exactly what you are capable of. “At certain points you need to move forward. You are about to break your comfort zones. There were many times when I pushed her, knowing full well that she was able to do [the exercise] … and she cried. “

Larson described these moments at the press conference : “It’s very emotional when you kind of stir up something very vulnerable and rude within yourself, and you also find out that it is just for you; I had nothing to prove. I didn’t prove this to other people at the gym. I definitely didn’t prove this to my coach because he was never completely impressed; his job is not to be impressed. I [was there at the gym] for myself. “

It’s important to listen to your body because you don’t want to get hurt – and this is especially important when your body depends on your work. Walsh says injury prevention is a huge priority, especially for celebrity clients. But you must (or your coach must) discern whether you are receiving the “I cannot do this” message from your body or your brain. “[Sometimes] your brain is just yelling at you, your brain is really holding you back. And then you get to the point where you can do it, and you say “damn it,” and you kind of cry and kind of laugh at it. It’s weird to see people experience emotions trying to exceed their expectations. “

So how do you do these costly exercises? What about pull-ups?

“It means adding more, doing more, being patient and knowing that the body will adapt.” You, of course, knew about this. But sometimes it’s hard to see the path to your goal when it seems so far away. I asked Walsh how he, in particular, gets clients to pull-ups. (He also has a video of this in the Playbook app – search for “Brie’s Workout”)

Here are some of the options Walsh uses with clients on his way to a full and strict pull-up:

• Isometric hold (just hold the position for 30 seconds or as much as you can) in three positions: arms fully bent, arms bent 90 degrees, and arms almost fully extended. Once you learn how to do all three exercises independently, try doing 10 seconds in each position, one after the other.
• Supported pull-ups where your feet touch the ground so they can support some of your weight. (Lowering the handles on the harness machine will help you get into a comfortable position.)
• Jumping pull-ups are where you use your legs to give yourself a boost at the start of the movement.
• Negative pull-ups, jumps to the top of the movement, and slow descent downward.
• Various grips, starting with a pull-up (palms facing you) or neutral (palms facing each other), and then moving to a standard grip (palms facing away from you).

Okay, how about chain push-ups?

The same goes for push-ups with 50-pound chains draped over the back . Walsh began Bree with good form push-ups, placing his hands on the wall, then on the bottom and bottom surfaces. During each push-up, you can lower slowly and abruptly do push-ups. You can then work on isometric holds in the bottom, middle, and top of the push-up position.

After you’ve done full push-ups on the ground, it’s time to put on some weight. You can use a regular platform near your thighs, which forces you to keep your torso tense throughout the movement.

In some ways, chains are actually simpler. Even though they are heavy, the whole idea is that they rest on the ground as you go down, so they feel lighter at the end of the push-up. As you climb to the top, they get heavier.

Make a video with the best moments

Larson posted some of her most impressive work on Instagram, and whenever I asked about a particular step, Walsh emphasized that the clips were kind of a “flashy clip” of what Larson was able to achieve after nine months of training. She didn’t push cars in the gym every day; It was a goal she was working on that she wanted to film on camera for the right to brag. (It grew out of her work with a standard item in the gym – a weighted sled .)

I think there is a lot to be said about building your own reel with highlights. What can you do that you couldn’t do before? Video then . And remember, this is what your favorite Insta stars are doing too: they don’t always show you the days they fought. You can also use the promise of a future highlight video to motivate your learning: What kind of victory do you hope to pull off in a few months?

What should a normal person do if we don’t have hours a day for training?

According to Walsh, one of the biggest differences between Larson’s workout and what a normal person can do in the gym is that she came here every day because getting in shape was literally her job . It’s okay to admit that you are not a movie star, and you might have to spend a little less time in the gym than her.

So how do you make the most of your limited time? Look for “those multi-user, multi-joint exercises that involve all the muscles in the body. You squat, deadlift, hip thrusts, and the like. The sleigh pushes. All the options … If I only have two days [to work out this week], I’m going to spend my time doing something like a deadlift, because I’m going to get a lot more out of it than the bench press and curls. “.

What’s the best advice for newbies?

“Be realistic, patient and have, you know, the right expectations. … It’s like brushing your teeth. For me, this is from the same category. I take care of my body, I want to be healthy. I want my body to function normally. “

What general fitness advice can be terrible?

“No days off,” such a mentality. “The bigger, the better”. No, better is better. “