Bradley Cooper and Brie Larson’s Trainer Jason Walsh Reveals Secrets Behind Private Gym Where He Turns Celebrities Into Superheroes

Celebrity trainer Jason Walsh might not be a name you have heard before—but you will almost certainly be familiar with his work: sculpting the figures of some of Hollywood's biggest stars to transform them from A-listers into superheroes.

Over the years, Walsh has worked with a host of the industry's best and brightest, helping to prepare them for their most physically demanding roles, including Bradley Cooper for “American Sniper,” Pedro Pascal for “Fantastic Four,” Brie Larson for “Captain Marvel,” and Alison Brie for “Masters of the Universe.”

Yet when it comes to the West Hollywood, CA, gym where he coaches these Hollywood heavyweights for their high-profile projects, the 49-year-old fitness expert has staged it to ensure that it remains firmly out of the spotlight.

Every inch of the 4,000-square-foot boutique gym is exclusive by design. With an unmarked exterior and discreet backdoor entrance, the private RISEMOVEMENT facility is housed well away from public view on the second floor of a 1968-built commercial building in WeHo.

Walsh moved his training practice out of his first location and into this more secluded space in 2016 to remove his A-list clients from the reach of paparazzi lenses and the prying eyes of fans.

Inside, the walls of the spacious, sunbathed exercise center are free of flashy photos with famous patrons. Instead, celebrities bask in the calming presence of plants, natural wood finishes, and chic black accents while they confidentially mingle with Walsh, his intimate team of six trainers, and the secret studio’s resident dog, Stevie Nicks.

In the latest installment of our Celebrity Sanctuary series, the co-founder of RISE311 plant-based protein breaks down the intentionally unassuming design details he’s added to the studio to make the who’s who of Tinseltown feel comfortable breaking a sweat.

The techniques that Walsh used are also those that can be implemented in at-home gyms, by anyone who is aiming to carve out their own studio—no matter the size or budget.

"[To create an ideal home gym], it really depends on what your overall goals are," he explains. "Maybe your home gym is something that is [for] the filler days between when you go to the gym.

"A lot of people have memberships for their big lifts and then at home, they have a Peloton, a rower, a VersaClimber, or something where they could do cardio. Having something that's very versatile is really, really important.

"You can get a really great workout with just a set of the PowerBlocks—they're a very versatile set of weights or dumbbells. It’s, like, 5 pounds all the way through 125 pounds but it sits in a space of 2 [feet] by [2 feet] on a rack.

"You have to really figure out what your goals are, and what you could put into what space you have available. Things take up very little square [footage], but they're very versatile, you can get a lot of stuff done with them."

My first studio in Los Angeles was on a first floor and it wasn't the most conducive or best place for my celebrity clients because of the paparazzi interaction. We ended up having to frost out the front window so nobody was looking in watching their workouts.

[So for our new studio], a second story [space] was really critical for us. We have a loading deck in the back with double doors—that's where most of my clients come in. 

In the front, it's very dilapidated. You would never know that this beautiful studio is upstairs. I wanted it to feel like it wasn't obvious. I don't have a business sign up front, for instance. We fly under the radar. We don't advertise.

There's nothing out there to tell you where we're at really. People just know because we let them in. We try to keep things like that so that it's a great experience for everybody that comes into the studio. If you know you know.

There's zero, absolutely no pictures of me with my celebrity clients or anything like that [in the gym]. It's just straight up. I wanted it to be a sanctuary for my clients so that when they walked in, it gives them this feeling like they're at their home away from home.

It's a commercial building, but it's a very old building, which gives it some character. It's got a very rustic quality to it with wooden ceiling beams, high vaulted ceilings. It's one big open space: I have a kitchenette. I have two single stall bathrooms. I have two single stall showers. 

[Initially], the showers were nonfunctioning. The bathrooms were in pretty bad shape. The kitchenette was absolutely horrific. The flooring was pretty bad inside the large [open] area, so in order to move in, get our wheels turning getting clients in, I had to lay down a tile-style rubberized flooring, which is a half inch thick.

Myself and my colleague, Devin [Wiggins], we just laid the flooring down, cut [it], and put the whole thing down—4,000 square feet of rubber flooring. After that, we were able to transfer the equipment from the old studio to the new studio so we could actually open the doors. 

The lighting was pretty bad. It was that stark white lighting. I love natural light because I love plants, so I started putting plants in the windows, on the floor, and really outfitting the place to make it feel alive. 

