Tom Holland is a British actor born in 1996, perhaps most famous for his roles as Spider Man. He has received several accolades throughout his career, including a BAFTA Award and three Saturn Awards. In 2019, he was also featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list in recognition of his success and influence in the entertainment industry.
Men’s Health Australia recently spoke to him about his training and transformation for Spider Man: A Brand New Day and the Odyssey.
He told the publication that he wanted to bulk up his physique, “In these movies the suits are often padded,”…“Then they’ll add CGI to make the way the padding moves look more natural. I want to add enough muscle that the padding and CGI aren’t necessary.”
The actor was keen to add up to 4kg of muscle, using bodyweight training, often with a weighted vest, but wanted to maintain an athletic physique to complement the character.
How Does Tom Holland Train?
An important part of his training is a brutal ladder workout.
“Start with one pull-up, two dips, three press-ups, four sit-ups, five squats, that’s round one, and you basically go all the way up to 10, so the last round is 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 [of each movement]. And then you’ll go all the way back down to one.”
He regularly incorporates HIIT work as well.
The following workout from his training involves four sets with short rest periods between exercises. Here’s the circuit:
- Bear crawls, 60 secs
- Plank taps, 20 each side
- Dumbbell thrusters, 20
- Renegade rows, 20 each side
- Push-ups, 20
Tom Holland’s Diet
He stated that nutrition is much more important for him than the training, “I would say for me to see results, it’s 80 percent diet and 20 percent fitness.”
Typically the actor is not a big eater, “I really have to think about eating three times a day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner to me is an extortionate amount of food.”
The actor also stars in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming film The Odyssey.
