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Who Is Chris Hemsworth?
Chris started out as a television actor, appearing in several series. His longest and most well-known role was as Kim Hyde in the long-running soap opera Home and Away, where he appeared in 171 episodes! He left in 2007 to focus on a Hollywood career.
There were a couple of movies that Chris starred in before he landed the role of Thor in 2011. He does star in other movies as different characters, but he’s still most recognised as the charming god of thunder.
Becoming Thor
While Chris definitely had good looks and the acting chops to play a god, he needed a bit of help getting the perfect bod. For the first Thor movie, he trained under former US Navy SEAL Duffy Gaver who put him through an old-school bodybuilding approach. Chris’s training with Duffy put a lot of focus on his arms and shoulders, which meant that he had incredibly defined arms in Thor’s many sleeveless scenes.
Chris put on 20 pounds of muscle for his first stint as Thor, and he’s pretty much maintained his strong physique. Duffy praises Chris’s dedication to his routine, saying that “he crushed every single workout. He simply decided to look like Thor.”
Workout Methods
Becoming Thor isn’t particularly easy, but Chris showed us that it was possible! It’s about the grind. Here are some of the exercises that Chris includes in his workout:
Push Ups
Push ups don’t require any equipment at all, just a solid flat area to work in. They’re super effective at building upper body strength, which is vital to being a hammer-wielding god!
Pull Ups
This time, you do need equipment: a pull up bar! Pull ups also develop upper body strength, and they will definitely give you an amazing arm workout!
Deadlifts
This is the classic bodybuilding workout! This targets a lot of muscle groups at once, so this can actually save you a lot of time in the gym.
Sample Workout Routine
It’s pretty obvious that Chris’s actual Thor workout is not for beginners! While some of the methods seem simple, doing them with the wrong form or for too long may have worse effects on your body. Do consult with a personal trainer to find the perfect routine for you!
That said, here is a sample workout shared by Muscle and Fitness (it includes helpful videos!) for the perfect Thor god-bod:
- Day 1: Back
- General Pull Up
- General Push Up
- Hammer Strength Two-Arm Row
- Dumbbell Row
- Swiss Ball Hyper Extension
- Day 2: Chest
- Barbell Bench Press
- Warrior Fit Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
- Hammer Strength Chest Press
- Weighted Dip
- Cable Fly
- Day 3: Legs
- Back Squat
- Leg Press
- Bodyweight Walking Lunge
- Single-Leg Curl
- Standing Calf Raise
- Day 4: Shoulders
- Military Press
- Arnold Press
- Barbell Shrug
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise
- Dumbbell Front Raise
- Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly
- Day 5: Arms
- Barbell Biceps Curl
- Skull Crusher
- EZ-Bar Preacher Curl
- Dumbbell Lying Triceps Extension
- Dumbbell Hammer Curl
- Rope Pressdown
- Barbell Wrist Curl
- Barbell Reverse Wrist Curl
Chris later started working with his high school friend Luke Zocchi as his personal trainer. With Luke, Chris started going beyond the bodybuilding stuff – his body was definitely already built! – and put in agility exercises like bear crawls in his routine.
Eating Like A God
Luke Zocchi doesn’t just zone in on Chris’s workouts, but also his diet – he believes that food is more important than training! He had Chris eating a lot: six times a day, every two to three hours! These aren’t snacks, but full-on meals with loads of calories that will later be turned to muscle during training.
Protein is incredibly important when it comes to bulking up and building strength, so Luke makes sure that Chris stocks up on it prior to and during filming Thor. Here are some of the things that he likes to eat:
- Chicken breasts
- Fish, especially tuna
- Steaks
- Avocado
- Cottage cheese
- Grains, especially brown rice
- Legumes
Sample Diet Meal Plan
Here’s a snapshot of Chris Hemsworth’s daily diet:
- Breakfast: Oatmeal, banana, sultanas, fat-free milk, egg whites, egg, cheese, protein shake, orange juice
- Brunch: Cottage cheese, turkey roll, mixed nuts, protein shake, yoghurt
- Snacks: Beef jerky
- Lunch: Chicken breasts, brown rice, broccoli, kidney beans, fat-free milk
- Dinner: Salmon fillets, quinoa, asparagus, fat-free milk, yoghurt
- Supper: Boiled eggs, brown bread, protein shake
Again, remember that Chris complements this with a strict workout regimen! While diet is important, you can’t rely on it completely to get the perfect body.
Other Workout And Diet Routines
While Thor is definitely the first thing that comes to mind when we think of Chris’s movies, he does play lots of other roles. These different roles definitely call for builds a little different than that of the buff Asgardian. For these roles, Chris mixes up his routine by focusing on what the character calls for.
An example of this is how he incorporated more cardio than strength-building to his routine when his character in Thor Ragnarok needed more flexibility and agility rather than huge muscles.
Another interesting thing to note: Chris has recently been trying out an all-vegan diet! So it is possible to gain muscle on a vegan diet. Take that haters!
Conclusion
While Chris all the money and resources certainly helped, his physique is mostly a result of his hard work and dedication! It’ll take a lot to achieve a godlike physique, but it isn’t impossible!
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