When it came to preparing for the role of villain Evil-Lyn in the new He-Man movie Masters of the Universe (out now), Alison Brie didn’t have to start from scratch. The 43-year-old has been a regular at her gym, Rise Movement, for nearly 15 years, and she’s been serious about strength-training ever since playing wrestler Ruth Wilder (a.k.a. Zoya the Destroyer) on the Netflix series GLOW.
'There's a difference between the way I trained for GLOW and the way I trained for Masters of the Universe,' Alison tells Women’s Health in the latest episode of the video series Strong Like. 'When I was training for GLOW, there was, like, a real transformation process that had to happen. Since GLOW, I have maintained my training so consistently, so gearing up for something like Masters of the Universe was actually much easier…because I have that muscle memory already.'
For Alison, a week of training usually consists of three days at Rise Movement, two days of Pilates or Peloton, and a day of hiking (with a final day for rest). Yes, Alison puts in the hard work and she can bust out the weighted pull-ups(!) to prove it.
'I do think most of what I do in the gym surprises people, because I'm a petite woman,' Alison says. 'I'm tiny but mighty. People don't know how much strength lies inside this body.'
Well, they will now! Alison and her Rise Movement trainer Jason Walsh walk WH through a typical workout session.
Alison begins her session with a hip-thrust warmup, loading with 50lbs (around 22.5kg). of weight before progressing to her actual working weight of 300lbs (136kg).
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Then Walsh moves her through a set of contrast training – holding an exercise isometrically at max effort before doing the actual lift – with a Zercher squat.
'It actually recruits the nervous system at such a high rate that you can get really, really strong without actually getting bigger,' Walsh says.
Next, come those aforementioned pull-ups, with Alison strapping on an extra 45 lbs. for the set. And she’s not done with the weights yet. She follows those with push-ups, performing them with extra resistance too.
Finally, the weights take a rest while Alison performs bodyweight inverted rows.
'I love how much back work we do at the gym,' Alison says. 'I feel like this is another thing that a lot of people forget about, because front body work looks cool and feels cool, but it's so important for full-body strength, posture, longevity, and health. And I just love having a strong, sexy back.'
Alison concludes her workout with a shoulder press, incorporating a push from the legs to turn it into a full-body exercise.
See Alison in all her bad-ass glory by clicking play on Strong Like above.
Amy Wilkinson is a contributing entertainment editor at Women's Health, where she edits the magazine's celebrity cover stories and writes health features. She has previously held editor titles at Entertainment Weekly and MTV News. In 2021, Amy completed her 600-hour teacher-training at Core Pilates NYC to become a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor.
