Chris Hemsworth frequently posts clips of his workouts to social media, from accessible bodyweight routines to boxing drills to full body weightlifting sessions, switching up his training depending on if he needs to get massively swole to play the God of Thunder in Thor, or lean and mean for his merc action franchise Extraction. In his most recent training video, however, the Australian actor demonstrates how he complements his traditional workouts with high-speed, high-intensity sprint intervals.
“Nothing better than some sprint training to start your week,” he wrote in the caption.
Running for weight loss is nothing new, but sprint training is becoming an increasingly popular tool for building muscle and strength too. It might sound counterintuitive at first: after all, so much of the prevalent advice for building muscle involves slow, controlled movement through space in order to maximize time under tension and quality of contraction. And that is certainly true of lifting. But the fast, all-out bursts of activity in sprint training can also help you hone your explosive power, burn fat, and build functional strength in four key areas: your back, glutes, core, and hamstrings.
“During most exercises, you can relax for a moment, whether that means mailing in a biceps curl or daydreaming through a segment of your Peloton ride,” writes trainer Milo F. Bryant C.S.C.S. “But every step during a sprint is about power and precision, and this improves your first step in, well, everything. From pickup basketball to chasing after your toddler, your body learns how to start any motion quickly, and you’re insulating yourself against the muscle pulls and strains that come from sudden unplanned moves.”
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
