Brie Larson is an American actress and filmmaker best known for her portrayal of Marvel Superheroine and the mightiest of all avengers, Captain Marvel in the MCU films. She is one of the few celebrities that use their platform to give voice to several sensitive topics. A vocal advocate of gender equality, Larson often speaks about political and community issues through her social media platforms.
Larson took her career to a new height when she played the role of Captain Marvel and made all the necessary changes in her body composition and mindset to get as close to the superhuman character as possible. This is her short biography, diet and workout routine she followed to prepare for the role of Captain Marvel.
Brie Larson Statistics
| Full Name: Brianne Sidonie Desaulniers | ||
| Weight | Height | Age |
| 58 kg (128 lbs) | 5’7” (170 cm) | 56 years |
| Date of Birth | Birthplace | Nationality |
| October 1, 1989 | Sacramento, California | American and Canadian |
Biography
Brie Larson was born as Briane Sidonie Desaulniers on October 1, 1989 to Heather and Sylvain Desaulniers in Sacramento, California, USA. She was homeschooled for the most part and describes herself as straight-laced as a shy kid that also had social anxiety. However, she decided to choose creative arts and acting as the profession of choice as early as six years old and became the youngest to get admission in the American Conservatory Theater’s training program in San Francisco.
Briane’s mother shifted to Los Angeles after divorce so that Brie could fulfil her dream of becoming an actress. It was in LA that she changed her name to Brie Larson. While the first name is the short form of her original name Briane, the surname Larson comes from her Swedish great grandmother and an American girl doll Kirsten Larson that she received in her childhood.
Brie Larson started her acting career through several sitcoms and played minor roles in movies like 13 going on 30 in the mid-2000s. She took interest in music as a teenager. However, she got disillusioned with her music career after witnessing moderate success.
Rise to fame
The 33-year-old actress worked in several movies before becoming a household name. The 2015 movie ‘Room’ proved to be a breakthrough performance as Brie Larson received widespread acclaim for her acting. She also underwent massive body transformation to play the emotionally and physically taxing character in the movie.
The success of ‘Room’ turned Brie into an independent star and she never looked back afterwards. While commercial successes like Cong: Skull Island helped her raise the stock, Brie Larson became a household name after playing Captain Marvel in the 2019 movie with the same name. She then reprised the character in Avengers: Endgame the same year. The character Captain Marvel embodies everything that Brie Larson stands for in her real life – gender equality and women empowerment.
Brie Larson had the opportunity of a lifetime and she did everything in her power to get as close to the character of Captain Marvel physically, mentally and emotionally. This article explores the sample diet and workout plan that is close to what Brie Larson followed to get the right body composition for Captain Marvel.
Brie Larson workout
Captain Marvel is one of the strongest superheroes / heroines in the Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. To fit perfectly in such a strong character, Brie Larson had to connect with Captain Marvel’s characteristics physically as well as mentally. Larson went through an intensive nine-month diet and training program to get ready for her role of Captain Marvel. Celebrity personal trainer Jason Walsh took charge of her quest to become Captain Marvel and laid out the strategies and programs. He has previously worked with actors like John Krasinski and Matt Damon.
No matter what people tell you about ‘easy ways’ or ‘quick fixes’ body transformations or getting stronger, it is not easy. It is for sure simple, but NOT EASY. The results do not show in eight weeks or twelve weeks like many claim. Especially when you are starting to build yourself from the ground up.
Brie Larsson started with her training program nine months out of her filming schedule for the Captain Marvel movie that was released in 2019. For the first three months, she did think about visible results but focused her energies solely on gaining strength and building the mind-muscle connection required for making serious gains. Brie did this by learning how to move well with correct technique and controlled manner. She continued to show up in the gym day after day and week after week, making consistent improvements. This disciplined approach also helped Brie Larson build mental strength and not just physical.
Brie Larson focused on strength gain
Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel is a strong woman that defies every conventional idea about a woman’s personality. She is mentally and physically strong, emotionally independent as well as an able leader. Strength is the keyword here and Brie Larson’s training for the role had a lot of emphasis on strength gain to perform various fight sequences and athletic movements as an action superheroine.
There exist many misconceptions around the ‘negative’ effects of strength training on women’s physical appearance. However, Brie Larson’s physique is a shining example that proves the falsehood of such claims. The Captain Marvel star is often seen lifting heavy in many social media posts. Be it deadlifts, pull-ups or weighted push-ups, the 33-year-old actress never shied away from pushing the limits to get the necessary body composition and strength to fill in Captain Marvel’s shoes perfectly.
“A huge part of Captain Marvel is her strength. If I knew I could go through that experience, I would get closer to her and I’d understand her,” Brie Larson told Entertainment Today.
Diversifying the training to keep the spirits high
We’ve all been through that phase where getting up to train just does not feel exciting. More often than not, it happens because of the repetitive nature of training. No matter how passionate you are about fitness, incorporating variety in training and doing other allied activities for a while can really rejuvenate us to maintain a vigorous training routine. Every type of training routine stimulates muscles and cardiovascular system in a slightly different manner. It also conditions us to move in a specific way and builds mind-muscle connections for performing a particular type of tasks. When we fall in a fixed pattern and do not pay attention to other possibilities, it can become more challenging to do physical activities that are different from our usual ones and also increase the chances of injuries when we attempt them.
