There are tons of gorgeous red carpet looks to drool over at the 2023 Academy Awards [1], but Halle Berry [2] had us thinking — as Ashley Graham put it while commentating on ABC — "The leg!!!"
Berry's high-slit dress showed off the strong legs that she's built in the gym. We know this because just a few days earlier, on March 10, she shared a pre-Oscars workout on Instagram [3] that has our legs (and arms and core) burning just watching.
She starts the workout by lacing up some serious-looking boxing shoes and then getting to work under the supervision of trainer Peter Lee Thomas [4]. She shows clips of her sweating through Bosu ball up-and-overs, battle rope jumping jacks, plank kettlebell drags, and Bosu ball medicine ball slams. She shared the workout as part of her #FitnessFriday "Get Film Fit with Halle" series and directed people to Rē•spin [5] (her wellness website, where she shares workouts, recipes, and other tips) for the full routine.
On her website [8], you can download a minute-long video that demos the full workout, but we've also outlined it all below. It's a simple, five-move circuit that takes only five minutes. In that short time, it hits your legs, core, and arms. Don't believe it? Take it from Berry, who was already saying, "Oh, my legs are on fire," after the very first move. And later: "My arms are shot."
Berry and Thomas don't offer advice on how many times to repeat the five-minute circuit, but you can do it as many times as you're able to do while while keeping proper form, tackling it once or twice for a quickie full-body workout or four or five times for a 20 to 25 minute session that's guaranteed to leave you tired.
Halle Berry's Pre-Oscars Workout
- Bosu Ball Warm Up — 1 minute: Place a Bosu ball on the floor, rounded side up. Stand in a quarter squat to the right of the Bosu ball with your left foot on the centre of the ball and your right foot on the floor. Keeping your core engaged [9] and knees bent, shuffle over the ball, ending with your left foot on the floor and right foot on the ball. Pause here. Then continue shuffling back and forth.
- Bosu Ball Slam — 1 minute: Repeat the movement of the previous exercise, but holding a soft medicine ball. When you get to each side, slam the ball on the floor and pick it up before shuffling to the other side.
- Battle Rope Squat Fly — 1 minute: Hold a battle rope in each hand, resting at your sides. With your feet together, squat down to reach your hands toward the floor, then do a jumping jack, hoisting the battle ropes overhead. Jump your feet back together and squat down to start the next rep.
- Ankle Weighted Step Over — 1 minute: Wearing an ankle weight on each ankle, stand to the right side of a workout bench, so your feet are parallel to the long side of the bench. Step your left foot up onto the bench, and then push into your left foot to shuffle over the bench and land on the other side, so your left foot is on the floor and right foot is on the bench. Continue shuffling back and forth. (Step carefully!)
- Iron Plank — 30 seconds per side: Start in a high plank position with a kettlebell under your right shoulder, tipped over so it's on its side, the handle vertical and pointing toward your body. Hold the handle with your right hand. Without moving your hips, extend your arm to push the kettlebell away from you, then drag it back toward your body. Happy sweating!
