With Thor: Love and Thunder storming cinemas and featuring the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first full-frontal nude scene, it’s pretty clear that Chris Hemsworth is proud of the body he’s built on the run-up to his fourth headline outing as the God of Thunder and Avengers OG.
Already cutting an impressive physique in his first turn as the Norse legend-turned comic book-hero eleven years ago, Hemsworth has continued to grow and refine his god-bod, and with rumours abound of this being his final entry into the MCU, we could well be witnessing the Australian actor’s final form.
Never shy from showcasing the fun he has in the gym, Hemsworth recently shared one of his go-to chest workouts with his Instagram followers, featuring a plethora of machines, cables and weights. Here, we’ve got the lowdown on how us mere mortals can recreate his thunderous chest pump at home, with just two dumbbells.
Our modified circuit uses a ‘mechanical dropset’, working from the most difficult movement to the least, fatiguing those pecs as you go, hitting the chest from all of the same angles as Thor himself, with just a single set of 'bells.
For maximum effect, keep the rest between movements to an absolute minimum, before resting for 60 seconds between circuits. Complete four total rounds to bring the thunder.
1. DUMBBELL CHEST FLYES x 5
Lay flat on a bench holding a pair of dumbbells, locked out above your chest (A). With a slight bend in your elbows, slowly your dumbbells outwards, and down- towards the ground, in a fixed arc. Stop when you feel a deep stretch across your chest (B), before powering back up explosively.
2. INCLINE DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS x 10
Set your bench to a 45 degree angle and press your dumbbells back up, over your chest (A), slowly lower both bells over 4 seconds, keeping your elbows at a slight angle to your torso, until both dumbbells touch your chest (A) explosively press the bells back to full lockout and repeat.
3. DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS x 15
Reset your bench to flat and continue on with your pressing, at this slightly easier angle. Press into the air, locking out your elbows (A). Lower the bells slowly until they touch your chest (B) keep your elbows at 45 degree angle to your body, pause here before explosively pressing back up. Repeat. If you have to stop before 15, shake it off and continue- hit all reps before moving on to the final movement.
4. PUSH UP x 20
Hit the deck and drop into a strong plank position, with your core tight and hands on your dumbbells (A), bend your elbows to bring your chest to the floor (B). Keep your elbows close to your body as you push back up explosively. Don’t hit the ‘rest’ button until you’ve despatched all 20 reps.
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With almost 18 years in the health and fitness space as a personal trainer, nutritionist, breath coach and writer, Andrew has spent nearly half of his life exploring how to help people improve their bodies and minds.
As our fitness editor he prides himself on keeping Men’s Health at the forefront of reliable, relatable and credible fitness information, whether that’s through writing and testing thousands of workouts each year, taking deep dives into the science behind muscle building and fat loss or exploring the psychology of performance and recovery.
Whilst constantly updating his knowledge base with seminars and courses, Andrew is a lover of the practical as much as the theory and regularly puts his training to the test tackling everything from Crossfit and strongman competitions, to ultra marathons, to multiple 24 hour workout stints and (extremely unofficial) world record attempts.
You can find Andrew on Instagram at @theandrew.tracey, or simply hold up a sign for ‘free pizza’ and wait for him to appear.