Too Big Too Fast
Chris Hemsworth’s Thor Workout
God of Thunder Workout Routine
Thor’s Chris Hemsworth’s workout routine worked too well!
“I put on too much muscle. A few days before shooting was to begin, we realized none of my costumes fit!”
Thor’s Director, Kenneth Branagh, told Chris to get as big as he could in preparation for his role as Thor. Three months later, the director told him he was too big and he needed to slim down.
The Australian-born actor starred in A Perfect Getaway and Star Trek before taking the lead role in Thor. In those movies, it wasn’t necessary to have a superhero body. Chris was fairly lean, but to make the action film more believable, Hemsworth had to make a body transformation.
Hemsworth knew that in order to play the role of the Thor, god of Thunder he would have to put on a good amount of muscle fast to gain size and look worthy of a god. The role required Chris to add about twenty pounds of lean muscle to his frame. But he had to do it without looking overly bulky and muscle bound like many bodybuilders do.
This wasn’t something Chris took for granted. He knew he had to work hard and smart to look the part. As a result, the Thor Workout came about.
Chris Ta
His efforts and the program were so successful that Chris’s workout routine got him to build muscle fast. In fact, he put on too much muscle too fast and wasn’t able to fit into his Thor costume. This forced him to alter his workout and diet.
Chris Hemsworth Talks About His Role As Thor and His Workout
Thor’s Chris Hemsworth’s Diet Secrets
To gain muscle fast, you have to eat muscle building foods. Chris Hemsworth’s diet consisted of:
- protein shakes
- lean chicken
- slow burning carbohydrates
Those foods made up small meals that Chris would eat every two to three hours. This kept a steady supply of nutrition to his muscles without the worry of storing extra calories as fat.
Another diet secret Chris used was to minimize his sugar intake.
The Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout
Chris didn’t come up with the Thor workout on his own. He enlisted the help of Detroit trainer and fitness coach Michael Knight. To get the best results out of his clients, Knight draws upon all different training doctrines. Hemsworth trained using everything under the sun like…
- suspension straps
- kettlebells
- tires
- battling ropes
- traditional dumbbells and barbells
The use of machines was totally out. Chris Hemsworth’s workout was full of compound exercises; isolation exercises were limited. This way, Chris Hemsworth trained his entire body and was able to add variety to the workouts.
Hemsworth commented that all he did in preparation for the film was eat, sleep, and train. Sleep is something that many people neglect in their training. Chris said that sleep played an important role in his ability to add muscle fast while still burning fat.
Chris Hemsworth Workout Mass Building
To put on muscle fast, you have to do compound exercises. These give the best bang for your buck because they use multiple muscle groups at once.
The Best Compound Exercises:
- Squats – Lower Body Exercise
- Deadlifts – Lower Body Exercise
- Bench Press – Upper Body Push Exercise
- Shoulder Press – Upper Body Push Exercise
- Pull Ups – Upper Body Pull Exercise
- Bent Over Rows – Upper Body Pull Exercise
These exercises will add the most mass and bulk and are what Chris used to gain muscle fast.
- Week one – 4 sets; 4-6 reps
- Week two – 4 sets; 6-8 reps
- Week three – 4 sets; 8-12 reps
- Week four – 4 sets; 4-6 reps
– Repeat for weeks five to eight
Thor Chest and Back workout:
- Bench press
- Bent-over row
- Weighted pull-up
- Weighted dip
Thor Leg workout:
- Squat
- Deadlift
- Hamstring curl
Thor Arm workout:
- Weighted chin-up
- Close-grip bench press
Cardio Circuit Training
Chris Hemsworth’s Thor workout changed over time. He started out building as much muscle as he could, then leaned out and tightened up his physique. As mentioned before, the actor came to the set too big to fit into his costume. He had done too good of a job adding muscle. Chris had been lifting heavy weights in an effort to aid muscle growth. When it came time to lean out a bit, Hemsworth cut back on the calories and increased his cardio.
Traditional long, slow cardio is not the best option for those who want to maintain that fitness model look. Instead use high intensity interval training full body circuits.
Kettlebell Circuit
1. Kettlebell Swings – 30 seconds each
- two hands
- left hand
- right hand
2. Kettlebell Cleans
- 5 right hand, 5 left hand
- 4 right, 4 left…
- repeat all the way to 1 and back to up to 5
3. Turkish Get-Up
- 5 minutes total
4. Windmill
- 5 per side
Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout 1
Reps: 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3
All exercises are done in order listed before decreasing reps. Every exercise is done for the set number of reps before moving to the next exercise.
Pull ups, Back Squats x 90lbs, Press x 90lbs, Sit Ups
Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout 2
Row 500 meters
50 kg clean and jerk x 30
30 pull ups
Row 500 meters
24” box jump x 30
Wall balls 20 lbs x 30
Row 500 meters
Snatch 40 kg x 30
20 lb ball slam x 30
Row 500 meters
Kettlebell swing x 20lbs x 30
As you can see, the Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout was split into two parts. The first was to build muscle fast. For this, he used heavy compound movements. The second phase was to make everything look its best. For this, Chris used a common technique in Hollywood workouts referred to as “The Shrink Wrap Effect.”
You can think of the Shrink Wrap Effect as tightening your skin around your muscles to help you look more muscular and toned; avoiding the bulky look.
You can do it too. So if you want that “Hollywood look,” then go out and get it!
If you are interested in looking and training like Chris Hemsworth, make sure you stay away from most fitness magazine programs and don’t train like a bodybuilder. To get that lean muscular fitness model look, you have to workout differently. Grab the free reports below and discover how to build a Hollywood star body and get that lean muscular look.
Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout
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