Chris Hemsworth is currently training for Netflix’s sequel to Extraction, and the movie’s vague logline leaves a ton of room for Hemsworth to run around beating people into a pulp: “After barely surviving his grievous wounds from his mission in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tyler Rake is back, and his team is ready to take on their next mission.”
In order to prepare his body for the role, the 38-year-old Australian has been hard at work. We wrote about his latest HIIT scorcher a couple months back. The circuit includes:
- Three minutes of freestyle boxing
- 50 air squats
- 40 sit-thrus
- 20 reps apiece for five different core exercises
- 25 pushups
To properly complete the circuit, according to Hemsworth, you should perform it a total of four times, with two minutes of rest in between each. It’s the sort of workout that’ll help Hemsworth transition from sheer mass (Thor) to athletic and agile (Tyler Rake). And it’s going to burn a ton of calories along the way, which is why Hemsworth seems okay with treating himself to the occasional cheat meal:
Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, Hemsworth went out for a greasy pile of pizza, wings and beer. Unlike The Rock’s cheat meal posts, though, which we know are entirely his own, it seems likely that Hesmworth is splitting this food with a friend. Other publications appear to think that the actor took down two pizzas and two orders of wings, but c’mon. Look at the placement of the other beer. He’s just out for dinner.
Hemsworth certainly could annihilate the entire table, but this feels like more of a celebratory meal than a cheat meal. The distinction actually matters, silly as it may seem. Cheat meals, nutritionists often point out, are often seen as a license for extreme overconsumption — the idea being that certain foods are seen as bad, until one holy day where you’re allowed to binge as much of them as possible. But this can lead to weight cycling, which, over time, is often accompanied by anxiety and depression. If you’re not The Rock, or Hemsworth, with a full team dedicated to helping you stay in shape, the issue will only spiral.
It’s why we’ve cautioned against replicating cheat meals, and recommend finding some sort of balance for “fun foods” in your day-to-day life. In this case, Hemsworth isn’t eating a YouTube-worthy amount of pizza and wings. That looks like a standard pub grub order to us, which is completely okay. Going out for some celebratory plates, especially after you’ve returned to a city you couldn’t visit for a long time, makes all the sense in the world.
And while a diet of bread, hot sauce and cheese isn’t sustainable for anyone, keep in mind that Hemsworth is likely right back to his circuit in the morning, and eating his reported “eight to 10 meals a day … 460 calories every two hours,” most of which comes from whole-food, plant-based ingredients.
That’s to say: A Friday pizza tradition is completely okay, but try not to let it get in the way of whatever exercise you have planned for Saturday morning. Easiest way to do that? Eat until you’re 80% full. You might not need to report to set at 6 a.m. to beat up bad guys, but your body deserves to be up and moving each day no matter what you ate the night before.
More Like This
Whether you’re looking to get into shape, or just get out of a funk, The Charge has got you covered. Sign up for our new wellness newsletter today.
