Sounds the opposite, right? But it was all part of a master plan outlined by her trainer, Jason Walsh, which was dominated by serious weight training.
Because he abandoned cardiovascular exercise
“I really wanted to gain strength and muscle mass, so the first thing I did was cut out most of my cardiorespiratory exercise,” said the actress, who participated in Community and Angry men before starring in the hit Netflix comedy. Walsh adds: “Allison got a lot of preparation from the work we did with the weights.”
As Sidney Glasofer, MD, FACC, a certified cardiologist at the New Jersey-based Atlantic Medical Group, told Well + Good, strength training that uses lower weights at a higher number of repetitions can give you the aerobic exercise you need. “Strength training this way will give you a cardio workout,” he says. “It also allows you to differentiate your workout so you don’t get bored while keeping your heart rate high.”
How she maintained her stamina
Nevertheless, Brie made sense to recover after endless rounds of traction and Bulgarian split squats with a slow run every few days. She also took a weekly class at Walsh’s Rise Nation studio, where she spent 30 minutes increasing her heart rate on a VersaClimber. This vertical climbing machine offers a serious workout for the whole body. SQUAY coach Erin James told Well + Good: “You can use it in three ways: climbing with your hands and knees, using your hands while standing on the ground for a hand workout or just use your legs and hold the side bars with your hands for a more focused workout on your legs.
He ate “more than ever”
Brie also believes that she “eats constantly” to get her through these torturous resistance workouts – mostly protein, vegetables and good fats, according to Walsh. “A lot of women, especially in my profession, feel they have to starve to lose weight,” says Brie. “It simply came to our notice then. “But while I was training for the show, I ate more than ever and I never felt better.”
As sports coach Kari Lansing, CSCS, told Well + Good, “When you do not eat enough food, your body enters a ‘rebuild’ mode and this is not productive for a workout.” Not eating enough can ruin your workout because you will not have enough energy to get the most out of your exercise.
“Lifting weights is so empowering – you really feel bad.” —Allison Brie
Not only did all this prepare Brie physically to play wrestler and drop tons of drop kicks and pile drivers — yes, she did all her stunts — but it also boosted her confidence. “Lifting heavy weights is so empowering — you really feel bad,” he says. “While we were filming the show, I lifted 165 kilos of death, pushed my hips up to 300 kilos and did a lot of sets of 10 pulls.” You are shining, girl.
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