Brie Larson made sure to bring a lot of variety in her training and physical activities. She did not let a gym be the only place to challenge her physical abilities and went beyond to engage in activities like dancing, rock climbing, hiking and even took combat sports lessons. Not only did it help her break the monotony of the training routine for Captain Marvel, but also helped her get familiarized to these movement patterns that could help in her role.
Brie Larson’s training split and exercises
Brie Larson’s training week consisted of four days of intense training followed by two days of light work and one rest day to allow the body to recuperate and get ready for another work week. Her trainers stayed away from ‘bro splits’ that focus on a specific body part and aesthetics more than anything. Larson’s training week was split into push, pull, lower body, shoulders and full body training sessions.
The training primarily utilized compound free weight, machine and bodyweight movements to build functional strength and tone the muscles. However, it also incorporated isolation movements to target and build specific muscles. Brie Larson performed the exercises with a moderate rep range of 10 to 12 reps. She did not shy away from doing some of the advanced compound movements like deadlifts, pull-ups, weighted push-ups and barbell squats.
A typical week in Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel training routine looked like this:
Monday – Pull Day
- Push-ups (3 sets of 20 reps)
- Deadlifts (5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 5 and 3 reps)
- Cable Rows (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Step-Up Biceps Curls (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Lat Pulldowns (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Chin-ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Hammer Curls (3 sets of 10 reps)
Tuesday – Shoulders and Traps
- Pull-ups (3 sets of 20 reps)
- Military Press (5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 5 and 3 reps)
- Front Raises (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Dumbbell Shrugs (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Power Cleans (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Dumbbell Snatches (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Shoulder Flyes (3 sets of 10 reps)
Wednesday – Lower Body
- Air Squats (3 sets of 20 reps)
- Squats (5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 5 and 3 reps)
- Weighted Hip Thrusts (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Overhead Barbell Lunges (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Leg Press (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Calf Raises (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Leg Curls (3 sets of 10 reps)
Thursday – Push Day
- Pull-Ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Bench Press (5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 5 and 3 reps)
- Overhead Triceps Extensions (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Incline Dumbbell Press (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Cable Triceps Pushdowns (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Dips (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Weighted Push-ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
Friday and Saturday – Light Full Body Workout
- 45 Minutes Varied Cardio
- Front Squats (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Arnold Press (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Dumbbell Clean and Press (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Pull-Ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Push-Ups (3 sets of 10 reps)
- Burpees (3 sets of 10 reps)
Sunday – Rest Day
Brie Larson utilizes Sunday to allow her body to recover from intense training and get ready for putting in the work following week.
Brie Larson Diet
Training can only give results if it is accompanied by an effective diet. No amount of hard work in the gym can give you the desired body composition if things are not on point on the nutrition side of things. Brie Larson gained a decent amount of muscle mass for Captain Marvel.
Before going through body transformation for Captain Marvel, Brie Larson gained nearly 15 lbs weight for her role in the 2015 movie ‘Room’. Her diet at that time mainly consisted of healthy fats and lean proteins to build muscle and lose fat. Veggies, grilled chicken, almond butter and protein shakes were the staple of her diet.
Bridge meals
At the time, her nutritionist Dr. Philip Goglia helped Brie Larson maintain the energy levels consistently with the help of what he called ‘bridge meals’. The bridge meal is a snack consisting of vegetables or nuts that helps you avoid overeating during the actual meal.
“The purpose of the bridge meal is to get to lunch so that you don’t overeat. You’re using fat metabolism and that will be your bridge meal to get to dinner so that dinner is an appetite environment that will not allow you to crave carbs because you’ve already eaten. Because you’re kind of full… You’re not in low blood sugar,” Dr. Philip Goglia told People magazine.
Brie Larson followed a paleo diet during the initial days of her preparation for Captain Marvel. However, she later switched to a more balanced diet that focused on a good amount of protein and healthy fats and moderate intake of carbohydrates.
Brie Larson’s full day of eating
Brie Larson typically started her day with a modest meal that consisted of eggs, smoothie and oatmeal. The lunch usually consisted of lean meat like grilled chicken and a generous portion of vegetables. She avoided sacking throughout the day and had a light dinner consisting of fish, sweet potatoes and green salad before going to bed. The 33-year-old actress supplemented her diet with creatine, protein shakes and vitamin supplements to meet daily nutritional requirements.
Breakfast
- Eggs
- Smoothie
- Oatmeal
Lunch
- Grilled Chicken
- Veggies
Dinner
- Fish
- Sweet Potatoes
- Green Salad
Supplements
- Creatine
- Protein Shake
- Vitamin supplements
Personal Life
Brie Larson has not been overtly public about her personal life and usually avoids answering personal questions on public platforms. She started dating Phantom Planet lead singer Alex Greenwald in 2013. The couple was engaged from 2016 to 2019. However, they ended their relationship in 2019 and Larson has been dating actor and filmmaker Elijah Allan Blitz since. For us, what matters is that she has become a huge source of inspiration for not just women but people of all genders, caste and creed that want to gain confidence. After all, a healthy body is home to a rich soul.
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
