Liam Hemsworth 7 Best Workout Tips To Seriously Stack On Muscle

Article contribution by Alexander Moore

The Hemsworth brothers are something of a cultural ‘claim-to-fame’ held by the wider Aussie community within the Hollywood movie industry, and this is due in large to eldest brother Chris’ frantic rise to super-stardom; his commanding portrayal of Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe obviously an extremely well-suited role for his powerful build, and undoubtedly the point of reference from which his acting career began to flourish.

He has enjoyed vast quantities of fame and success over the years, which have led to his branching out into various other acting roles including his stardom in ’12 Strong’, where he portrays US Special Forces Captain Mitch Nelson leading a first-response team into Afghanistan in retaliation of the September 11 World Trade Centre attacks (based on a true story), and ‘Men In Black: International‘, which gave us a startlingly humorous look into Chris’ wonderfully talented and funny demeanour.

But with such titanic waves of success Chris continues to make for himself in Hollywood, he often unsurprisingly (and probably unintentionally) overshadows the achievements and indeed the life of that of his younger (twin) brother, Liam.

Liam Hemsworth is nothing short of an A-list actor himself, known predominantly for his string of appearances as Gale Hawthorn in ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy. He was in the cross-hairs of the global press for a number of events in 2019; namely his iconic Aussie photoshoot with GQ Magazine (which you can read about here), and secondly, his sudden split with wife Miley Cyrus in the latter part of 2019.

Although this latter story may have had the potential to knock him around a bit, from what we can gather, our man Liam has since been chilling out in Byron Bay with Chris and the rest of his family enjoying the hot Australian summer (and what a wonderful thing that is)!

What we’ve also gathered, however, is that he has been putting his newfound freedom from marriage to strong use in the gym – and it is safe to say that he has seriously. Jacked. Up.

The Aussie actor has been spotted out and about both in Australia and in L.A. with significantly bigger pipes than we’ve ever seen him don before, meaning he must be spending some serious time acquainting himself in the weights room.

Not that Liam has ever been in bad shape – in fact, he has always looked after himself extremely well. He even went vegan after a Co-Star’s recommendation during ‘The Hunger Games’ press-tour to eat raw vegetables to offset his flu symptoms, and hasn’t looked back since.

Liam conducted an interview on his new physique with prominent global Men’s Lifestyle & Fitness Magazine Men’s Health earlier this year, and this is what he had to say about his regime.

Here are Liam’s top 7 tips when it comes to stacking on muscle:

1. Get Outside

“I’ve been trying to spend as much time outdoors as I can,” he tells Men’s Health. “Cycling, playing soccer or basketball, going for two-hour hikes and doing as many push-ups as I can on the way.”

2. Function Over Brute Strength

Sure going heavy gives you that feel-good feeling but Hemsworth prefers to prioritise functional training – typically HIIT-style exercises.

“Liam wanted to be fit, strong and functional,” says Men’s Health cover star Luke Zocchi the trainer who has trained all three brothers. “When I trained with Liam, we never did any squats or deadlifts – we weren’t doing any real heavy lifting or even isolation work.”

“It was more like circuit training with kettlebells or supersets of body-weight exercises,” explains Zocchi. 

3. Go Green

As mentioned, Liam went green. But the actor admits he actually enjoyed eating boring veggies as a kid. 

“I was always the weird kid who enjoyed eating Brussels sprouts,” he says. “Now it’s beans, legumes, lentils, nuts and seeds. And I have a lot of plant-based protein shakes.”

Once he saw the benefits, he never looked back.

“When I was eating meat I’d feel sluggish after meals and constantly want to lie down and have a nap,” he explains. “Now I feel like my energy levels are much more consistent.”

4. It’s Okay To Have A Cheat Meal

This isn’t exactly groundbreaking – many other A-listers have come forward endorsing the one-off junk food experience (The Rock and Terry Crews to name a few) – but it certainly emphasise the point that it’s okay to indulge every now and then. 

“I tend to go from one extreme to the other, to be honest,” Hemsworth confesses. “Leading up to a movie I’m usually pretty healthy. But then the few weeks after the shoot I’m mostly eating pizza and French fries and playing Xbox.”

5. It’s Not About Time Spent Working Out, It’s About Efficiency

“I really enjoy Tabata. High intensity, timed workouts where you do a bunch of different exercises like burpees, bodyweight squats, pull-ups, push-ups, dips,” he continues.

“You just cycle through those and see how many reps you can do of each in 20 minutes. Or you try to do 100 of each and see how quickly you can do it.”

Previous findings from Souther Illinois University confirm that Tabata-like workouts can seriously shred your core. 

6. Learn From The Professionals

He’s trained with some of the best in the industry: Zocchi and Hollywood PT Logan Wood. And hours spent under their tutelage has ensured he can work out effectively, even when he’s on his own. 

“I feel like I’ve gained enough knowledge over the years to do my own stuff at my own pace,” he says.

“When I was shooting the Hunger Games in Atlanta, me and the stunt guys would work out at this gym that we called ‘the Stinky Gym’.“Because it was one of the foulest-smelling places you’ve ever been to. It was this old boxing gym with a really mixed crowd of people and the worst stench. It made you just want to get in there, get the job done, and get out. That’s how I like it.”

7. Address Your Weaknesses.

Sure, bicep curls and deadlifts will give you big arms. But for Hemsworth, building a solid foundation is equally key. It can both improve your posture while decreasing your chance of injury.