Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout – Can You Handle Being the God of Thunder?

With the huge success that was Thor this past summer, Chris Hemsworth has not only made a name for himself as the god of thunder, but also as a dedicated actor who had to put on 20lbs of muscle in order to look the role of Thor.

While Hemsworth is not the first actor to have to bulk himself up for a role, take for instance the Chris Evans workout and Hugh Jackman workout, he is one of the first to have not been in the gym weight lifting prior to his role.

For the Chris Hemsworth workout, Chris had to first admit that he never really spent time weight lifting.  He had always maintained his physique through playing sports and being a hard core surfer.

When Hemsworth first received the role of Thor, he admitted to looking through the comic books and realizing that the Thor of the comics books was “like 500 pounds or something and there was no way I (he) was going to get that big.”

In the comic books, Thor was like 500 pounds or something and there was no way I was going to get that big.

When director Kenneth Branagh told Hemsworth that he would need to spend the next 3 months preparing for the Thor shooting by adding 20 lbs of muscle, the Chris Hemsworth Thor workout was born

What the Chris Hemsworth Workout Was Like

The Chris Hemsworth workout was created to meet the need for Hemsworth to gain the muscle mass needed for his upcoming role as Thor.  Not only did he have to create and follow this workout, but he had to do  so while filming Red Dawn.  Many say that you can go through the Red Dawn movie stills and actually see Hemsworth’s neck grow throughout the movie as he was training for Thor.

As Hemsworth hadn’t been a weight lifter prior to this training he sought professional trainers who helped put together the Thor workout consisting of a regimen of ever-changing challenges.  These challenges ranged from the amount and types of food he ate as well as the types, weight, reps, and speed of his workout.

While the workout seemed to move smoothly for Hemsworth, he did mention that the eating was a challenge.  In order to put on that much dense muscle for the movie, he had to focus on eating a ton of protein followed with vegetables and fruits.  Hemsworth told Men’s Health, ” I feel as if I’ve been busy, but all I’ve been doing is eating all day. Eating when you’re not hungry and taking in that amount of food is exhausting.”

According to Hemsworth, the Thor workout truly had three cornerstones and a couple of secrets that allowed him to maximize his time and effort to produce excellent results.

Chris Hemsworth Workout Cornerstones

Since Hemsworth had never really been one for weight lifting, he really want to focus on some critical cornerstones for working out.  The Thor workout truly rested on three distinct cornerstones that most routines should rest on.  Food, rest, and working out.

1. Food – The Chris Hemsworth Diet called for a lot of protein followed by veggies and fruit.  The veggies and fruit are key pieces of the diet as they provide fiber, which can strengthen cardiovascular health, and their antioxidants aid muscle recovery – helping him rebuild muscle by slowing down muscle protein breakdown.  He also ate for value, not just for enjoyment.  Rather than going after heavy carbs, he stuck to foods like quinoa which act as a carb and protein – one of the few carbs with that claim.
2. Rest – The Chris Hemsworth workout required him to make rest a priority.  While Hemsworth has always been an active athlete, he had never pushed his muscles so hard with weight lifting and without giving them the proper amount of rest, he would not have safely succeeded with his muscle building goals.
3. Working Out – This portion of the Chris Hemsworth workout required that he follow a regimen of ever-changing challenges.  By changing hand positions, speed, reps, and weight amount, Hemsworth was able to keep his muscles from ever being able to fully adjust to the workouts and therefore kept them growing and never plateauing.

Getting Started With the Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout

Whenever a person even begins to consider working out, they must take into consideration their current level of fitness.  It is always recommended that you confer with your doctor before beginning any workout, especially one as difficult as the Hugh Jackman workout.  With that said, if you are still committed and ready to undergo the Chris Hemsworth workout, the following steps will be key to your success:

• First make the decision to be fully dedicated.  Hemsworth made a commitment to find out what would work and stick to it.  You must first prepare your mind and get into the process there before you begin to lift your first wait.  Otherwise you won’t stay with this workout or any other if you don’t first determine to be fully dedicated, no matter the cost.
• Secondly you must remember that it’s not just about the gym routine, but a  superhero diet as well.  Hemsworth said he always felt like he was eating and he had to stick to proteins, fruits and veggies.  By utilizing those three groups, he was able to quickly transform his body.
• Thirdly, it’s important to remain realistic with result expectations.  Hemsworth had to get the body he needed within 3 months and therein set out to do it.  Remember that while the workout took that long to complete, he was also already in great shape Don’t let immediate results get you down.   To obtain the desired physique is going to take time and serious motivation

The Chris Hemsworth Workout Routine

As mentioned above, Chris Hemsworth saw success in focusing on compound weightlifting exercises, focusing on more than one muscle group at a time, and keeping the reps, weight amount,  and speed ever-changing in order to keep his muscles continually working to get bigger.

Men’s Health recommends the following workout scenario:

Perform the exercises below as a circuit, moving from one to the next without rest. Once you’ve completed them all, rest for 60 seconds. Repeat three more times.
Exercise 1: 8 reps each side
Exercise 2: 8 reps each side
Exercise 3: 8 reps each side
Exercise 4: 15 reps each leg

The Exercises:

Sledgehammer Slam

Lateral Hop

T-Pushup

Mountain Climber

Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout

Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout routine

Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout regime

Chris Hemsworth Thor Workout and diet