Then I started reconstructing the bathrooms and utilizing the plumbing that's there, but I had to put down the teak flooring and [add] some really nice artwork on the walls. 

I have a picture of my girl, Ella—she was the house dog who passed away, so I [have] an artist rendering. One of my clients actually brought it in as a gift when Ella passed away from cancer. 

Stevie Nicks is my dog that I have now. She grew up here, so she's the house dog. She's the first person that greets everybody that comes in the door and they just love it. They eat it up. They lay in the bed with her. It's a real joy to have, and it's a great addition to the studio.

When I opened my old studio, Justin Timberlake was my client at the time. He took this incredible photo of the ocean in Manila on a Widelux camera and as an opening gift, because it was my first studio, he gave me this 15 [foot] by 6 [foot], huge photo on the wall. It’s very abstract. It's incredible. I transferred it over here.

I have a photo from Jimmy Chin of Mount Everest that he took. Jimmy's a really good friend of mine. He's a very famous photographer and mountaineer, and he sent me this incredible photo, which is, like, 20 feet by 8 feet. I have things like that that my clients have given me, which is really nice.

It has a very rustic, good vibe. It has good views. We have windows [around] pretty much 180-degrees, so we get the morning light, we get the afternoon, and a very dim evening light, which is beautiful with the high wooden beams and the fans that are just kind of on a low setting.

It's incredible. It's a great space.

We have lots of green surrounding us. We're not on the streets, so nobody has access unless they come up, and we're able to police the door and do the things that we need to do to protect our clients. It's high enough that we're up at the top of the trees so we can see across West Hollywood.

I'm actually looking at downtown right now out of the corner of the space. It's just nice because clients still have something to look at. There's always something funny or crazy going on down on Santa Monica Boulevard. It's West Hollywood, so there's always something going down.

We really utilize the spaces to the maximum potential right now. You got a lot of elbow room to move around and there's nobody that's going to be on a piece of equipment [you’re] utilizing. We have multiple sets of PowerBlocks around, so there's always something available. 

Working out and being in the gym has always been my sanctuary. Actually, I started working out when I was very preteen.

I found that, for me, dealing with the stresses of growing up, being in the gym was meditation for me. It really kept me out of trouble. It kept me focused. It teaches you discipline. It's absolutely a sanctuary; it always has been. That's a secret that I've always felt like I've had and I want to share with people. 

The reason why I felt inspired to open my own studio was because I noticed that my clients weren't comfortable in situations being in a gym with the public—and I'm not just talking celebrities. I'm talking most people.

It's just creepy. It's a pickup place, there's people sitting around on their phones, taking up space, and we want to get in there and get to work and have a really great flow.

Ultimately, I built this studio because I knew I could create a space and environment where my clients would let their guard down. It's really hard to train somebody if their guard's up. This was really my attempt to create a beautiful environment where people could let their guard down, they can be themselves, they’re more open to being trained and taught, they'll listen, they're not looking over their shoulder. Things like that. 

I wanted this to feel like a home away from home. I don't even call it a gym. I call it a studio and that's exactly how I wanted it to come across.

When people come up here, they're like, “I had no idea this was here.” And the second comment [that] comes out of their mouth [is], "Oh my God, it’s beautiful.” Like, that's the kind of impression you want to have on people, that's what I want. I don't want it to feel like a sports center. I don't want it to feel like, you know, it's my studio. I want it to feel like it's our studio, and how I was able to achieve that was to make it feel like home. 

Every single client that I have, from Bradley Cooper, who, I think his passion outside of acting and being a father is architecture, interior design, things like that, he's got a very keen eye—he loves this space.

Pedro Pascal, Brie Larson, Alison Brie, Milo Ventimiglia, these guys are regulars here and it's really nice to see that they are as appreciative of what I've created here in West Hollywood. There's really nothing like it out there. It's doing exactly what I want, which is for them to have a home. They feel safe here. They come in, they love training, they love coming to the studio. 

Typically, it's a 6 a.m. call time for me here and, as the business owner, I always have administrative work to do after training, plus, I have to train myself. I don't work out in the morning because I prefer sleep, so I’ll sacrifice my afternoons to come and train, do admin work, make sure things are stocked, [and] make sure that the space is ready for the next day. So I leave anywhere from 3 to 5 p.m.