Actress Brie Larson trained for nine months with celebrity trainer Jason Walsh for her role as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel.
With the help of Walsh, I worked out like Larson for one week to see if the average person could get into superhero shape.
Even though I started small, I learned that working out like this for a week built up my stamina, and I was able to comfortably get through the routine by the end.
I became a fan of Brie Larson after watching her breathtaking performance in “Room” — and once “Captain Marvel” aired in 2019, she began transforming from a powerful actress into an incredibly strong superhero.
Obviously, I’m nowhere near Hollywood-star status, but here’s where Larson and I do share some common ground: Before embarking on my fitness journey five years back, I had zero interest in exercise.
This was partially because I was lazy, but it was also because I preferred reading books and writing stories to running on a treadmill or lifting weights.
“I didn’t know what strength was [before training for ‘Captain Marvel’],” Larson told E! News back in May 2018. “I was truly an introvert with asthma before this film, so I had a lot of work to do, and I just started to fall in love with it.”
To train for her new role as the strongest hero in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, the then-29-year-old actress joined forces with Jason Walsh — a celebrity trainer and the founder of the Rise Nation program — for nine months of intense workouts.
Several months later, Larson told Variety she now deadlifts 215 pounds, hip thrusts a solid 400 pounds, and, oh yeah, she can push a 5,000-pound Jeep with her bare hands.
To shake me out of a long-standing fitness rut and channel my inner Captain Marvel, I contacted Walsh to set me up with a workout routine inspired by his sessions with the star.
I may not be able to deadlift more than 20 pounds, but read on to see what it was like to workout like Larson for a week.
Day one: I started small and focused on familiarizing myself with the exercises
When Walsh sent over my Larson-inspired workout and half the exercises on his list were ones I didn’t recognize, I knew my process would be no different this time around.
Here are the exercises Walsh gave me for the week: bear crawl, full-body roll, standing single-leg toe touch, rear-foot elevated split squat, push backs, pull-up isolation hold, eccentric push-ups (with four seconds down), split-stance dumbbell row, towel reverse lunge, torso-elevated split-stance hip thrust, and Swiss-ball rollouts
Walsh instructed that exercises should be done for a total of three sets of 30 seconds, with a 30-second rest in between each set.
“I think most people have assumptions and preconceived ideas as to what training entails,” Walsh told me.
And it’s true, especially on social media where fitness influencers are flaunting their personal records and sculpted abs, training can feel complicated for someone who hasn’t experimented with exercise and is still finding what’s right for them.
The first day of this experiment was spent on the floor of my home office with my computer open in front of me. I searched for videos of each move on the internet as I went through the list.
Gallery: I worked out like Beyoncé for a week, and I fell on my face, almost threw up, and have never felt more sore in my life (INSIDER)
I worked out like Beyoncé for a week, and I fell on my face, almost threw up, and have never felt more sore in my life
Beyoncé uses a mix of interval training, weight lifting, and calisthenics to stay in shape and build strength and endurance before her shows, according to her trainer Marco Borges and workout videos she’s posted.
I spent a week attempting to replicate her workout plan with a soundtrack of Beyoncé songs to keep me going.
Throughout the week, I felt incredibly sore and exhausted even though I did feel stronger. I don’t know how a normal person would be able to regularly keep up this routine.
The experience taught me the importance of choosing exercises that work several muscle groups at once to make the most of my workout time.
I also learned how important it is to build up the strength of both my upper and lower body.
Her trainer and nutritionist, Marco Borges, has spoken a lot about how he helps get Beyoncé in tour-ready shape and her routine seems to include a mix of interval training, leg exercises, and some pretty intense core- and upper body-targeting moves.
Day one: I begin Beyoncé’s workout by targeting my upper body and core. I also quickly learn that I underestimated how difficult this was going to be.
I go into the first day of working out feeling pretty confident since I recognize all of the moves in Borges’ workout plans. Admittedly, I’m not too concerned about my ability to do them, either.
In a 2015 Glamour interview, Borges recommended using boxing materials and big weight ropes for strength building.
I don’t have either so I improvise by using his equipment-free suggestions and some tips from Beyoncé’s “Let’s Move” health-initiative Instagram video from 2015.
I start by attempting the weighted alternating-dumbbell punches that the singer showcased in her video.
I use two 5-pound weights and I make a point of keeping my core tight and twisting with the different punches.
My whole upper body starts hurting after just one set of 10 on each side. I manage to finish two sets of these punches before giving up.
