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As a die-hard Marvel Cinematic Universe fan, it’s fair to say that I was more than a little excited when Thor: Love and Thunder finally dropped in July after months of pandemic rewrites, reshoots and pushbacks.
But if you think it was that glorious glimpse of by Chris Hemsworth Thor’s super crazy physique in the nuddy that got me all fired up, you would be dead wrong. Because while I’ll admit I swooned over Hemsworth’s bulging biceps for over a decade, it was the return of Natalie Portman’s astrophysicist character Doctor Jane Foster – and the epic reveal of her weapons to breathtaking as she takes on the mantle of The Mighty Thor – which blew my mind this time around.
So how did Portman get some pretty wondrous weapons to wield Thor’s magic hammer, Mjolnir? I decided to find out everything I could about her amazing body transformation and give her grueling workout a try.
Natalie Portman’s Thor Workout – The Process
Natalie Portman is no stranger to the process of body transformation for a film role. Indeed, she trained up to 16 hours a day and went on an extreme diet to prepare for her Oscar-winning performance as a ballet dancer in the 2011 film. Black Swanshedding 20 pounds from his already lean 5’3″ frame along the way.
But while Portman was asked to be “as small as possible” to Black Swanshe said Variety (opens in a new tab) that he was “asked to obtain as big possible” for the fourth installment of the Thor franchise, which she said was “incredibly challenging,” not least because the 41-year-old actress was completely new to bodybuilding and followed a vegan diet to boot.
Along with sticking to a strict diet of protein-rich meals to properly fuel her workouts and maintain muscle growth, Portman trained for 90 minutes to two hours a day, five days a week, for a total of 10 months to build muscle. role as the new God of Thunder, embarking on his regimen with trainer Naomi Pendergast five months before filming began and continuing for the duration of filming.
“We did a lot of strength training, and a lot of protein shake – a heavyweight workout I’ve never done before,” Portman said. vanity lounge (opens in a new tab). “Of course, I never really aimed to get bulky. It was very physical, so it was a lot of agility work and also strength work,” she added.
I can only assume that this intense bodybuilding program must have been a total shock to the actress’ body, considering she once said in a 2019 Women’s health in the UK (opens in a new tab) interview that running and yoga were her favorite training methods.
But, according to Pendergast in American weekly (opens in a new tab)Portman was more than up to the task, and the director of RPX Fitness credits the actress’ determination as the key ingredient to her workout results.
“I provided the drills and the guidance, but she did the rest,” Pendergast said. “She is focused, determined and humble. Natalie showed up for every scheduled session for the 10 months and gave 100%, even on the days she was tired.
Alright, so it looked like I’d need the determined mindset of one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers – alongside an appetite for protein shakes three times a day and a willingness to sacrifice my own life – if I wanted to get the body of a superhero. But what about the workouts themselves?
Natalie Portman’s Thor Workout – The Goal
When creating the body of Thor, Portman’s buff, Pendergast said “the initial goal was to build definition in the arms and abdomen”, although they also worked on “stability and strength”. agility for injury prevention, as Natalie had dynamic stunt scenes that required her to move, twist and land in various positions.”
To achieve this, Pendergast devised a plan that mixed weightlifting sessions with cardio workouts and injury prevention exercises to give Portman a body strong, athletic and agile enough to meet the physical demands of filming, while still providing a genuinely ripped “superhero”. aesthetic that didn’t require any additional retouching from the CGI department.
“We worked on building his upper body three times a week, which included arm, back, chest, boxing, jumping rope and running,” says Pendergast. “The other two days were dedicated to injury prevention work, which included Pilates-based exercises, stretching, release work, and balance exercises.”
It looks interesting, and even fun, in theory. But on paper, the workouts are seriously loaded, as I soon found out to my detriment.
After following the Pendergast warm-up with a focus on strengthening the shoulder and arm muscles (arm running for 30 seconds, side stretches for 30 seconds, beast crawling for 30 seconds, walking backwards for 10 reps and reverse kneeling power band flies for 25 reps), it was time for the main event…
Natalie Portman’s Thor Workout – The Workout
It’s very fair to say that the workout that Pendergast designed for Portman (shared in Variety (opens in a new tab) and seen below) was everything on arms and abs. That’s not to say leg days were skipped on purpose, but building an impressive set of glutes, quads, or hamstrings was never part of the mission.
The workout itself is made up of four supersets that focus on the back, shoulders, and arms before moving into cardio work and ending with a core workout and stretching.
The good news is that it’s actually quite simple to do, and the only equipment you’ll need to do the workout yourself is a set of best dumbbellsa strong resistance bandif you don’t have access to an assisted pull-up machine, a jump rope and a pair of best workout coaches.
- Superset 1
- Dumbbell Row – 10 slow reps
- Bodyweight Offset Push-up – 10 slow reps
- Rest exercise – 90 second stretch
- Superset 2
- Dumbbell Inverted Flight – 10 slow reps
- Seated dumbbell shoulder press – 10 slow reps
- Rest Exercise – 90 Second Back Stretch
- Superset 3
- Standing dumbbell arm raises (palms up) – 20 slow reps
- Assisted pull-ups – 6-8 controlled reps
- Rest exercise – 90 second coiled stretch
- Superset 4
- Dumbbell Bicep Curls – 10-12 reps
- Dumbbell tricep press – 15 reps
- Resting Exercise – 90 Second Rotational Upper Body Stretch
- cardio
- Boxing and round of jumps – 4-5 sets of
- 2 minutes of boxing
- 1 minute jump
- 1 sprint of 50m
- Rest 1.5 minutes
- Core work and stretching
- Abdominal plank on the elbows – 1 minute
- Elbow Side Plank – 1 minute each side
- Basic curl focused on pelvic control
- Stretches for the feet, legs and hips
Natalie Portman’s Thor Workout – The Verdict
Don’t get me wrong, this workout is long and hard. For an authentic experience, I did the above workout three times a week – Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – and did a 60-minute online Pilates workout on Tuesday and Thursday.
Let’s just say that by the time Saturday rolled around, I was more than ready to spend the weekend playing video games and drinking beer – kind of like Thor in Avengers: Endgame when he went from God Bod to Papa Bod.
Ladies shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that the workout is easy because many upper body exercises are only done for 10 reps. The key word in workout descriptions is “slow,” and to really feel the movements, you’ll need to lift weights heavy enough to tire your muscles at the end of your set. Good form and controlled movements are essential if you want to really feel the workouts and get great results. And now is not the time to reach for those 2lb dumbbells.
On the plus side, the exercises are all fairly simple and accessible. It’s just that you might want to do the upper body supersets alone three days a week and let the cardio and abs work on separate days, especially if you lead a normal work life and don’t have the chance to spend your time waiting to save the Earth at any time.
But trust me, stick with it, and I think you’ll be seeing a nice pair of toned arms in the mirror in no time. They might not be worthy enough to pick up Thor’s hammer, but they’ll be worthy of your favorite sleeveless top.