Here's What A Week Of Workouts Looks Like For Viola Davis
ICYMI, Viola Davis is crazy fit. The 55-year-old actress has the kind of arms that are so strong and sculpted, you wish you could Mrs. Potato-head them right on to your own body. But sadly, that's not possible.
But...lucky for you, Women's Health caught up with Viola Davis' trainer for the past two years, Gabriela McClain, who shared one of Viola's weekly workout plans with us.
Right now, the two are training for Viola's upcoming role in the historical action film The Woman King. For it, she'll portray Nanisca, general of an all-female military unit in 18th-century Africa. "My goal with her was to keep her strong, but also keep her very flexible and agile, like a badass kind of Ninja," McClain says. That way she's armed (literally!) and ready for the physically demanding role.
Viola trains with McClain three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), usually exercising for about an hour each session. They begin early around begin at 6 a.m. "Most of the time it's a little cooler and the muscles are stiff and she may be working the night before," McClain explains. They'll start with a 10-minute warm-up of stretching and light cardio and then go into some mobility drills (think: butt kicks, high knees, plié squats).
But what about their actual workout? McClain says it's a mixture of strength training, core work, sculpting, and cardio. Below is a day by day breakdown of what workouts Viola Davis does in a week.
Monday
They're all about kickboxing and cardio. "We focus on burning fat and speeding up the metabolism, letting the blood flow, keeping the body agile, and warming it up for the week," McClain says. For Viola that means an hour-long kickboxing session.
The two will often work out Tabata(ish) style of high-intensity interval training for a series of movements, starting with the upper body and working their way down. This includesf punches with side kicks, uppercuts, jabs, roundhouse kicks, etc. And then McClain will put it all together and give Viola a series of 10 or so movements to create a powerhouse kickboxing combo. Here's what the whole workout would look like.
Upper Body
Usually Viola start offs with air punches—three sets of 30 seconds work and 5 seconds rest for each of the moves:
Alternating front punches
Alternating hook punch
Alternating uppercut
Alternating elbow strike
Lower Body
Next, they'll head to the punching bag for another three sets of 30 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest for each of the moves below:
Roundhouse right leg
Roundhouse left leg
Front Kick right leg
Front Kick left leg
Back air kicks alternating legs while holding punching bag with both hands.
Side kick right leg
Side kick left leg
High knees
Full-Body Combo
Then, they'll finish it off the punching bag, this time doing a minute of work with 10 seconds rest for the moves below and two sets all the way through.
Left hand cross punch, right leg roundhouse kick
Right hand cross punch, left leg roundhouse kick
Left arm side punch, right leg front kick
Right arm side punch, left leg front kick
Right leg side kick
Left leg side kick
Tuesday
McClain told WH that Viola is extremely dedicated and the type of client who will work an 18-hour shift one day and still come to the 6 a.m. workout with no complaints and give it her all: " "How she's an actress, putting her heart and soul in every role, that's how she is with the training. She likes to push it." And because Viola pushes it so hard, she has to make room for recovery.
On Tuesdays, instead of a sweat session, Viola uses a foam roller or a massage ball to target some of the tightness she gets in her hip area, McClain says. Viola also has a physical therapist who comes once a week to loosen up some of those muscles. And she's not opposed to hopping in the sauna or jacuzzi on Tuesdays and Thursdays for some water-based tension release.
Wednesday
Mid-week, they go hard on strength training. And the workouts are pretty freaking intense, which explains why Viola's body looks the way it does. A typical Wednesday workout for the How To Get Away With Murder star is a series of weighted exercises (using a pair of 10–25 pound dumbbells depending on the exercise). Viola will do three sets of 35 seconds work and have 10 seconds of rest for each of the moves below, with 30 seconds rest between for each circuit.
Circuit 1
Squats (she taps a weight bench with her butt for every rep to make sure she's getting low enough).
Chest Press while laying on the bench
Deadlifts
Seated Biceps Curls
Circuit 2
Straight leg raises (with 5-lb. ankle weights), right leg
Lat row, right arm
Straight leg raises (with 5-lb. ankle weights), left leg
Lat row, left arm
Circuit 3:
Lying Chest Press (elbows narrow)
Chest Flys
Triceps Extensions
Glute Kickbacks (with 5-lb. ankle weights), right leg
Triceps Kickbacks, alternating with Lateral Raises
Glute Kickbacks (with 5-lb. ankle weights), left leg
Thursday
Another well-deserved rest day.
Friday
By the end of the week, McClain is working on sculpting Viola's body, focusing on building up her muscular endurance and targeting the tiny muscles that help stabilize and support her major movers. McClain will knock the weights down to 5–10 pounds and use resistance bands instead of weights, but the workout is still challenging.
In a sculpting session, "it's not the heaviness of the weight hurting you, it's the repetitions and the constant changing." And there's very little rest on sculpt days. "We're resting by switching muscle groups," McClain says. "I'm just flowing from muscle to muscle until every muscle on our body is exhausted." Here's what the workout looks like:
Bands
Viola will step on the middle of a 15–30 lb. large, looped resistance band with both feet and hold the top in both hands to do three sets of 35 seconds of each of the following exercises (stretching the band around her bod with every move) with 30 seconds of rest in between sets.
Squat to Overhead Press
Side Lateral Kicks, right leg
Side Lateral Kicks, left leg
Triceps Extensions
Close-Grip Biceps Curls, bringing hands in front of forehead
Weights
Now, McClain will use both a set of light weights (5–8 lb.) and have Viola wear 2-lb. ankle weights. They'll do three sets of each of these moves for 35 seconds, resting for 30 seconds between sets.
Alternating Front Lunges With Biceps Curls
Alternating Shoulder Presses With Side Bends
Squat To Overhead Press
Curtsy Lunges With Lateral Raises (arms bent at 90-degree angles)
Lunge To Knee Drive With Biceps Curl, right side
Lunge To Knee Drive With Biceps Curl, left side
Triceps Extension With Alternating High Knees (When arms extend to straight overhead, knee lifts to hip height.)
Alternating Reverse Lunges With Lat Row
Viola Davis' Go-To Abs Workout
McClain has Viola finishes every workout with core training. "The abs are such a big muscle and there's so many of them," McClain explains. So Viola will typically finish strong with a no-break core session that varies depending on the day that might look something like the below sequence of moves with 45 seconds of work and the only rest being the time it takes her to get in position for the next exercise.
Leg Raises (with 5-lb. ankle weights)
Bicycle Crunches (with 5-lb. ankle weights)
Reg Sit-Ups Alternating With Glute Bridge
Side Planks With Rotation
Mountain Climbers (knee to opposite elbow)
At the end of every workout, McClain makes sure Viola does a cool down. They will either do a 10-minute combo of classic stretches, making sure to give every muscle they worked that day some love.
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