Chris Hemsworth Workout And Diet For Thor: Getting Superhero Jacked

With Thor: The Dark World coming out soon, I thought it would be a great time to write about the Chris Hemsworth workout and the approach it takes to get a body like his.

Out of all the actors in 2012’s The Avengers (hulk notwithstanding), Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth have the best physiques.

But what does it take to get a body like Hemsworth and why do so many guys fail the process.

Analyzing Chris Hemsworth’s physique

Taking a look at Chris Hemsworth’s physique, you’ll notice a few things off the back:

• He has a very thick and husky look to him. Now don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t look super bloated or anything, but his overall physique is very thick and husky (yes it feels weird to type that out.)

• He doesn’t have a super noticeable six pack, which is fine since he already has such great muscular development. My guess would put him in at about 10-12% body fat. In contrast, someone like Ryan Reynolds in Blade 3 would be about 8-10% body fat.

• Hemsworth has an excellent shoulder to waist proportion. As I said before, the “perfect male body” is one where your shoulders are approx 1.61 times larger than your waist. It’s safe to say Hemsworth has hit this number perfectly. This allows him to get away from having slightly higher body fat levels while still looking great.

• His arms are a noticeable highlight, possibly due to genetics in addition to intense training.

And just a forewarning, no matter how much you replicate Chris Hemsworth’s workout or diet, it’s highly unlikely that you’re going to build a physique that looks exactly like his. There are just too many factors (mainly genetics) that will prevent you from becoming a carbon copy of him.

So don’t worry if Hemsworth has a slightly arms than you. You mostly likely have a body part that’s more well-developed than him.

Why most guys fail to look like Chris Hemsworth

You fail for these reasons:

1) You’re skinny as a stick, maybe have a hint of abs, and fail to gain muscle because you refuse to eat more because you think it’ll squash your hopes of one day becoming an underwear model.

2) You’re overweight and believe you need to eat in a surplus to gain muscle but you don’t want to eat in a surplus because it’ll make you fat. Sucks, I know.

How do you overcome these 2 sticking points? I’ll show you below.

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Quick note: Here are some other superhero workouts you might be interested in:

Stephen Amell workout for Green Arrow

Henry Cavill workout for Superman

Chris Evans Workout for Captain America

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How skinny guys can get ripped like Thor

Chris Hemsworth was super skinny as well but look at him now.

If you think you’re eating a lot and you can’t gain weight, you’re probably not. Most people who eat a lot and can’t gain weight are typically people who don’t track their intake or only eat a lot “on occasion,” meaning they eat a lot at buffets or at parties but don’t really eat much the majority of their lives.

How to fix this: Track your intake. Get an app like MyFitnessPal or even a journal to write down everything you eat on a daily basis.

Track calories, proteins, carbs, and fats. Buy a scale and weigh your food (at least initially) to get an idea of how much you’re really eating.

Once you get a feel of how much you’re eating, you can ditch the scale and just eyeball stuff but measure stuff out at first.

You’ll be surprised with how little you’re eating once you’re really tracking your intake.

Of course you also need a solid workout plan to go along with all this eating which I’ll provide.

And at the bottom of this post I recommend a much more in-depth course for guys serious about building a body like Hemsworth.

How overweight guys can build a superhero physique

So if you want a body like Chris Hemsworth then you need to cut some fat before getting serious about building muscle.

Don’t worry, you’ll inadvertently build some muscle while cutting down, but just not as much a skinny guy bulking up.

Trust me, it’s much easier to gain muscle once you’re leaner. Plus, gaining muscle when you’re overweight is just going to lead to a sloppy, unconditioned look.

So read these posts on how to make weight loss as easy as possible:

• Q&A on weight loss
• How to eat to lose fat
• Intermittent fasting for super flexible dieting

And yes, you can do the same workout for skinny guys below, however it’ll be slightly modified.

The Chris Hemsworth workout

Alright, so let’s get to the meat of this article, the Chris Hemsworth workout plan itself.