After that, I am tempted to let my upper body rest by getting in a little cardio, but I know that I will be way too tired to finish the rest of my strength training if I do that.
So, I decide to tackle the “Lemonade” singer’s full-body sit-ups and standing-side crunches next. These weren’t too tough because I do Pilates often.
First, I do two sets of 10 of the full-body sit-ups with a 5-pound medicine ball.
Then, I do 10 standing-side crunches on each side of my body, resting between reps.
Basically, for these, you stand with your knees bent slightly and your hands behind your head and then crunch to the right side while also bringing your right knee up toward your elbow. Then, do the same with your left side.
They were pretty easy.
But then, as my workout for the day comes to a close, I get nervous about what Borges seems to believe is the “holy grail” of the songstress’s upper-body workout — explosive push-ups.
I can hardly do a standard push-up let alone these, which you end by springing up into the air.
To keep things easy for myself, I decide to aim for completing just five explosive push-ups.
My first attempt is a failure. After just one, my arms give out after I try to push myself into the air and I fall on my face.
My arms are pretty shaky, so I do the rest of the four push-ups on my knees before laying down on the mat and taking a breather.
At this point, I am really dreading closing out my workout with some cardio and interval training to build “stamina and explosiveness, which [Beyoncé] needs to move across the stage,” according to Borges.
He has the singer sprint for one minute followed by two minutes of brisk walking, which she keeps alternating for half an hour.
About five minutes into this cardio routine, I start feeling faint and like I am going to pass out or throw up.
Needless to say, I definitely underestimated how hard this was going to be, and I lay down in fetal position until I feel better.
Day two: I am so sore and Beyoncé’s leg and thigh workout leaves my body burning.
When I wake up, I feel like my whole upper body is the sorest it’s ever been. It’s a struggle to get out of bed and put my gym clothes on.
At this very moment, I kind of look forward to my workout dedicated to replicating Beyoncé’s thighs and legs.
After all, my lower body is way stronger than my upper body, so this should be manageable.
I decide to follow the four-step workout that Borges shared with Elle back in 2015. It’s apparently responsible for the singer’s “7/11” thighs, which refers to her toned legs seen in the music video for that track.
Today, I start with the single-leg pelvic lifts, which are already a part of my regular workout rotation. I add a medium-strength leg band to work the muscles more as I do a few sets.
When it comes time to do the jumping-plie squats, I made sure to focus on my form and ensure that my feet are slightly turned out and my legs are out slightly further than my shoulders before jumping. The last thing I want to do is injure myself mid-week.
Again, this is a move I am pretty familiar with, so I do three sets of 10 without feeling like I needed to stop.
The jumping lunges and the reverse-squat kicks are where things get a little tricky.
I assumed that these moves would be similar to the jumping-plie squats, but I definitely underestimated how hard it would be to keep my balance while jumping and making sure that my knees lined up with my heels.
My thighs and butt are burning by the time I finish these and I am dripping with sweat.
To finish the day off, I take a moment to stretch, which Borges has previously told Glamour is important for maintaining flexibility.
Day three: After doing a bunch of workouts with kettlebells, I am out of breath and sore.
I wake up and am somewhat surprised to notice that my legs and my butt are actually quite sore. I waddle around all day and choose the elevator over the stairs as much as possible.
For today’s routine, I decide to cover some of the moves that I’ve ignored so far, such as the kettlebell squat and press that Borges told Glamour is a good workout in itself if you don’t have time for anything else.
Considering that my thighs and chest muscles are still burning from their efforts over the past couple of days, the kettlebell squat and press — which basically consists of you squatting with a kettlebell and then lifting it over your head when you stand up — sounds like an absolute nightmare.
I sort of cheat and use a pretty light 10-pound weight and do only two sets of 10 reps instead of the four sets of 15 that Borges recommends. I figure I’ll try working up to that in the coming days.
The rest of the workout, which consists of two sets of single-leg step-ups and forward lunges, is hard enough without extra free weights, so I do the moves without them.
I end my workout by trying the 30-minute sprint and brisk walk alternation, but am out of breath, lightheaded, and dripping with sweat after just 10 minutes.
I definitely need to work on my cardio.
Day four: I don’t know how Beyoncé does explosive push-ups and this continues to be harder than I expected.
This morning, I try to forget about the fact that I am repeating the workout from the first day, which has been the hardest routine I’ve tried thus far and includes the bane of my existence — the explosive push-ups.
I take my time warming up and stretching before starting things off with a set each of the full-body sit-ups and the standing-side crunches.
