As if Elsa Pataky and Chris Hemsworth weren’t genetically gifted enough, they are also athletes in their own right and are both Thor-level ready to conquer their acting roles.
WATCH BELOW: Chris Hemsworth’s body double spills workout secrets
Elsa, 44, may be running around after her children, India, eight, and twins Sasha and Tristan, six, but she is also keeping up with her superhero husband at the gym.
In an interview with Woman’s Health coming out this week, Elsa spoke about how she got fit for her new role.
She thanked her husband and his trainer for keeping her on the ball during intense workout sessions that included heavy weights and intense cardio.
“I need to get really strong for this role (and have) a massive change in my body – I knew I had to start (working with) heavy weights to get more muscular.”
The whole routine sounds as brutal as Iron Man training, and Elsa deserves a round of applause for keeping up with the boys, who are no doubt use to the routine since Chris has been Thor for quite a while.
“We worked with big weights and, at the same time, exercises that improve functional movement – we were swimming, we were climbing ropes, we were doing burpees, we were doing a lot of moving and acceleration,” she said.
“It’s a mix of everything that really helps, and my body started to change a lot in just four weeks.”
Elsa has also spoken about working out with her husband in her book Strong: How to Eat, Move and Live with Strength and Vitality.
In the book, she claims exercising with your partner can be a great motivation because it makes it more fun.
“I love training with Chris. We do our own exercises separately, but then we really enjoy spending 30–40 minutes doing something we both like together.”
“If you can get your partner on board, you will be able to motivate each other on those days when the other doesn’t feel like moving. If you set yourself a challenge and add competition to the mix, I promise you that the session will be much more fun. Time will fly by and you will want to do it again.”
She also detailed how they can become competitive with one another.
“If I’m like ‘I’ve read this and…’ then he’s like ‘Well I’ve read that…!’ Or ‘Well, I’ve tried this’ [laughs]. And we love it… So, yeah it’s very competitive in that way. But in saying that, what works for you may not work for me, so you really have to listen to your body… Some things that are good for him, are not for me.”
Elsa loves fresh food and the Mediterranean diet she was raised on in her native Spain.
She told Sunrise, “I don’t believe anything about diets, like quick diets that you do before summer. I feel like miracles don’t exist. Mediterranean food every day, not just (for) periods of time.”
However, Elsa is not misleading her fans by insisting she only eats a clean diet.
In the past, she has candidly opened up about her cheat days and following the classic 80-20 rule.
“For 80 per cent of the time, you choose healthy foods. But for special occasions – Christmas, holidays, parties – enjoy yourself. That’s the other 20 per cent,” she wrote in Strong.
“In general, I try to make my ‘cheat day’ a weekend day, but if I am feeling really low mid-week because of something that’s happened, I will give in to what my body asks for, whatever craving it is. Normally that is all I need, but I sometimes have a period where I’m feeling low for a few days, and that’s when I take the pressure off myself.”
While all that is nice; We need to know is what Elsa eats when her sweet tooth is on overdrive.
She told 9Honey, “I love desserts and I love sugar.
“Pizza and Krispy Kremes… one, two, sometimes three.”
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