And just so you know, this isn’t the “official” Chris Hemsworth workout so don’t get all bitchy on me and say “Keith, this isn’t the official workout, why should I listen to you!”

His official workout is a bit excessive with 5-day per week 90 minute workouts which is slightly overkill for beginners.

The workout below is going to be a 4-day per week workout with each workout lasting approximately one hour.

This workout is more geared towards the beginner-intermediate, so keep that in mind.

But if you were an advanced lifter you wouldn’t even be reading this, would you?

Day 1 – Upper body (push focus)

• Incline dumbbell press – 4 sets/6-8 reps
• Flat bench press – 3 sets/8-10 reps
• Cable crossover – 2 sets/13-15 reps
• Arnold presses – 3 sets/8-10 reps
• t-bar row – 3 sets/8-10 reps
• 1-arm dumbbell row – 2 sets/8-10 reps
• Superset bicep curl and tricep extension – 2 cycles (4 sets total) 10 reps each

Day 2 – Lower body (quad focus)

• Squat (can be front or back squat) – 3-4 sets 5 reps. Don’t worry if you rest more in between sets here.
• Lunges – 3 sets/ do 8 reps per leg.
• Leg extension – 3 sets/10-12 reps
• Standing calf raise – 5 sets/15 reps

Day 3 – Upper body (pull focus)

• Chin ups – 3 sets/6-8 reps. Once you can do 8 reps with your bodyweight only, start adding weight.
• Barbell row – 3 sets/8-10 reps
• 1 arm dumbbell row – 2 sets/ 10-12 reps
• Shrugs – 3 sets/12 reps
• Arnold presses – 2 sets/10 reps
• Lateral raises – 3 sets/15 reps
• Superset bicep curl and tricep extension – 2 cycles (4 sets total) 10 reps each

Day 4 – Lower body (ham/glute focus)

• Rack pulls (pins below knees) – 4 sets/5 reps
• Lunges – 3 sets/do 8 reps per leg
• Dumbbell swings – 3 sets/15 reps
• Leg curl machine – 3 sets/15 reps
• Standing calf raise – 5 sets/15 reps

In terms of scheduling the workout, make sure you’re resting every other day or do it on a “2-on 1-off” schedule.

So it can look like this:

Workout schedule option 1:

Monday: Day 1, Tues: Rest, Wed: Day 2, Thrus: Rest, Friday: Day 3, Sat: Rest, Sunday: Day 4. Repeat on Tuesday and so on.

Workout schedule option 2:

Monday: Day 1, Tues: Day 2, Wed: Rest, Thrus: Day 3, Friday: Day 4, Sat: Rest, Sunday: Rest. Repeat on Monday

Chris Hemsworth diet: How to eat like a Norse God

Like I said before , YOU NEED TO TRACK YOUR FOOD INTAKE.

“I feel as if I’ve been busy, but all I’ve been doing is eating all day.”

– Chris Hemsworth

If you want any chance of gaining a substantial amount of muscle without too much fat, you need to how much you’re eating.

Your food options should be a 80/20 split. So you should be eating whole nutritionally dense foods 80% of the time and whatever else you want  20% of the time.

And for quick reference, here are the calorie/macro guidelines you should aim for if you’re trying to gain weight:

• Daily calorie intake: Your bodyweight in pounds * 16-18
• Protein per day: At least 0.8 grams per pound of bodyweight
• Fats per day: 20% of your calories
• Carbs: Fill in the remaining calories with carbs

The step-by-step blueprint to build the “perfect” superhero body

The workout I laid out above will help you build a super solid foundation of muscle.

Like I said before, the reason actors that portray superheroes such as Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth look so incredibly good is because of their proportions.

They have really broad shoulders, a V taper back, and a tight waist. This “V-taper” physique is what a lot of guys consider to be the perfect body.

My Superhero X12 program is designed to help you lose weight, build muscle, and get ripped like Thor. It’s one of the only step by step blueprints created to help you build a Hollywood Superhero physique.

As always, I’ll answer ANY questions you have in comments section below. Let me know how I can help.