I tend to procrastinate things I don’t want to do, so it’s hard concentrating and being in the moment when I am dreading doing those darn push-ups.
So, I decide to get them over with.
I don’t know if it’s because I am mentally psyching myself up for it, but they are just as hard as I remember.
Immediately I feel myself sweating after my first one and manage to do one more before giving up.
I have literally no clue how Bey does multiple sets of these.
I’m feeling pretty disappointed in myself and frustrated, so I only do one set of 10 weighted alternating-dumbbell punches on each side before ending the workout.
This is a lot harder than I expected.
Day five: I psyche myself up with Beyoncé music and power through even though my entire body is burning with pain.
It takes every ounce of willpower that I have to set my alarm clock for 8 a.m. and actually roll out of bed to work out.
At this point, my whole body is hurting from a few days of intense routines. So, before I get started, I put on some Beyoncé’s tunes to get myself in the mood.
Again, I start with the single-leg pelvic lifts with a high-intensity leg band and do three sets of 10 on each side, alternating with three sets of the jumping-plie squats.
I end with two sets each of the jumping lunges and the reverse-squat kicks. This time, I go slowly to make sure I do them correctly. I do 10 on each side for two sets.
Day six: I don’t know what it’s like to not feel sore anymore, but I still focus on getting the interval training down.
Maybe I’m just being dramatic, but I’ve forgotten what it feels like not to be sore all over.
I decide to skip the step-ups and regular forward lunges and instead focus on a good kettlebell squat and press session. I also finally tackle the 30 minutes of sprinting and brisk walking to sweat it all out.
With the help of some Beyoncé tunes, I find myself in a better mood as I grab a 10-pound kettlebell to begin my squat and press moves. I try to focus on breathing and do three sets of 10 each.
My favorite part of the day is the half-hour of alternating between 1-minute sprints and 2-minutes of brisk walking. It actually feels pretty good after a few days of lifting weights.
I turn up my Beyoncé playlist and focus on my favorite songs so that the half-hour doesn’t seem too long. I actually feel amazing and am riding the endorphins after I’m done.
Day seven: My goal is to close out this challenge by doing five of the explosive push-ups. I sort of achieve it.
I wake up feeling pretty motivated to do my initial goal of five of the explosive push-ups … but I’ve altered my plan a little bit.
I think I was being too ambitious before so, this time, I’m going to try an elevated explosive push-up that will take some of the strain from my body’s weight off of my arms and chest.
It might not be perfect or pretty, but I’ve decided it’s going to happen.
To warm-up and get into the swing of things, I start with the full-body sit-up and standing-side crunches, adding a 5-pound medicine ball to help me focus my core strength.
Next, I grab a bench and get into a push-up stance, keeping my core tight while avoiding sticking my butt up too high.
I’m able to do three explosive push-ups and I feel like I’m in control and actually working the correct muscles instead of just flinging myself into the air and trying not to fall flat on my face.
I take my time between each and let myself rest until I’m ready to try the next one.
That said, I still have no idea how Beyoncé does sets of these.
After that, I attempt to do three sets of the weighted alternating-dumbbell punches to finish off strong. My shoulders, chest, and arms are burning at this point.
My last few reps are pretty halfhearted, so I stop and lay down on the floor while I contemplate how I’m going to get through 30 minutes of interval training.
I settle on 15 minutes of alternating sprints and brisk walking, followed by a well-deserved stretching session, most of which is done on the floor because I can’t bother to get up right now.
Reflecting on this experience, I don’t think this fitness routine would be sustainable for the average person to keep up. I am also even more impressed by Beyoncé.
For the record, Borges did tell Glamour that the full “Formation” World Tour routine should be done three times weekly and that people would see the results in about six weeks.
Instead, I opted to spread out a lot of his moves over multiple days while combining them with other mixed-and-matched routines from his other workouts and Beyoncé’s Instagram.
Although I’m glad I did my own Frankensteined version of Beyoncé’s routine, I can also admit that I’ve never been so sore in my life and the moves, although simple and easy to learn, were grueling in practice.
This experience was a wake-up call that maybe I should start doing some more work on my upper body because I was definitely struggling to do exercises that focused on it.
Still, I’m ending this week feeling a lot stronger. That said, I don’t think I’ll be doing this again any time soon.
After I’d done my homework and took a few mental notes on the correct form of some of the exercises, like the standing single-leg toe touch, elevated split squat, and torso-elevated split-stance hip thrust, I felt comfortable enough going through the workout on my own.
However, I didn’t want to go all-in just yet.
