How Viola Davis improved her running skills for her role in 'The Woman King,' according to her coach

How Viola Davis improved her running skills for her role in 'The Woman King,' according to her coach

Viola Davis underwent intensive training to prepare for her role as Nanisca in The Woman King. Her character is the general of the Agojie, an all-female unit of warriors who protected the African kingdom of Dahomey in the 18th century. The physically demanding role required months of preparation, including running-specific training, which Davis just showed off on her Instagram.

How Viola Davis prepared for her role in 'The Woman King' — including a full-body workout you can try

Davis recently posted a few clips of herself running on the treadmill. The videos show her running faster and faster and it's really impressive to watch. “I did this!” writes Davis in the caption of her post, shouting out her trainer Gabriela Mclain, who helped her transform into warrior form for the film.

“Viola has always been a runner,” Mclain tells Shape. However, there were a few key areas she needed to work on to play an Agojie warrior: her technique and her sprinting abilities.

“She was really stiff in her upper body,” Mclain says, noting that Davis’ character would have been used to running for days (literally) to travel to a battlefield. In this case, “the body will protect itself and go to the best [running] technique, so it can actually take that long,” she explains. Therefore, it was important that Davis' running looked "natural" and "fluid" on screen.

Thuso Mbedu from The Woman King on training like a warrior and why napping is self-care

To this end, Davis began her training away from the treadmill, focusing on the movement her arms would need to perform to run efficiently. Mclain had her standing with light weights in her hands and pumping her arms back and forth like she would when running to separate the upper body from the lower body.

Davis then walked slowly on the treadmill while maintaining her upper body technique and using exaggerated movements. “Once we figured that out, we started using more speed,” Mclain says.

Interval training was the next step in their work together. Davis jogged on the treadmill for about 30 minutes, then Mclain increased her speed up to 10 mph for 10 to 20 seconds, followed by 30 seconds at jogging speed to recover before it was time to sprint again.

Interval running workouts that will make you even faster

Running training included other exercises outside of the treadmill, such as: E.g. one-legged push-ups, step-ups and agility ladder drills. Mclain also incorporated banded sprints into Davis' workouts, where the actress sprinted with a resistance band around her waist and had to push against the pressure to move her body forward.

Mclain has prioritized injury prevention throughout Davis' training, she says. “I wouldn’t do anything if I wasn’t sure she was able to do it [with safe, proper form].” This was particularly important because Davis injured his knee about eight months before training began. However, you wouldn't know it based on how smooth her technique looks in the clips she recently shared.

If you're feeling inspired by Davis' running transformation, Mclain has advice for new runners. “You have to start slowly,” she says, emphasizing the importance of strength training and stretching for runners. “The joint needs to be protected by the muscles, so strength training is super important,” she explains, adding that the core needs to be strong in particular to support the rest of the body when running. “People choose either [running or strength training], but I feel like the combination of both is the magic.” (Next: This running warm-up prepares your body for your next workout)