Liam Hemsworth recently posted a photo on Instagram flexing his new rock-like body.
The Australian actor and former partner of pop megastar Miley Cyrus looked almost unrecognizable from his former slender form, having transformed his body for a new role as heartbreaker Geralt of Rivia in Netflix fantasy drama, The Wizard.
But how has the Hunger Games star managed to achieve such extreme volume in just over a year?
Insiders have revealed that Mr Hemsworth’s impressive new physique is mainly down to an intense form of Japanese interval training that was initially designed to whip the country’s speed skaters into shape.
Hemsworth posted this selfie showing his progress on his personal account on April 5, thanking fans for their support of his new film, ‘Land of Bad.’
Hemsworth posted this photo to his Instagram in 2020, sharing his workout routine with friend and athlete Ross Edgley.
The workout, called Tabata, has proven to be crucial to Hemsworth’s extreme gain in muscle mass, according to augustoman.
It was designed in 1996 by its namesake, Dr. Izumi Tabata of the Kagoshima Prefectural National Institute of Fitness and Sports, according to Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
Dr. Tabata and his colleagues developed it as a means to train Olympic speed skaters, according to Total Body Tabata. He found it was a more efficient way to burn calories and increase heart rate than a moderate-intensity workout that lasted for an hour.
Modern versions of the workout involve doing as many repetitions as possible of a few different bodyweight exercises in a short period of time with very short breaks in between. It’s a form of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which has been taking the fitness world by storm for the last decade.
The goal is to get your heart rate to a target level for a short period, so you can burn calories while building muscle, according to the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.
This frequent switching between exercises could help you burn more calories than doing a normal, less intense exercise for an hour, according to a 2013 study from the University of Wisconsin.
‘I really enjoy Tabata. High-intensity timed workouts where you do a bunch of different exercises like burpees, bodyweight squats, pull-ups, push-ups and dips,’ Hemsworth told Men’s Health.
Hemsworth’s specific split includes seeing how many repetitions of each exercise you can do for twenty minutes or seeing how quickly you can do 100 of each exercise.
Hemsworth has always had a lean, strong build, like here in the 2013 photo. However, he has recently sported a bodybuilder-like figure with extremely defined pectorals and shoulders.
Hemsworth, pictured here in his 2010 film, ‘The Last Song’, has always been a fan of sports training and likes to do functional exercises.
Along with Tabata, the actor incorporates five 60- to 90-minute strength training sessions weekly. This includes deadlifts, squats, pull-ups, push-ups, dips and chin-ups.
Sometimes he also rounds out a gym session with some cardio, as if Tabata’s increased heart rate wasn’t enough. In particular, he likes cycling, rowing, running and swimming.
Outside of the gym, Hemsworth previously told Men’s Health that he likes to spend time playing basketball and soccer, biking, surfing, and hiking. This is key to developing functional strength, Luke Zocchi, the Hemsworth brothers’ personal trainer, told Men’s Health.
“Liam wanted to be fit, strong and functional” and enjoys focusing on exercises that improve longevity, such as core strength, Zocchi said.