Instead of three sets of the workout, I completed two sets of each exercise in full, paying close attention to my form. If this session was any indication of what was to come, I had no doubt in my mind that Walsh was about to royally kick my butt. I was already sweating bullets.
Once I started going through three sets of each exercise, I could feel my body adapting quickly.
Exercises that had tested me at the beginning were still challenging — I was convinced eccentric push-ups would be the death of me — but I could feel my muscles growing a little more accustomed to the movements.
This didn’t make the workout any less challenging, though. Getting through an entire three sets of 11 exercises is no small feat.
I was starting to learn how important it is to not only control my breathing, and get into a rhythm of inhalations and exhalations for each movement, but also to just remember to breathe in general.
Once in a while, I’d catch myself holding my breath, but I kept reminding myself to focus on breathing.
I was also starting to pick up on when my body could keep going versus when I needed to modify moves.
I learned that there’s no shame in dropping to my knees in a push-up or trading split squats for traditional form. What mattered is that I was listening to my body and honoring its cues.
Day 6: I started getting pretty good at the exercises
I purposely wasn’t tracking how many repetitions I could do of each exercise from the beginning of this experiment for no reason other than I know myself, and I tend to get obsessed with numbers.
That said, six days into working out like Larson, I was already noticing an improvement in my stamina.
I’d gone from struggling with split squats to squatting almost 15 times in 30 seconds. Not to toot my own horn, but my push backs were near flawless, and I was consistently making it through the entire workout three times over.
I knew I wouldn’t necessarily see physical improvement in just one week, but I could already feel my body start to adapt to these moves.
Day 7: I felt awesome after doing the workout for a week
One week into working out like Larson and I can honestly say I was feeling pretty great. I might even take a page from the actress’s book and treat myself to a doughnut to celebrate my efforts.
For me, the biggest takeaway from this experiment is that although celebrities might share their toughest workouts or fitness milestones on social media, true strength is something you build over time.
What you see on Instagram are highlight reels of someone’s successes, and though there really is no denying Larson is a beast at the gym, once upon a time she had to start from square one and learn the ropes just like I am.
![Brie Larson posing for the camera: I worked out like Brie Larson for a week. Julia Guerra; Marvel](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/fitness/i-tried-brie-larsons-captain-marvel-workout-for-a-week-and-i-felt-like-a-beast/"default":"load":"default","w":"80","h":"60","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BJr9.img?h=600&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=625&y=380","size3column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BJr9.img?h=468&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=625&y=380","size2column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BJr9.img?h=468&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=625&y=380")
![a person lying on a bed: Jason Walsh sent me Brie Larson's "Captain Marvel" routine. Julia Guerra](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/fitness/i-tried-brie-larsons-captain-marvel-workout-for-a-week-and-i-felt-like-a-beast/"default":"load":"default","w":"80","h":"60","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BwxP.img?h=600&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size3column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BwxP.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size2column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BwxP.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f")
![a person jumping up in the air: I made sure I was doing all the exercises correctly. Julia Guerra](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/fitness/i-tried-brie-larsons-captain-marvel-workout-for-a-week-and-i-felt-like-a-beast/"default":"load":"default","w":"80","h":"60","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BOiJ.img?h=600&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size3column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BOiJ.img?h=468&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size2column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BOiJ.img?h=468&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f")
![a woman jumping in the air: My muscles got used to the workout. Julia Guerra](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/fitness/i-tried-brie-larsons-captain-marvel-workout-for-a-week-and-i-felt-like-a-beast/"default":"load":"default","w":"80","h":"60","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BJre.img?h=600&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size3column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BJre.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size2column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BJre.img?h=469&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f")
![a person posing for the camera: My body adapted to the difficult moves by the end of the week. Julia Guerra](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/fitness/i-tried-brie-larsons-captain-marvel-workout-for-a-week-and-i-felt-like-a-beast/"default":"load":"default","w":"75","h":"133","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19Bt3J.img?h=1334&w=750&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=324&y=365","size3column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"111","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19Bt3J.img?h=1110&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=324&y=365","size2column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"111","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19Bt3J.img?h=1110&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=324&y=365")
![It's best to start out simple when trying a new workout routine. Julia Guerra](https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/fitness/i-tried-brie-larsons-captain-marvel-workout-for-a-week-and-i-felt-like-a-beast/"default":"load":"default","w":"80","h":"60","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BIDn.img?h=600&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size3column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BIDn.img?h=468&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f","size2column":"load":"default","w":"62","h":"47","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BB19BIDn.img?h=468&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f")